Today I got the first tortoise turnout switch machine installed on the lower level mainline. After putting down some track first using silicon latex, I marked out where the tortoise needed to go, cut out the foam, and then cut a whole in the benchwork for the tortoise.

Then using Liquid Nails projects, I glues in a piece of perf board from Radio Shack, with a channel cut out for the tortoise wire.

Once that setup, I got the track in place, attached a piece of industrial strength velco to the tortoise, exposed the sticky side and then guided it up the hole all lined.

in 24 hours the the sticky velco glue will setup strong and it’s not going anywhere. At least that’s the plan. The velco will enable me to remove the switch machine in case any failures occur.

Shaun Previous Layout