I’ve written a feature for Railroad Model Craftsman magazine about how I built the head rods (throwbars) for the turnouts on my S scale model railway.
I hand-laid my rack and built my turnouts using the assembly fixtures and other tools offered by Tim Warris at Fast Tracks. I love the reliability of using copper-clad printed circuit board (PCB) material for hold rail securely in a turnout – especially around the frog.
But the traditional way of making a head rod always bothered me, because the rod would end up being as wide as a tie – for the very good reason that one would simply use a PCB tie.
My approach results in a head rod that is much thinner in appearance – more like the metal bars used on a prototype turnout. The article provides step-by-step instructions for making your own.
You can read more in the October, 2017 issue of RMC:
The Model Railway Show 