As mentioned in the above post, I am using Caboose Industries 220S ground throws with contacts to power the frogs on the Atlas turnouts on the main, and also the yard and industrial sidings. The turnouts do not come assembled, and whoever wrote the assembly instructions (no pictures provided) should be sent back to remedial English.
The instructions on the Caboose Industries website (
http://www.cabooseind.com/#!instructions/cjdg) are better than the abbreviated instructions included on the back of the package, but not by much.
So, I'se a'gonna learn ya how ta done it!
Step 1: Thoroughly sweep the floor in your workroom. You WILL be spending time on your hands and knees looking for small parts that have gone flying away, and a clean floor will make them much easier to spot. Also, get a good flashlight. I also recommend, if you do not already have one, that you go down to your local pharmacy and get a pair of locking hemostats. These look like a combination needle nosed pliers/tweezers, except they have opposing diagonally cut grooves in the handles. You can grip small parts and lock them in place. If you've ever had surgery, you have had hemostats used on you, as they are what surgeons use to clamp off blood vessels.
Let's just hope he remembered to remove them before he sewed you back up.
2: Determine where you will mount the ground throw. Install a pad if needed to bring the ground throw level with the bottom of the turnout. I used a piece of cork. Mark the perimeter of the ground throw and the middle of the contact slot.
Use a 3/8 or 7/16 drill and drill a hole centered on the mark you made for the middle of the slot.
3: Now it's off to the workbench! (You did sweep the floor, right?) The following parts are included in the ground throw kit:
Clockwise from the right:
The ground throw assembly itself.
A shim if needed to bring the ground throw up a bit. If you need to use this, slide it on before you put the spacer on the contact legs, as it it will not fit over the spacer.
The contact assembly. The metal piece at the bottom comes attached to the bottom of the legs, just bend it back and forth and it will snap off. It is not used in the ground throw, so it can be thrown away or go into your junk box. Your call.
The spacer. This will be slid over the contact legs to keep them separated so they do not short out.
The small black T-shaped piece of plastic is one of two parts that will probably go flying away. The longer leg of the T will face upwards during assembly. On the shorter legs, one will be smooth, and the other will have a bump on it. The smooth side must go towards the contacts.
Two phosphor bronze contact springs. It was nice of them to include two, because you may lose one. This is the other piece that likes to go Bye-Bye!
The black plastic sprue that the T pieces come on. Two T's are included, thank goodness. I hope to find the other one eventually.
A set of end fittings for various brands of turnouts.
5: Now we get to the good stuff. Slide the contact assembly through the slot on the ground throw. The legs are V-shaped. The high point of the V must go towards the back. The top of the contact assembly has a small tab on one side and a spring latch on the other. Slide the contacts into the ground throw until the tab is engaged and the latch hooks into the ground throw.
My faithful assistant Wally was kind enough to hold this for you so you could see it from the bottom.
6: Now take one of the phosphor bronze contacts and place it into the slot on top of the ground throw, split side towards the contact bar.
7: Now take the T-shaped piece and force it into the slot with the long leg of the T up and the smooth side towards the contacts. This can be an exercise in frustration, and you will discover why I advised you to sweep the floor. But keep at it, you'll get it. Once it's in, it should look like this:
Notice there's a wide blank space on the T piece. That should go towards the front.
8: At this point, I would advise using a couple of drops of liquid plastic cement to help hold the plastic T in place. I know that industrial plastic doesn't really glue very well, but it helps. After that has dried, I would take a tiny dab of epoxy and use it on the T piece as well. It is extremely annoying to be putting the ground throw into final position and have that T and contact spring come sproinging out of there.
Don't ask how I know this.
Continued next post.