@Captain_Mumbles
Hi Ben,
The prototype object is called a
stretcher bar or stretcher rod.
You can find more drawings in this download file:
http://www.lmssociety.org.uk/assets/pdfs/permanentWay1928.pdf
which contains the standard REA bullhead track info. Stretcher bars start on page 20.
Here is a photo you wanted:
You can see that prototype stretcher bars (2.1/2" x 1/2" spring steel strip) are much more flexible than the switch rails, which makes them very tricky to model in the smaller scales and remain functional and electrically insulating. Many modellers opt for a purely functional model "tie-bar" device instead. Numerous designs have been posted over the years, including from me.
If you ask about "tie-bars" in your RMweb topic you will likely get many ideas and suggestions.
This is my preferred functional model tie-bar, which I supplied with my turnout kits back in the 1970s (you need a small lathe to make it). The pin is free to rotate in the tie-bar -- preferable in any tie-bar design because it removes most of the stress from the fixing, and allows the open switch rail to take up a prototypical curve -- replicating the flexible nature of the prototype stretcher bar.
The great advantage of the grooved pin is that it locates directly onto the rail foot, so can be assembled dry before soldering, with some packing between the blade and stock rail. Easy to solder neatly because the solder flashes into the groove.
The tie-bar material is unclad 0.8mm fibreglass or SRBP. If you don't have a source, it can be made by etching all the copper from copper-clad laminate. It can be disguised by gluing some ballast on top of it, after which cosmetic models of proper stretcher bars can be added between the switch blades.
An important function of any stretcher bar design is that it holds the switch blade down on the slide chair and level with the stock rail, by running directly under (or sometimes through) the stock rail. Several model designs have been published over the years which fail to do that, sometimes called "Turnout Operating Units" or TOU. If the switch tip is not held down, it can lift up as wheels run along it, possibly derailing the following wheel.
cheers,
Martin.