one big question, how far is the top of the tortoise from the trow bar tortoise from the throw bar? this design, with the materials provided works best with 1/2 inch plywood , and cork roadbed, so the throw bar is less than an inch from the top of the tortoise. if , for instance, you are using 3/4 inch plywood , with inch thick homasote or foam, (I hate track on foam). the piano wire provided is to flexible to make the switch throw correctly,
I'm a fan of ground throws, and haven't used tortoises, so I'm not familiar with the wiring, although I have used blue point manual controls, that have a similar action, and at times have had to replace the provided music wire with stouter music wire to get the switch to throw. check your wiring on a tortoise that isn't installed, and see if it throws