Here's how a low-tech approach might look. This is a manual switch I used my own motor on. Eliminate the motor, and you have a spring switch.
Wire is 0.039 music wire. The throw is styrene, glued to the original throw with Loctite's "plastic bonding system" (two-part, purple bottles, comes on a card) because nothing else I tried worked. Distance from the throw to the brass pivot is 1.5".
I have seven switches with this setup. I have often run the "wrong way" through these, and nothing derails. That includes modern cars with plastic trucks (metal wheels tho). If I were going to set this up to "groove the switch" as a normal thing, I think I would increase the length of the wire. As it is, it is very firm when closed - more than necessary, really.