Don’t get me wrong. I think Flex track is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
And I really like the idea of the Fast Tracks jigs both because of the reduced cost of the turnouts but because with a little fudging there is the possibility of the making things fit that otherwise wouldn’t.
But this is the tip of the iceberg. In real life we are not limited by #4 turnouts and 15 degree crossings. If a railroad has to get a track across a three tracks in a yard throat, a rail goes in. Its that simple. Some how, some way, they get the tracks where they need to go.
They are not limited by the pieces model manufacturer’s find it profitable to make.
So, is it really that hard to make these custom pieces? It seems to me, if there is a will, there’s a way.
The only “store bought” AKA, Flextrack I use is in areas that are not seen. (Code 83)
Everything else is handlaid, including turnouts. Code 70, yards and industrial. Code 83, everywhere else.
It may look difficult, but once you’ve done a bit, you’ll see it’s not that hard at all, plus the end result just looks so much better. A trick I find useful is to use thinner ties, which require MUCH less ballast to look right.
Sure, it takes longer than flextrack, but who’s complaining?
BTW: Should you decide to give it a go, invest in Track Gauges. I use both NMRA & Kadee types…
If you have the will then you come on over and lay some track for me[:D] Being serious though, I have wondered the same thing. I’m getting ready to start laying the first tracks and would be interested to see what folks say. Are there web sights out there about this???
No! It’s not really hard. Time consuming, yes but if you’re careful you can get into a routine so you can get it down fairly fast.
Turnouts are the trickiest part, a lot of guys buy ready made turnouts (just the rails) from places like BK Engineering that they spike down on their laid ties. There are places (I have a link if I can find it) for a place that makes a jig to make turnouts- cut the rails, file where needed then drop it in the jig and solder it up. Only problem with that is the jig is anywhere from $60-$100, and it only does one turnout (say a #6), if you want to do a #8 you buy another jig.
It’s not really a lot cheaper to handlay compared to discounted flex track- by the time you buy the rail, spikes, ties, etc… you just about come up even. But if you’re looking to be a skilled railroad master craftsman, you are on the right path!
I have no doubt that handlaying straight track is easy. But with flex the only reason I would handlay is looks, and quite frankly, I can’t tell the difference. I know that Fast Tracks jigs limit you to one size turnout, but on my current poject–very dense, yard, industrial, small steam–I can’t see using anything except #4s.
But that it not really the question. The questions deals with how hard it is to do the custom stuff. Crossings that span a yard, etc. How tough is it to get the stuff you see i pictures, but is impossible with stock products?
Once you learn the basics, how to get the rail shaped and soldered together, it’s not that hard- basically the easiest way to do it is to draw it to scale on paper, then lay your rails over it. You can even use a couple pieces of stock straight track (like the old Atlas Snap Track) to draw up your pattern- cut out the ties from a 3-4" section in the middle of the track. Lay it onto the paper, lay the other piece over top until it matches your shape, then trace it out.
Cut, fit and solder, then place the assembly where you want it. It is possible to tie into existing track, but it’s harder- not impossible, just need a little more practice!
I built a custom crossing with minimal experience. It took a long time and came out looking ok. It works pretty well. I think that you have to ask yourself how long do you want to spend track laying and how important is it in the overall scheme of building a layout to handlay track. Building a layout takes an enormous amount of time and I think one needs to decide where you want to spend time and where “good enough” is OK.
In my case, I am building a large double decked layout that I would like to have up and running so I can concentrate on building scenery, structures and rolling stock. If I were to hand lay stuff it would take me years longer to get to operational stage for both decks. The only trackwork I am scratchbuilding is stuff that I can’t find available comercially. I think an often overlooked way to make custom track work from stock switches is to custom trim the turnouts to fit. For example cut off the divering route to the angle that you want. I have done this in spots and it looks and fits much better.
No more so than learning to solder, it is an acquired talent, that in my experience is best learned at the elbow of an experienced modeller, who can answer questions as you work together. First watching how it is done, trying to do it with “supervision”, then doing it on your own with the ability to get some “help” through the “new stuff” as you encounter it. The tedious skills are the cutting and shaping of frogs and closurer rails. This is an exercise in the use of learned skills that you repeat again and again.
You might check with your club to see if you can find a “mentor” to walk you through the skills and then give it a try. Hand laying is also the most flexible in terms of constructing exactly the track work you want. It has advocates that insist it is the “only” way to go, but then so does “*** feeding”.
Will[:D]
Chip, I can see no other way than handlaying on my next layout. I will need some curved turnouts that you simply can’t buy.
I’m not saying it’s the only way to go, but it’s the way I’ll go.
Here’s something to consider - I know my next layout will not be my “last”. I know it will have to be ripped up at some point. Everyone is always bummed that they’ll have to rip up their track and switches. If it’s handlaid, I don’t think I’ll be as bummed, because there is only time invested, not $20 per turnout.
I’ve mentioned in other threads in the past that the first layouts I saw as a kid were handlaid. There’s something stuck deep down in me that says, “This is how the real men do it…”. So I’m sort of stuck on handlaying I guess.
I built my first turnout about 3 weeks ago and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. It took about 3 1/2 hours to build it and I didn’t use a jig. Its not perfect but it looks good in the siding its sitting in. I’ve since hand laid about another 9 feet of track and I’m getting better and faster at it. Practice is all your going to need.
You really have to like hand laying track. Back in the 60s, I remember seeing a lot of modelers building layouts with hand laid track code 100 rail. I did several short modules for photography with handlaid track and found that was enough that for me. When Lambert code 70 and later code 83 came out, that solved my problem.
This is a good question. I recently helped to put a mobile choir stand together in a local theater for our choir’s Christmas concert. We have 70 members, so this was not small undertaking.
I worked with an eccentric fellow (a tenor, of course [:-^]), who held L-brackets in place while I drove screws into the plywood to keep the platform firm. If he held one bracket with the elbow facing outward (I’m not making this up!), or even (help me!) sideways, he held ten of them that way. I finally asked him to go get me more screws. [(-D]
As others have said, it’s not that hard, just time consuming and you have to take care to check the track gauge and clearances. An NMRA gauge and a couple of three-point gauges are what I use.
I just finished an area of my layout with five handlaid turnouts and one recycled commercial turnout (I think it’s a Shinohara). Wheels actually roll through the handbuilt frogs better. Several of the turnouts are oddball sizes, which would have been impossible otherwise.
It is time consuming, but I always think about the fact that however long it takes to build, it will be in place and finished much longer (unless you’re the type who likes to rip everything up frequently). I think it’s worth it.
Also, handlaid turnouts can be recycled! Just save all the parts when you pull them up and in many cases all you’ll need to do is spike them back down again on new ties. You can also solder scrap rail across the tops of the rails to hold them more or less together while they’re being taken apart.
IMHO Try it and see if you like it! My first handlay was a c83 24"radius trestle wye a la Keddie only with timber bents. Admittedly I used commercial turnouts, but the result looked and worked very nice indeed. My next attempt is going to be CVT #9 turnouts and a siding. One question is whether to leave the stock rails full length, just notching for the points. jc5729
Okay. I think what I’ll do is try a turnout without a jig and see how I do and how I feel about it.
If I do decide to build my turnouts (from a jig) it will give me a lot of freedom. I cannot run out to a store and get one now. but if I decide to try something new, I can build one quicker than ordering one one and waiting for it to arrive by mail (and waiting until I have enough to order to justify postage.)
I don’t regard handlaying track as being difficult, but - I was rather dissapointed with the appearance of the track I put down on my last two modules. The handlaid-track lacks the detail found on better-quality prefab track, and that’s been niggling me ever since I completed module #2. So I think module #3 is going to ME flextrack and Central Valley turnout kits, or perhaps the new Peco Code 83.
[#ditto] The size of the spikes - yikes! Real north American rail has tie plates with two spikes on each side for each tie. I’ve never seen any hand laid track with that.
But, almost no one notices anyway. I think only one person has ever noticed that our club’s handlaid track is spiked only once every 4-5 ties.
And, if one needs something like a 20.5" radius curved turnout through a #7 turnout then they have no choice. The most complex track piece I’ve seen made commercially was a straight dual guage crossing through a dual guage turnout in code 70. Seems like that was advertised in MR in 1972 or so.