What are the degrees for common turnouts, such as the No. 6?
As near as I know, none of them are made to a particular standard. Atlas, Shinohara, etc. are not interchangeable as far as their size or numbers are concerned.
go to nmra.org and look at rp 12.3 it gives you the frog angles for all turnouts from number 4 up to number 10. in mass production switches, what the rails do after the frog can vary from one manufacturer to another.
grizlump
The length of the points, and distance before the frog also varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. And Atlas uses a #4.5 frog with an angle of 12.5 degrees, and calls it a #4.
The NMRA RP 12.3 is a Recommended Practice, not a Standard. From what I can tell, the only turnout manufacturer who comes close to following the RP 12.3 dimensions on turnouts (especially on the #4 frogs) is Fast Tracks.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
The turnouts that have Conformance Warrants are listed on the NMRA web site http://www.nmra.org/standards/candi/warrants.html Mostly Bachmann and Fast Tracks with a couple of others that have a single turnout.
Enjoy
Paul
For numbered turnouts, there IS an angle that they should be. The common Atlas Snap-Track and the PECO small and large radius turnous do NOT have numbered frogs but rather continuous curves.
For a numbered frog turnout, the angle SHOULD be ARCTAN(1/frog number), ie a #6 is 9.46 degrees, a #5 is 11.3 degrees, and a #4 is 14 degrees. The Atlas Custom Line #4’s are really #4.5 and so have an angle of 12.5 degrees. Notice Atlas has a 12.5 degree crossing…
–Randy
As noted switches will often have a set angle but some will have a curve instead. Atlas for instance makes a 22 inch radius turnout. One of their smaller ones is an 18 inch. The others are a straight piece of track on an angle.
Not to be nosy, but why do you ask? I get the feeling that there is more to your question than simply what is stated. I’ll apologize now if I am wrong.
Kevin