Hand layed turnouts - lessons learned.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi guys,

A month ago I finally built my first of 4 hand layed turnouts and the first and second one I built turned out to be a disaster. They were both built on all wood ties with the throw rod the only part that was a copper clad PC tie. BAD MISTAKE. I built them when the weather was dry and everything worked out well. The trains smoothly transversed the points and the frog until the humidity moved in. (And this part of Texas has some real high humidity.) When the train hit the turnout everything derailed. I found that all the rail was out of gauge in sections that caused the derailments. I ended up rebuilding them but this time, I used the copper clad PC board ties every 5th tie which I soldered the rail to and have not had any problems since.

Another thing I found is that building the pointed rails at the frog first works better than building the point / closure rails first. Once the point rail at the frog is exactly 9’ 7" (4’ 81/2" centered between the straight and diverging outside rails) everything else fell into place. One thing I also found since i used code 100 rail is that the only device that works to throw the points is a SPDT micro switch with a wire attached to the throw bar. A tortoise machine with a .039 wire isn’t strong enough to throw the points and the caboose industries switch stand with the metal slide that is wired to change the power to the frog from the right or left rail doesn’t work too well. (It just won’t make contact with the small brass plate once it’s assembled.)

Anyway, I’m having a blast building the hand layed turnouts and plan to do more when it’s time to replace any other turnouts on my layout that may fail in the future…chuck

2

I simulate hinged points.

I cut the rail base at the “hinge” and with a fine saw I make a tiny cut into the rail head. Then it looks and works like a hinged point.

Wolfgang

3

Chuck, it is good to read that you have found a, or the, way to clear up your problem. My own turnouts are purely Fast Tracks method, and I have had excellent and reliable use out of them.

Like you, my first turnout was nothing to write home about…well, I was home…but, you know what I mean. [:D] These turnouts work best when they are built to tolerances. The PCB ties are the way to go, too.

-Crandell

4

Good for you, trying your hand at building turnouts. Looks like you’ve got your technique down pat. I’ve been doing so for a number of years and, after producting a couple of lemons, finally found a technique that works for me. I do as the prototype does and build the frogs separately using a “mitrebox” technique. When the frog rails are aligned properly, I fill the flangeways with solder and then file down to flange depth, sort of similar to the cast prototype frogs. Closure rails are connected with rail joiners, and point rails connected to those also by rail joiners, forming the pivot. I make tie rods from small-diameter brass soldered to the toe ends of the points. I model in S scale and I use balsa ties, which take acrylic stain well and show a lot of grain. If you would like to see photos, please go to allaboard09.blogspot.com