Hand laying a diamond

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I am looking for an article or kit to help me hand lay a diamond for my switching module. I am hand laying a crossover and an industrial spur as part of the AP certificate for Civil Engineering but I need some help. Thanks.[;)]

2

Craig,

When I hear the term “diamond”, I think of a crossing, or a single or double slip, or a double crossover.

When you mention that you are hand laying a crossover, what specific type of track configuration is it?

Rich

3

Here’s my HowTo.

Wolfgang

4

Here’s Coxy’s tutorial on how to hand lay a curved crossing.

5

Craig.

Tim Warris is the person to contact for info on building special track work. His Bronx terminal trackwork is great. http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?page_id=1353 He is an inspiration to all of us hand layers. He also owns Fast tracks. The turnout jigs are too pricey for me so I build my own jigs out of strip wood and wood scraps.

For a simple crossing there will be 4 frogs and guard rails and each will have to be gaped and powered by some sort of switching device. In DCC this can be done with Tam Valley frog juicers. In DC the frogs can be wired to the respective polarity of the crossed track. Once you determine the angle of the crossing a simple soldering jig can be made to ensure that all four frogs are the right angle.

Pete

6

I use the adjacent turnout to power the frogs of the crossing. The diagram is at the bottom, scroll down.

Wolfgang

7

Rich,

I am speaking of a single cross over of one track over another.

8

Ah, OK, a crossing. Thanks.

Rich

9

I needed a crossing between two turnouts and with a curve at the tops, so I just handlaid over a Fast Tracks template that was close enough (you can see my hand-drawn guides to the straight tracks on the top sides):

Start at the bottom (or top), do the opposite side:

and then fill in the middle, starting with one side (left or right):

And then then other:

I strongly suggest cutting the isolation gaps BEFORE you install it, and also to cut with the ultra thin Dedeco cutting disk from UNDER the crossing: I popped the left & right diamond “tips” off by accident.

Crossing still works, though:

You can see the installed fixture at the top of this picture:

Hope this helps.

10

Thank you. This is just what I was looking for.[:D]