Hey folks. I’m trying to find some insight on how to handlay a double slip. Are there any “how to” sites on the web or am I going to need to find an obscure magazine article?
Model Railroading Magizine just recently had a series on how to do this. I think it was either this year or last. It is covered in 3 or 4 issues i believe. Sorry, i can’t remember all the specifics.
Having built double slips from raw rail, I can assure you that it is NOT an arcane art only done by wizard modelers. The skills are exactly those used in assembling ordinary turnouts from raw rail, but with a larger number of parts.
To assure success, I would recommend working with your NMRA track gauge in one hand. Check everything - twice. Other than that, work slowly, pre-fit before soldering, and, if a part isn’t quite right, either re-work it until it is or make another one. Time and care spent during construction will pay off in dependable operation later.
Note that I’m not trying to tell you HOW to build a double slip, or how to wire it. My method works well for me, but it flies in the face of conventional wisdom on the subject and would probably provoke a spate of, “You’re doing it all wrong,” posts.
Kipling understood: “There are eight and forty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right!”
Chuck
I agree 100% with Chuck. I’ve built many handlaid turnouts incuding double slips and am sure that mine are different (not necessarily better) than anyone else builds. It just takes practice and the willingness to throw a piece out if it’s not exactly right.
If you’re just starting to handlay t/o’s, I would recommend getting a set of the NMRA Turnout templates and start with some standard turnouts first.
Good Luck,
Gale
Thanks guys. I am just starting out on handlaying, but I also believe in researching the tar out of something before attempting it (I’m also in the middle of getting ready for a cross-country move, so actually working at a bench right now is a little silly). As for “you’re doing it all wrong”…[soapbox]that can be summed up in one word…horse$%^#! There are always multiple ways of doing art (which is, imho, what we do as part of this hobby). So if you have ideas that work, I am definitely interested in hearing them, and anyone who has a problem with your method has just that…a problem.
What I really need is some better diagrams than what I have found thus far online (which is to say…um…none). Thanks again.
I ran across this page a while back. I haven’t had the need for one of these things myself but it looked interesting. http://www.ida.net/users/tetonsl/railroad/dblslip.htm
some months ago i found an outfit that custom makes switch assembly jigs, using PC board ties.
FAST TRACKS. also there is a Document library at WWW.HANDLAIDTRACK.COM
ok, you’ve gotten my curiosity. Let me guess, you do a pencil etching of a ready made slip switch and then you lay rail atop that, soaked in epoxy?
You lost that bet, podnuh!
Actually I lay out the track routes through my specialwork with a flexible trammel (aka Atlas brass-rail fiber tie flextrack,) test them for trackability, then run a sharp pencil along the edges of the ties to mark position on the subroadbed. Next comes a layer of balsa from sub-roadbed to tie bottom level, followed by balsa ties. Raw rail parts go on, starting with the outermost curved rails and working in (which is exactly the reverse of everything I’ve ever read. Other folks seem to like to start with the acute-angle frogs.) After everything is spiked down (including points, temporarily,) I recheck for tracking before adding flux and solder.
Done that way, the frogs may or may not have a known number (I once measured one and determined it to be #5.6,) but the trackwork flows smoothly, and so do the trains using it.
As for epoxy, I wouldn’t touch the stuff with YOUR 3 meter insulated pole.
Chuck
I shoulda known TSL had one…I’m also using part of his ideas for my turntable.