Getting ready to build my staging yard area on my layout. Right now I am making the turnouts I need for it. I use fast tracks, btw. I made my first one today. I decided to make the rails that connect the ladder turnouts longer than I usually do, so that each turnout on the ladder can connect directly to the next, rather than needing a 2-3" piece of track between each turnout.
Then I started thinking (or overthinking) is this not the way to do this? Would it be better, maintenance wise, to seperate each turnout by a small piece of track? Just seemed simpler my way. Any thoughts would be great.
I build all these turnouts in Nscale whith Fastrack jig for my yard on my Maclau River RR.
I have think about making them whith one common rail but it’s difficult and anyway somewhere this rail will need to be gaped for electrical connections.
So I make them individuals and build them like ready to run turnouts.
I lay them like usuals.
Just some suggestions whith the Fastrack turnouts:
Solder one more PC ties outside at the end of the turnout at the frog side, so when you cut the rails to isolate the frog the two small piece of remaining rails issuing from the frog in the middle are stronger.
Solder one more PC ties just before the one marked “S” on the jig (between the frog and the “S” ties) so in the time the solid points of the turnouts are stronger.
It’s my method, I made copy of the printable template of the turnouts aviable on the Fastrack site www.handlaidtrack.com I use them as a template to glue the wood ties. When dry I glue the finished turnout skeleton on the wood ties whith Pliobond glue. You have a ready to run turnout.
I didn’t stain my wood ties but airbrush them whith a railroad wood ties colors.
I didn’t use Fast Tracks jigs for my staging yard throats (Nobody makes jigs for curving three-way switches) but I DID run my rails as far as possible, either until I needed an electrical or mechanical gap or until I ran out of the 36 inch rail length. One rail starts as the right-hand side of a frog point, then plays stock rail to three sets of points before ending at the edge of the drop-out domino the throat is built on. I use hot frogs, so have no need to isolate them. Rail power is routed by contacts on the point actuators (Twin-coil RIX machines.)
If I were building turnouts in jigs, I would leave extra length on every rail. Minimizing rail joints is always a good thing, especially so in staging which may be difficult to access. It’s always easier to shorten a long rail than it is to stretch a short one. (Don’t forget to de-burr EVERY rail end.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with flex track and hand-laid specialwork)
I think how ever you want to do it is fine. I actually made mine with the same piece of stock rail (4 turnouts) and it came out fine (I also use the fast track system)
Many moons ago while making a ladder for a club yard I would build on a single piece of rail, so I would build 3 # 6 switches on one straight stock rail using PC ties (but not Fast Tracks). So there were one solid piece 3 switches long.
