This is bound to create some lively “discussion” but what brand of HO turnouts would you choose for hidden staging tracks? Of course, since they will be hidden, they need not be perfectly scale. They just have to work reliably, year after year, with minimal maintenance.
I’m thinking good-ol Atlas Mark III with maybe a curved Peco or two if my still-under-development track plan (an around-the-walls 20 x 30 plan) requires them. Probably Code 100 Atlas flextrack in the hidden areas & 36"R curves. And to increase the reliability factor, I plan to use the highest number frogs that I can. Ruling equipment will be steam locos up to 2-8-8-2 and 80ft passenger cars. Remember, this question is in regards to hidden/marginally-accessible trackage only.
I did a search on this subject but got a lot of “clutter” in return.
In my case, the only acceptable choice (for any application, not just hidden staging) is:
Hand laid, rails shaped with a 10" mill file, laid on wood ties with real spikes and soldered with a 325-watt Weller hand cannon.
That’s what I’m using, and I challenge anyone to match my trackwork for reliability with anything they can buy in a package from an E-tailer or LHS. Not only that; I can set up some really strange track geometry (like yard throats on sweeping curves) that simply can’t be duplicated with commercial shake-the-box products.
As for Atlas - thanks to the plastic frogs, they are totally useless to me. Some of my most-used rolling stock only picks up propulsion power from one short-wheelbase truck on each side, and the pickup doesn’t span the plastic. Switching at realistic slow speed results in a full emergency stop at every turnout.
Rolling your own turnouts isn’t difficult. Even this arthritic old coot can do it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on hand-laid specialwork)
I’m going with Fast Tracks, much for the same reason that Chuck went with handlaid. Unlike the others, the ones you make are in guage and 100% relaible.
I always thought the Peco was the best, but now that I have many in service I know they could be better. Don’t get me wrong, I like the looks of the peco but I needed DCC friendly turnouts and they are not. The only real modification in the tracking department is I install a shim in the guardrails to keep the frogs from getting picked(Simple fix and helps a lot). Also, now that I can operate the yard I have a large radius Peco where the switcher keeps grazing the point rails(oposite power) and causing a short. It does not happen often but it gets bothersome as anytime another operator runs the yard Murphy will come in and guarranty an occurance. The simple solution would be to have those rails be the same polarity. I know there is a fix but thats for another day.
Chuck and Chip have the right answer for the ultimate in rolling reliability. Another advantage to rolling your own besides custom geometry and reliablility is that the wiring is your choice, not the manufacturer’s. If you need live frogs to avoid stalls and flickering lights, your make your frogs live. If you want to avoid shorts from the backs of wheels at the points shutting down your DCC, you wire the points to the adjoining stock rails from the get go.
Final advantages to rolling your own are cost and appearance. Cost of materials is $3-$4 at most. And no ugly black plastic frogs or guardrails. Just smooth-riding metal frogs with on-spec flangeways that prevent wheel drop and frog picking, and look much more like the prototype to boot.
I appreciate your inputs but I’m not so sure about handlaying my own track. While I’ve been reading all of Model Railroader’s how-to-handlay articles for 45 years now and always thought I would do just that on my BIG layout, reality is that my 53 year old eyes would be permanently cross-eyed if I try to do that. I may still try my hand at handlaying on some upfront tracks but I find it hard to believe that it’s the only way to go on my hidden staging tracks. Nonetheless, I remain open minded…
With the jigs ( http://www.haindlaidtrack.com ) it is way easier than you would think. Still takes time, no way around that. The jigs are expensive, but once you go over ten or fiftenn turnouts you are saving money. I’ll be using them everywhere, including my ‘hidden in plain sight’ staging, just because I’ve got the jigs, and can build them cheap. The ones in staging will probably not have all the ties, that’s the real time consuming part, and it’s jsut cosmietic.
There are some videos on the site, have a look at them. I do them in N, if you are in HO I think they’ed be a snap. (I do use an optivisor).
I’ll admit I came on pretty strong, but absolutely bulletproof trackwork is something I’m inclined to get passionate about. It’s especially critical in staging, where easy access to correct minor bobbles might involve moving a (styrofoam) mountain. (In my case, it will involve unscrewing fascia panels from their support frames.)
If you’re ever going to hand-lay anything, even a few feet of perfectly tangent track, the best place to practice is where your COSMETIC blunders won’t show. Nobody starts laying perfect track. Singed ties and the occasional ugly blob of solder are just about certain to happen as you attack the learning curve. It’s like swimming - people are afraid of being less than Olympic performers, so they hesitate to start. Once you jump in, you quickly learn that it’s a lot easier than you thought it would be.
For turnouts in hidden staging it’s perfectly permissable to substitute baulks of rough-cut sheet balsa for finely-scaled ties. After all, who’s likely to pick up the mountain or dismantle your fascia to check how you built your turnouts?
The only absolute requirement is that the rails must be the appropriate distance apart and the flangeways must adhere to standard. I hand-lay with my NMRA gauge in one hand and a pair of three-point track gauges riding the rails.
I understand your fears. When I first started hand-laying in 1976 (HO, code 70), the most difficult model railroading task I’d done up to that point was building a detailed Silver Streak plastic reefer. Fast Tracks jigs didn’t exist; I was armed with the basic tools and Jack Work’s article in April 1963 Model Railroader on building turnouts.
As long as you have the patience to refasten the rail (solder or spike) a couple of times if necessary to get the gauge spot on, you can hand-lay reliable track. As Chuck states, your first attempts may not be cosmetic masterpieces (then again, they might be depending on your skill), they will be more derailment-free than commercial turnouts just because you took the time to get the rail locations spot on.
Lay a siding or spur to get the feel of your chosen method of fastening rail down and using track gauges. Then, believe it or not, you are ready for your first turnout.
For turnouts, the Fast Tracks jigs hold your hand in fabricating a nearly goof-proof turnout. The drawback of the jigs is that they don’t work for laying custom turnout sizes and curves to fit your particular space.
My chosen methods are gluing redwood (no stain required to match my prototype) or pre-stained basswood ties to Homasote, ballasting at the same time ties are laid, san
Back to the original question (that is, which commercial turnout is most reliable), it seems nobody has mentioned Walther/Shinohara turnouts. Are they reliable enough to use in hidden locations? If you’re using code 83 track where you can see it, is there any reason not to use it where you can’t see it?
I’ve tried running Peco code 83 and found them to be nothing but problems. 1/2 the problem was the turnout itself and the other half was I did not know that Code 83 Peco turnouts are not compatible with Atlas Flex Track (code 83).
turnouts themselves are pretty, but fragile compared to Atlas, meaning they break easily. I’ve managed to cause serious damage to several. The easiest way to destroy them is to use a dremel cut off tool to shorten the turnout motor rod while the motor is mounted to the turnout. You WILL ruin the tie rod and the cute little spring that everyone seems so in love with.
I’ve got 15 #5’s with turnout motors and LED postion switches, I’d take $20 a piece for them.
My current direction is FastTracks, and have made 6 turnouts so far. There is a big learning curve to making the turnouts, my first was about 3 hours, I’m down to about an hour and still not sure I have some of the techniques now pat. All 6 are beautiful to look at and about half of them are now reliable to run on. I’ll stay with it, because to my knowledge, the best turnout one can have with the 500 feet of Atlas flex I have is either an Atlas turnout or a FastTracks that has been specially ordered to use Atlas Rail. Not sorry I spent the money on the jigs, I’m just not competent with them so far!
If anyone has experience with the Central Valley turnouts, I’d sure be interested in hearing about them. I’m getting back into model railroading and have bought sevral of these kits. I handlaid a turnout once using the Tony Koester atricle and it worked well. But I can’t help but feel that CV track is the way to go.