switch laying in N gauge.

Hi all , i am abit confused . do i lay the track and points and then mount the switch motors underneath ? I read an article and the guy was saying he joined the switch tracks together off layout then put them down on the baseboard. I want too use the Tortoise switch motors . Have i got it the right way round or not . thanks Andy

This might just be a misinterpretation of what you are stating, but the article about the turnouts off the layout might have been in reference to hand-laying the TO (check out: www.handlaidtrack.com ). If you’re using pre-made TO’s (Peco, Atlas, Shinohara, etc) then you should dry-fit the TO where it belongs, and mark out where you need the hole for the switch machine throw; drill the hole (i think 1/16 wil do it), mount the switch machine and TO, and make sure nothing binds.

I personaly have no experience with the tortoise machines (have only used atlas solenoid throws), and as such i might be wrong on the hole size… though i think thats what was used in a “Mounting Tortoise Switch Machines” type article in MR.