Three way turnout ??

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
21

I did the same as Peahrens with my 3-way.

Dante

22

Sam,

Yes I agree about where to put the wye,at the Blue pin,you can then use,both tracks,without fouling,the main…That way you can also use the,Idler car,always with the power…

Cheers, [D]

Frank

23

Sam, I seem to recall that you use Code 100 track, but I could be wrong. Walthers Shinohara makes the 3-way turnout in Code 83, while Peco and Shinohara make the 3-way turnout in Code 100. I have the Walthers Shinohara Code 83 3-way turnout.

The reason that I used three 3-way turnouts end to end was to save space which was at a premium on my layout as I built the coach yard. If you have the space, my recommendation would be to place two standard turnouts end to end. It will be a lot easier to route the movements with a RH and a LH turnout than with a 3-way. I have actually marked the movements of my 3-way turnouts on my control panel. The two most difficult turnouts to control are the 3-way and the double slip.

I will give you an example. To run a Walthers Shinohara 3 way turnout straight through, the point rails on the single leg must be set right and the point rails on the center must be set left. To run a Walthers Shinohara 3 way turnout divergent right, the point rails on the single leg must be set right and the point rails on the center must be set right. To run a Walthers Shinohara 3 way turnout left, the point rails on the single leg must be set left and the point rails on the center must be set left. That is hard to remember when you are in the midst of running trains. A double slip route is even harder to remember.

Rich

24

Rich, on my old layout the track was all code 100, this new layout I’m working on is all code 83. Well since I have the space it looks like I will use two standard turnouts end to end. This will be less headaches in the long run.

Sam

25

Agreed. [tup]