I’m in the middle of a throw away test layout, and I thought I’d share some of my experiences. I’ve decided to try hand laying track, including turnouts, and I saw at the Amhearst Train show the Fast Tracks booth. Well, despite not having any real soldering experience, I decided that their system was for me.
I won’t go into details on how to assemble using their products, as they have excellent instructions on their web site. I’d like to show you a couple of things that I’ve done with them.
My first attempt came out pretty good. As I only have very limited experience with soldering, I think this is a strong testament to the quality of their products, and the great instructional vidos they produce.
If you’re interested, there is a video of this turnout in action on You Tube.
I than tested it for electrical contact, and after a half hour of chasing ghosts, I was able to run a DC loco over it with no problems. I had gapped correctly, but there were transient strings of copper on the edges of the PC ties that were shorting it out.
With that under my belt, I dove right into the hoopla. I decided I wanted a crossover, and not just two turnouts layed back to back, but one that had a solid piece of rail from the diverging stock rail to the opposing frog.
3 hours later…The completed cross over
Here it is with the previous standard turnout for size comparison
Nice work! I learned that a quick test of the gapped cuircuit board ties with a continuity tester before soldering any rail saved much frustration finding the short after the turnout is built.
Nice job on the trackwork. I’m also working with the fasttracks jigs only in N scale with code 55 rail. I’ve built 3 right-hand and one left hand No. 6. I was swayed by the realistic look of the trackwork as compared to the commercial brands. I was also swayed by the flexibiity you mention in building turnouts.
I too am happy with the results, though I 've yet to install these on the layout and run trains through them.
I sat down one night last week and tried my hand at a turnout, but without any jigs. I used an atlas no6 as a general guide and was very satisfied with the outcome. I ended up soldering the wing rails to the frog (intended) and while the flangeway looks tiny compared to the atlas, a NMRA guage will pass through it.
Wayne, I now do the same thing. Once I’ve cut; gapped, and prepped the ties, the multi meter comes out. After the major solder jobs (stockrails, frog, points) I run it again. The multi-meter is must have IMHO.
Bob, I couldn’t imagine doing this in N, so kudos to you (I wish my eyes were better!) I’ve only run test stuff through mine, but I don’t see them being any different than “commercial” for reliabilty. I still can’t get over how smooth equipment runs through. If you have pictures of your setup, I’d like to see it.
Tom, good on you. I think now, after having put together a dozen turnouts, i could manage one scratchbuilt. I’d love to see yours, any chance of a picture or video? A how to?
That trackwork looks groovy! I like the idea of having a single rail throughout the ladder!
I’m also interested in handlaying turnouts in n scale, and it seems fasttracks only use 55 or 40 rail. I was thinking of moving to 55 anyway (looks better!). You guys mention the flexability: does that include changing the turnout angle as well? As in, if I got a 4.5 (which is same as an Atlas custom turnout, right?), would I have the flexability to extend to a 6 or does that require another $200 jig?
Or, once you get the principle, you can make yr own without the jig or make yr own jig?
And, since there’s no spring like a peco turnout, I assume you need a handthrow to hold the positions.
When it comes to changing the diverging route angle, than no, that’s set by the jig you choose. When I mention flexability, it has to do with shortening the whole turnout, or in the case of the ladder or crossover, condensing the entire turnout to a safe operating minimum. Take a look at my ladder, the switch bar is just above the last switch’s frog. That’s the kind of compression I mean, and unfortunately changing the angle is not part of that with the jig.
Jigs are just $100 US I think, and that price can easily be covered after 10 turnouts. I have a 5 and a 6, and will have their costs covered after this yard is complete.
Could you learn to make it yourself? Sure. I think folks have for years, in fact. I might suggest just looking at the points tool, and the stock rail tool.
No spring, so I’m using blue point’s to switch mine. Depending on how you make yours, you can easily set a default path.
Ah: the “kits” are about $200 while the “assembly fixtures” are about $115.
Do you get the rail and pc boards that comes with the Fasttracks or did you get yrs separate from yr LHS?
the compression of yr yard looks good.
I tried compressing commercial (atlas code 80) turnouts like that by just cutting some rail off the ends. It got the turnouts shorter, but the tension in the curved rails seems to bow the points side a bit. Had to solder together to maintain gauge. Handlaying seems to take care of that nicely!
I have one of the kits, and have since added the other jig and a stockform aid tool. You can certainly cut the frogs and stockrails, I have, but the point form and stock aid really make it idiot proof. For me, that’s important, being an idiot!.
Rail I’ve picked up here and there on the internet (no decent LHS nearby) including from Fast Tracks. I basically wanted to be able to get the box, open it up, and make a turnout without needing something else. Sometimes we can kill ourselves by cheaping out. A prime example is the solder they sell, .015 acid flux. There is a huge difference with this and other solders, after making 5 turnouts with theirs, I made one with the stuff I had around. Well the turnout works fine, but it’s damn ugly, the small stuff flows much more nicely.
PC board ties, and the like are best direct from them.
I figure from what I have invested in they jigs, I only need to make 20 turnouts to get them down to $25 a piece, which is what Walther’s turnouts are MSRP, including materials. At 30, I’m looking at just $16, 40 for $12.50. This is definitely an investment that will pay off over time! For my current test layout, I’ll need 20 just for this yard area; note that this is not my “big” layout. That one is still under planning consideration, so I should break even pretty quick. eBay resale on their jigs also seems to be rather robust, based on the price of one that I paid for from an auction.
I also like the idea that I can throw together a turnout for just a few dollars worth of materials (at it’s core, just one piece of 36 inc rail and 10 pc ties), which means I’m a lot more eager to much about with them that I would be with commercial ones.
I’m away on biz at the moment, but I’ll post some pics when I return.
I have about 60 turnouts to build in N scale code 55. About 15 are curved. The remainder are No. 6 except for two No. 6 crossovers. I purchased the cross-over and curved turnout jigs, stock rail filing tool, rail and individual ties (vs. quick stick ties) from Fast Tracks. I figure at 60 turnouts, my cost will be about ~$15/turnout. I’m building the left and right hand No. 6 turnouts in the No. 6 cross-over jig. It has the same layout as the No. 6 jig.
Using the individual ties are a pain [2c] in N scale, but it was one way to cut the cost considerably for the number of turnouts I had to make. $15 bucks a turnout for the look and quality I felt was a pretty good deal.
I haven’t made any curved turnouts yet as I wanted to get good a straight turnouts first.
I have to admit the turnouts look pretty good next to a PECO. Nothing against PECO as they are a great commercial turnout. I was looking for something a bit more realistic. I’ll put both in the photo so you can see.
The points jig probably is worth its weight in gold. That was the most time consuming part of my “winging it” turnout. I’m going to make my own before I get into any more on a mill. Here’s the only picture I have of mine. I used silver bearing solder and a water based flux on mine.
If you put that yard ladder together, I’m sure you could do one on your own. I see I have a little nick at the tip of the points, but I never planned on using this one on the layout anyhow. It was a “what am I getting myself into” test. Next comes some curved turnouts.
On the fasttracks site, it states that the center-to-center spacing of the parallel tracks for a #6 double crossover (nscale) is 1.09". I thought standard for parallel was 1.5".
Is there a way to length the distance between the parallel tracks by lengthing the rails between?
(I’m building modules and want the crossovers near the edge, which is set at 1.5" between mains)
I havent used their crossover jig, I’m just doing it with a single turnout jig and that’s working fine. If you use the cross over jig, I think you’re stuck as the rail lengths are preset, if you use just a single turnout jig, you can do what ever you like.
I’ve also found it more useful to think in scale than in standard measurements. For instance, I’m working in HO, and instead of 2" centers, I’m running 12 scale feet center to center for the yard, and 13 scale feet from main to siding. It’s a just a bit over, but I think it looks right (here’s a shot as ties for the yard go down).
Also, Fast Tracks has free downloadable template PDFs for all of their products, you can print it out in to see how it will fit. Just make sure when you do, you set the print settings to 100%.
Tom, I’m planning on trying to make my own curved turnouts, now that that I have the point form (and the rail bender tool), I don’t think it will be that bad!
Bob, I’m looking forward to seeing shots of your N scale stuff. I too am using individual sticks over the quicksticks to save some money, but I can certainly see their appeal.
12-13 foot centers are awful tight. Might want to increase that if possible. 1:1 scale fingers take up a bit more room than a 1:87 crewman riding the side of a car.
You may be right. 12 scale feet is about 1.7 inches, just under the 2 inch standard. This is a tear down (chainsaw) layout I’m doing to learn skills and settings, so I’m taking notes for the next one!
Guess I’m trying to figure out how to get the most turn out from these jigs.
With a single #6 jig, you can make a single turnout, and a single crossover by making opposing turnouts on the same diverging rails (flipping the jig around), with as much space between parallel tracks as you want.
With a double crossover #6 jig, you can make a single turnout, a single & a double crossover, but the crossovers are limited to the spacing between parallel tracks on the jig.
Did I get that right?
I was thinking of getting the #6 single, unless the double crossover doubles as something else, and a #4.5 for my yards and siding, unless there’s a compelling reason a #5 would be preferable (I’m not planning on running bigboys / decapods in my yards).
Exciting stuff! Can’t wait to see more of yr picts & work!
–Mark
You know, I never thought of getting the crossover to make singles out of. What an interesting idea. I actually didn’t get the single in mind of making crossovers, I just realized that I could. Your method may be a better solution.
You might want to contact Fast Tracks directly at service@fast-tracks.net about that, he’s a model railroader, and more than happy to discuss the uses of his products.
I chose #5 and #6’s for my layout, I’ve liked the fives for yards, but I’ve no real experience with the 4.5s.
Do be aware that 70 and code 83 can be used in the same fixture, as Fast Tracks notes that the critical dimensions of Micro Engineering code 70 and code 83 rail are the same. I bought code 83 jigs, and my yard ladder, for example, was made in it with code 70 rail.
