Login
or
Register
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Home
»
Model Railroader
»
Forums
»
Layouts and layout building
»
Most reliable turnout?
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
<p>Guy,</p><p>You did a fine job of summing up my original question: what to do for hidden turnouts. However, that said, I also enjoyed all of the discussions about the look, reliability and "ease" of handlaying turnouts. So much so that I will likely try a little handlaying of my own; at least on some up-front trackage. But one benefit no one mentioned about installing store-bought turnouts in hidden staging yards is that you aren't forced to do tedious turnout troubleshooting and repairs while on your knees under your layout. If you have a problem turnout, just pull the bad one out and replace it entirely with another one. You can't do that with handlaid turnouts. </p><p>But I can't understand the claims that building a Fasttrack turnout is cheaper than store-bought. I looked up the Fasttracks website and was shocked to find that ONE jig costs about $170 (in HO.) Don't get me wrong, the jig appears to be well crafted and will likely last a lifetime of tracklaying but that's $170 for EACH type and size of turnout. Granted, each jig will build both right and left hand turnouts but while one #6 turnout jig will probably build hundreds of #6 right and left turnouts, how many of us have layouts that could get by with just the one frog angle? If you plan on #8 and #10 turnouts on your mainline. that's an additional $340. And if your yard requires three-ways, slips, wyes, curved turnouts, etc with two, three and four frog angles in each type (and those curved turnouts would require a separate jig for each radius combination!), well all of those jigs could easily add up to several thousands of dollars PLUS the rail, printed circuit board ties, etc. WOW! And of those who hailed that the primary benefit of handlaying is that you aren't limited to whatever sizes and shapes of pre-built turnouts that are offered, then I doubt that they could get by with just one, two or even six turnout jigs for their layouts. I know I couldn't.</p><p>I can see where being a club member might benefit here. Each member could buy one type/size and they could all then pool their turnout jigs, thereby eventually having one of every size and type available to the membership. But for an individual living far from the closest club, Peco is starting to look pretty good. :-) </p>
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
Update Reply
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Users Online
Jackflash
see all »
Search the Community
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter
See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter
and get model railroad news in your inbox!
Sign up