I have just finished fabricating the first no. 5 turnout for my turnaround wye. Using Charlie Comstock's excellent youtube tutorial on building turnouts using homemade jigs, I fabricated the frog point and then spiked this assembly between the stock rails. As I am using a 26 radius curve for the wye, a number 5 turnout appeared to be the right angle according to a paper given by Rich Kolm at a PCR Convention in 2008 entitled "Turnouts, what you need to know."
The remaining question I have is how close the point rails should be spiked to the actual area they make contact to the stock rails. I know that the throw bar will capture the very ends of the point rails and that the rails need to move enough for the flanges on the trucks to clear the gap between the point and stock rails. But I have seen nothing on how close to actually tie down the point rails. The picture shows where I have currently spiked down the point rails. I know I need to move closer to the throw bar location. But how far is a mystery. The point rails have not been soldered to the throw bar when the picture was taken. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated as you all have been very helpful in helping me get to this point.
Jim
James:
I just measured an Atlas #4 at 2 5/8 inches from the rivet to the point.
Peco short are 2 7/8 " .
Hope this helps some.
Dave
Tony Koester recommends 15 ties back from the throw bar. This is for a #6 with the frog a scale 50' from the throw bar
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
According to my old prototype trackwork hand book (CE78 dated 1957)there were only 2 standard size point rails. 11 foot for short switches and multiple branches/ frogs. 22 foot for mainline and high ton per hour switches. I also see a 16 foot point rail for special work such as gauntlet, and derails. Point rails are not made on site. They were milled, drilled, and stiffened before being sent out for use.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Greg, that is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
Fast Tracks turnouts have the last soldered point 11 ties (counting the first headblock tie) from the throwbar for a #5. With an all rail turnout, it's a tradeoff on how much force needs to be applied to the throwbar vs keeping the closure rails in gauge. Rest position should probably be centered, although an unscientific thought says for a curved turnout it should be slightly towards the inside stock rail to make sure the point rail snugs up tight and doesn;t get picked.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The finished product is pictured below. First hand laid turnout. A good project hopefully to be repeated many times in the future.
I checked the points with the NMRA gauge and with a set of metal wheel trucks before soldering to the throwbar. After soldering, the straight route works great, the curved route works okay but may need a little tweeking at the frog. The picture is a little out of focus in the foreground where the actual points are located.
After fabricating the first turnout, I would recommend anyone interested in trying to handlay track also consider layout built hand laid turnouts. Save major dollars is you need numerous turnouts and allow for custom fit trackwork as needed.
I have built a number of turnouts of various types using the Fast Tracks method. They work very well, even if you flub on a point or two. They can be corrected if the flub causes unreliable transit of an item of rolling stock simply by unsoldering and soldering the rail in a slightly different place or orientation.
I managed to get points to work well, but if there is one place I seem to have problems, it will be at the frog. I don't mean that I get derails...I mean that it doesn't look much like a 'real' turnout. While I accept that NMRA compliant commercial turnouts will have frogs with a number of variant configurations that all seem to work fine, I expect Fast Tracks frogs to look good and to run well. They do the latter all the time, but I can't get that large point to closure rail gap to close much without pinching the flanges and causing problems. I figured all along that I should have no obvious/visible wheel hitches or dips as they cross that frog point-to-closure gap, but I can't seem get quite there as Tim Warris does in his videos. It's a source of frustration for me.
I close, though, assuring readers that every one of my turnouts, first through nth, works like a charm. Even my custom made ones with weird geometry. The system works. It just does...