I’m wondering if there are N scale modelers that have tried the different brands of turnouts and have since settled on one brand vs. another. I would be interested in understanding the reasons behind your choice.
I am in the layout planning process, and I have no experience with any of the brands from an operational standpoint. I am interested in high reliability, prototypical looks, ease of wiring, and overall quality of the product - in other words, the turnout holy grail...
Anyone with experience hand-laying N scale turnouts? I’d be interested in your thoughts too. I read the recent MR article, and it seems this is a job ranked right before going to the dentist!
I do plan to attend TrainFest in Milwaukee this weekend and thoroughly check-out the brands. Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob O.
Modeling Denver Union Terminal and vicinity between 1948 to 1952.
I am in the process of building an N-scale layout that will have about 50 turnouts; they will all be Atlas Code 55. All mainline turnouts will be #10 and industrial turnouts will be either #7 or #10 as space allows. I think the Atlas Code 55 track is the best looking track available in N, which is why I have chosen it as my standard. The only negative feedback I have heard regarding Atlas Code 55 turnouts are some tight flangeway clearances on the first few batches of #5 turnouts that were released some years back.
While handlaying turnouts is not for me (yet), here is a link to a nice size double-deck N-scale layout that is under construction using handlaid turnouts exclusively:
http://www.owensvalleysub.com/
Some handlaid turnouts just completed on this layout:
Jamie
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
After one false start in 1982 with Code 80 track I settled on Rail Craft Code 55. I originally tried my hand at handlaying track but gave that up as an exercise in negotiating a short trip to the lunatic asylum. I have been using Rail Craft/Micro Engineering Code 55 flex for the past 25 years.
To avoid the monotony of #6 switches I developed my skills at handlaying my own Code 55 switches and long before Fast Tracks came wandering onto the scene I developed a jig which enables me to lay out my frog angles and make appropriate cuts to my track for proper soldering. However for the first couple of years I did things simply with graph paper and a ruler and push pins to mark the location of my frog.
I did have some experience handlaying HO-Scale switches which certainly helped my earliest endeavors. Working with N-Scale Code 55 was a little frustrating--that is an understatement if there ever was one--but I eventually mastered the process . I don't know a taillight from a hubcap but I'll betcha that if I worked at it long enough I could probably master certain functions associated with automobile mechanics. Handlaying N-Scale switches is the same; your skills are going to improve with practice.
Unless you reside in an area where there is a considerable population of narrow minded people your local will probably not lay in a quantity of Code 55 rail; my local ordered it for me but I had to purchase a full order of 99' for which I got a 5% discount. When I decided to go the flex track route I still had a considerable quantity of raw Code 55 rail on hand and this has served me well over the course of these many years. My local has required me to purchase a full 6-pack of ME flex--that's 18'--and in the future I might just decide to get my raw rail for switches by tearing up a length or two of this flex. This is the only way you are going to get rail matching the Atlas profile if that is the way you opt to go.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Jamie, thanks for the links. Quite impressive. I've thought about hand-laying track. After seeing pictures of hand layed tracks over the years in MR, I've always felt the realism was visibly apparent.
R.T., thanks for the reply. Other than the soldering jig, what tools do you use to shape your points and frog to get the consistentcy between turnouts? That would seem the biggest challenge working with such small rail...
Tks,
s51flyer R.T., thanks for the reply. Other than the soldering jig, what tools do you use to shape your points and frog to get the consistentcy between turnouts? That would seem the biggest challenge working with such small rail... Tks, Bob O.
I am in the process of designing--this current process is currently only going on in my head--a jig to use with a bench grinder or perhaps a Dremel shaper table. The big problem is figuring a way to hold the rail firm while it is contact with a grinding surface.