All my stubs are wired from below like any other track with spdt switches for power routing. The three way use a rotary switch with home made links going to the turnout.
The house sits on a little slope with a walk out door and a window also for the cellar, temperature differences between summer and winter can change things. It gets cold in New England. The cellar is dry during the summer as I have a dehumidifier.
Yes, attention to the turnouts is required and prototype railroads had the same issue so you might say the layout is a little prototypical. No big deal.
Notice the little cutouts in the rail web for the three way and two way. I had to use little tricks like that
The other three way I had to use a break in one rail, hinge point, because I did not have quite enough room. Look at the top rail and back to the right you can see a shiny dot. That is where the break is.
The turnout is in the yard, Again, only trying to capture the flavor of the era.
Model railroading is an analogy of the real thing and all analogies break down some where. Think of a beautiful modeled railroad pulled by an unpainted brass loco or a layout with curves scaled up to the real thing that would be much to sharp for a prototype.
Besides, we are still boys playing with trains.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
hornblower Looking at Rich's picture of his hand built stub switch, it looks like almost any commercial turnout could be converted to a stub switch by cutting the turnout assembly at the point rail pivots, then aligning the shortened turnout with the pivoting approach track. Could this approach be used?
Looking at Rich's picture of his hand built stub switch, it looks like almost any commercial turnout could be converted to a stub switch by cutting the turnout assembly at the point rail pivots, then aligning the shortened turnout with the pivoting approach track. Could this approach be used?
Short answer, yes.
Slightly longer answer - you will have to assure that the stubs remain in gauge within a hundredth of an inch or so - not the easiest trick with parts that move. They are much more finicky about this than are normal blade points.
One possible answer is to make the stub a little rectangle of rail and PC ties, pivoted where the points of a conventional switch end, with some kind of positive stop/hold down at the moving end. Flexible wire jumpers or some kind of wiping contacts on the bottoms of the stub rails would absolutely, positively have to be there unless all of your powered rolling stock can bridge about 2.5 inches of dead rail without stalling.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hornblower
cuyama Sounds like you might be looking at #34 or #35. Neither of these, unfortunately, is very buildable as drawn unelss you have excellent handlaid track skills (although #34 is slighly more practical). And maybe not even then......By the way, the grid is wrong in the book on #34, I believe. Those lines are 2 feet apart for HO, I'm pretty sure.
Sounds like you might be looking at #34 or #35. Neither of these, unfortunately, is very buildable as drawn unelss you have excellent handlaid track skills (although #34 is slighly more practical). And maybe not even then......By the way, the grid is wrong in the book on #34, I believe. Those lines are 2 feet apart for HO, I'm pretty sure.
Back in the early 1960s, I began building plan #34 (yes, those are two-foot grids) in a slightly larger space to fit commercial trackwork. I finished all the benchwork and much of the roadbed as well as track before abandoning it. I had obtained a back issue of a 1950s Model Railroader magazine containing an article by John Armstrong entitled "variations on 5x10" or something like that. The article contained three track plans of which the "Foothill & Excelsior" plan jumped out and said "build me." It was a much more interesting layout with better operating and viewing opportunities (it was donut-shaped with a central operating station). It also had hidden staging tracks although they weren't described as such.
Mark.
richg1998The HO spikes are grossly over size and only a spike every few ties. Does not look near as good as commercial turnouts. The drawback of hand laid track and turnouts that many people are not aware of.
Use scale-size rail (say, code 70), small spikes, and 4 per tie...and the problems you mention are no longer an issue.
If I didn't think handlaid track looked at least as good as, if not better than, most commercial track, I wouldn't bother to do it.
Here is one of the stub three ways on my 1900 era railroad. Yes, it needs a turnout control.
HO scale, code 100, grossly over size but it captures the flavor of the era.
It is hand laid track but does not look very prototypical. The HO spikes are grossly over size and only a spike every few ties. Does not look near as good as commercial turnouts. The drawback of hand laid track and turnouts that many people are not aware of.
Jason
Modeling the Fort Worth & Denver of the early 1970's in N scale
For those who have responded so far, thanks a lot for the info and advice, although I feel a bit sheepish about being pointed to Google. Maybe I should have started there. Anyway, thanks.
Trackertim
They are for old-time railroads and for narrow gauge railroads. They were useful in snow country because they were less affected by snow and ice.
Sounds like you might be looking at #34 or #35. Neither of these, unfortunately, is very buildable as drawn unelss you have excellent handlaid track skills (although #34 is slighly more practical). And maybe not even then. Stub switches are pretty rare in model railroading because of the alignment issues. They're probably easier to build, but they could be harder to maintain for reliable operation in HO and smaller scales. Neither of these layouts is buildable as drawn with commercial components, in my opinion.
By the way, the grid is wrong in the book on #34, I believe. Those lines are 2 feet apart for HO, I'm pretty sure.
In any case, there are probably more practical, buildable designs for a given space than those found in 101 Track Plans. Nearly all of those require handlaid track to fit and even then are a bit optimistic.
And if you are considering a nominal 4X8 HO layout, giving yourself a slightly larger space than the "sacred sheet" HO 4X8 will probably yield great dividends. Five feet wide by eight, nine, or ten feet will provide a much more useable space in an HO island layout. And around the walls is sometimes an even more space-efficient choice.
Good luck.
ByronModel RR Blog
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Here is how Google caan be your best friend
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=us&q=stub+switches&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=stub+turnouts&btnG=Search
trackertimI'm interested in a layout from 101 Track Plans which calls for very sharp curves and stub switches.
This is where I jump in and point out that if you are choosing this plan because it "just barely fits" a tight space, be advised that many of the plans from 101TPs will not actually fit into the space they claim.
A stub turnout is the old-fashioned type where the lead rails move to make the switch, instead of the blades moving.
You either handlay them or you contract with a custom turnout maker such as BK Enterprise. They are simple to make because there are no points to construct.
Mark
I'm interested in a layout from 101 Track Plans which calls for very sharp curves and stub switches. Just what are stub switches and how does one either procure them or build them and what is their value?
thanks