As a related issue, more like a side bar, when Tim set up FT, it was on a direct to modeler basis so there was no profit point for a LHS. No biggy; it's a business decision.
Two weeks ago, I was informed by my LHS owner, that he has entered into an agreement with FT to be a dealer. As I have a lot of FT track fixtures and other tooling already, he has asked me if I would be interested in making track sections and turnouts for his shop to sell. I'll keep you up to date.
Paul
Good deal, Keith. Report back when you take delivery of the FT turnouts. I've always good experiences with John.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Thanks. I already ordered a couple of turnouts from him and am just waiting on delivery. He seems like a nice guy from the email correspondence I had with him. I asked if he could paint my turnouts Floquil Roof Brown instead of Railroad Tie Brown or whatever it is he normally uses. He made a trip to the store to get the color I wanted and is building new turnouts for me even though he already has some up on ebay that otherwise meet my needs. I am very encouraged to hear others are happy with his work. Besides getting some of the special turnouts for which I dont want to buy the jigs, Im also looking forward to having a well built reference model to compare my own efforts at the commonly used #6 and #8 turnouts that I will do myself.
Keith
duckdogger According to Tim Warris at Fast Tracks, they have no ties with anyone selling completed turnouts made from their components on eBay.
According to Tim Warris at Fast Tracks, they have no ties with anyone selling completed turnouts made from their components on eBay.
Wow thats good to know. One of the guys there told me in an e mail he was from FT. I'm not sure which one it was but I'll keep this in mind
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Keith,
Although I eventually would like to make my own, I've bought a number of my Fast Track (FT) turnouts from the same fella that Paul mentions above. He assembles them, paints them, and wires the frogs for basically the price of a Peco turnout. I've been very happy with his work.
I can also get FT turnouts in various sizes and codes; straight or curved. I like them waaaay better than the commercial turnouts available.
According to Tim Warris at Fast Tracks, they have no ties with anyone selling completed turnouts made from their components on eBay. However, John Wickam is the primary seller whose listings you see there.
I have purchased many of his Fast Track turnouts and he is a trusted source. Contact me and I will give you his email.
RE: Cream City they wouldn't respond to my emails and since they had requested payment a month earlier and never shipped, I raised a dispute with PayPal. They still didn't respond to the dispute so I filed a fraud claim and PayPal refunded my prior payment almost immediately.
Regarding Cream City, I paced an order on Nov 17th. On Dec 12 they indicated they were ready to go and requested payment through PayPal which I did. Then on Dec 16th they again indicated they were ready to ship. I inquired again on Dec 28th and their reply om Dwc 30th said they would go out that day. So now we are well into Jan and guess what, they havent shipped yet! I filed a complaint with PayPal and they quicky refunded my money. Thank goodness for PayPal. Way easier than trying to deal with a credit card company in cases of fraud.
I know somebody who sells turnouts made from the Fast Tracks jigs - Jim Wanlass. See his site at http://jamestowntrains.com/ .
Rob Spangler
JSperan Another option to the Fast Track jigs and for curved turnouts is Central Valley turnout tie strips. Check out Joe Fugate's article, Poor Man's Jig Built Turnouts on page 48 of the September 2011 issue of MRH for more info.
Another option to the Fast Track jigs and for curved turnouts is Central Valley turnout tie strips.
Check out Joe Fugate's article, Poor Man's Jig Built Turnouts on page 48 of the September 2011 issue of MRH for more info.
I have to completely agree. I've seen several write-ups of Joe's method where he uses the Central Valley tie strips as a "Poor Man's Jig" and it is definitely a smart way to go and the results are outstanding. It would be hard to do much better without spending a lot of money on specialty fittings.
John
fwright K. Holt: Is there anyone that sells turnouts using Fasttrack jigs?....I dont have the expertise to hand lay turnouts without the Fasttracks system. Actually, you do have the expertise. You just haven't applied what you have already learned from building the turnouts you have. The jigs make building hand laid turnouts a little faster, at the price of being fixed geometry like commercial turnouts. And the hand-holding the Fast Tracks instructions is most commendable. But you can do the same thing by drawing your own template, or by drawing a template in place on the layout. The Fast Tracks site has downloadable templates, too. Then just form the parts to fit. The frog angle comes from your template - file and shape to match. I tried to order a couple turnouts from a company called Cream City on Nov 17 but havent received them yet. Thats a long time to have to wait. Anyone know of another option? Have you contacted Cream City since? I've never heard anything negative about them. When HOn3 commercial turnouts were in very short supply a couple of years ago, Litco and Cream City started producing turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs. Litco was even sold in Caboose Hobbies. Railway Engineering (another source) has been producing outstanding custom track work for a long time. BK (Trout Creek Engineering) also offers turnout kits and custom turnouts. Stephen Hatch of Railway Engineering gave a clinic on how he builds turnouts - I gained some pointers and new techniques from that. His web site has a lot of details, too. my thoughts, your choices Fred W
K. Holt: Is there anyone that sells turnouts using Fasttrack jigs?....I dont have the expertise to hand lay turnouts without the Fasttracks system.
Is there anyone that sells turnouts using Fasttrack jigs?....I dont have the expertise to hand lay turnouts without the Fasttracks system.
Actually, you do have the expertise. You just haven't applied what you have already learned from building the turnouts you have. The jigs make building hand laid turnouts a little faster, at the price of being fixed geometry like commercial turnouts. And the hand-holding the Fast Tracks instructions is most commendable. But you can do the same thing by drawing your own template, or by drawing a template in place on the layout. The Fast Tracks site has downloadable templates, too. Then just form the parts to fit. The frog angle comes from your template - file and shape to match.
I tried to order a couple turnouts from a company called Cream City on Nov 17 but havent received them yet. Thats a long time to have to wait. Anyone know of another option?
Have you contacted Cream City since? I've never heard anything negative about them. When HOn3 commercial turnouts were in very short supply a couple of years ago, Litco and Cream City started producing turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs. Litco was even sold in Caboose Hobbies. Railway Engineering (another source) has been producing outstanding custom track work for a long time. BK (Trout Creek Engineering) also offers turnout kits and custom turnouts.
Stephen Hatch of Railway Engineering gave a clinic on how he builds turnouts - I gained some pointers and new techniques from that. His web site has a lot of details, too.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I've bought stuff from Cream City before, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. My recollection is that they are a little slow on the shipping side (but nothing too out of the ordinary) but are *very* good at communication and have always answered my questions promptly and satisfactorily, including queries about "where is my ..."
Build your own turnout, you have some experience. Here's my HowTo for any type of turnout.
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
K. Holt Is there anyone that sells turnouts using Fasttrack jigs?....I dont have the expertise to hand lay turnouts without the Fasttracks system.
Go to E-Bay and type in Fast "Tracks HO." A builder with the zip code 07044 will show individual switches, just pick out the ones you want. If you have a question, just E-mail him. I have purchased about 15 switches including curved and "y's" with no problems. If you go to the Fast Tracks Website you can print out full size templates for all their switches.
Bill
Keith.
Many people did not have the expertise of hand laying turnouts but they tried and succeeded. Those expensive jigs are a good selling point to someone without the guts to try it on their own. Keep those jigs I can buy a loco with DCC and sound for the cost of one jig. If you really want to try something easy and a whole less costly look to Central Valley turnout kits or even Proto 87 $10 turnouts. The ties are the jig. All you need is a good file and some patience.
http://www.proto87.com/
http://www.cvmw.com/index.htm
I have used the CVT turnouts and used P87 frogs and throw bars on some turnouts. On others I make my own frogs and throw bars that work very well.
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!
Fast Track always has a few pre made ones and sell them on that auction site. The user name is not Fast tracks though so you have to be careful who you buy from. They are the only ones I know of. Sometimes someone else will have a few there too. I'll send you an email
ratled.
Is there anyone that sells turnouts using Fasttrack jigs? I bought one of their jigs for straight track and am impressed with how relatively easy it is. Problem is the jigs are expensive which might be ok for #6 turnouts that would get a lot of use, but I have need of several other types (i.e., curved) and buying all the jigs for those is going to get expensive. I dont have the expertise to hand lay turnouts without the Fasttracks system.