Just to complete my earlier post, here are photos of what I built. As I said, this was done without any jigs or special tooling. It works very well.
Jan
Thank you all for the comments.
That is some piece of trackwork from the Bronx, glad I'm not trying such a thing. I'm not much for soldering, so that is quite beyond me.
Paul, yes I was considering using commercial crossings. I think I see from the comments that a piece of straight at each approach would help keep the wheels from jumping when hitting the crossing frogs.
As I said, I'm in the early stages so may see if there is some other configuration that will fit my ideas and not prove too complex.
Thanks again,
Richard
That one-handful puzzle palace was created by Tim Warris, the FastTracks guru. When he first posted it, many moons ago, I facetiously inquired if he was going to make the jig available...
I was on the verge of building a crossing with both tracks curved. Then I redesigned the scheme and the need went away. Instead, there's a #5 double slip switch with both routes straight...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with hand-laid specialwork)
gregc richhotrain greg, that is masterful, a true piece of art! not mine. It's from the Bronx terminal
richhotrain greg, that is masterful, a true piece of art!
not mine.
It's from the Bronx terminal
LOL Just kidding.
Regardless of who created it, it is truly a work of art.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotraingreg, that is masterful, a true piece of art!
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
gregc when i handlay turnouts, i learned to have straight sections of track leading to the frog. The other thing is to properly space the guard rail so that it pulls the wheels to avoid it catching on the frog. in the picture below from the Bronx Terminal, you can see (bottom right) that both both wheels on the curved track won't cross a frog at the same time. As one crosses the frog, the other wheel is guided by the guard/rail. The may not be true if the crossing is perpendicular. Might be better at an angle if you're handlaying. An over/under crossing would avoid the problem.
when i handlay turnouts, i learned to have straight sections of track leading to the frog. The other thing is to properly space the guard rail so that it pulls the wheels to avoid it catching on the frog.
in the picture below from the Bronx Terminal, you can see (bottom right) that both both wheels on the curved track won't cross a frog at the same time. As one crosses the frog, the other wheel is guided by the guard/rail.
The may not be true if the crossing is perpendicular. Might be better at an angle if you're handlaying. An over/under crossing would avoid the problem.
http://www.bronx-terminal.com/ That is an extreme example of what you are thinking of doing. You can read their blog and watch the videos and see if your skillset matches or can be developed to that point. I was considering a curved crossing on my last layout. I later decided to eliminate it, then tore down the layout due to buying a house.
I have built two of these recently and in fact have taken photos in progress and drafted a description of how to do it. I started from Atlas 83 Flextrack. The key ingredient is to solder the rails to PC board ties from FastTracks http://www.handlaidtrack.com/. The bottom line is that building a custom curved crossing is entirely doable without special tooling or expert craftsmanship skills. If you are interested, I can email you the description I have drafted or would it be more useful if I uploaded it to this forum? If somebody could explain how to attach photos to messages in the forum, I have a couple.
In nutshell, I began with the curved rails by soldering them to PC ties attached with double side scotch tape to a baseboard. I then notched the top of these rails and the bottom of the straight rails where they cross then soldered them in place. Repeat for guard rails. Soldering iron, motor tool and razor saw are the only tools necessary.
I don't have the experience but will offer an idea. I'm assuming the crossing track will be straight and the other curved. And that you want to use purchased track, not hand laid. And that you want a continuous curve or nearly so.
I wonder if you could not use a commercial crossing and modify it. The more severe the angle, like 90 degree, the shorter the legs. But you could shorten legs on longer crossings on the curved part. Since you don't want (or might live with a minimum) straight piece in the curve, maybe cut the tie to rail holder bumps on the curved section up to the crossing frogs so the rails can be curved. Cut the tie connectors underneath so they can curve like flextrack. Put joiners to the adjoining curved track rails and solder, which gets the gauge about right. Then establish the overall curve and push the ties where they need to be. Spike free rail as needed to keep everything in gauge. Then the only straight rail is the small actual crossing.
If I understoid correctly, maybe that would be satisfactory. Or worth a try. Of course, the broader the curve radius the better. It's not uncommon to adjust commercial track.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Richard,
I think having the curve as smooth as possible if gonna prove less trouble. I don't have one, but have built a standard gauge/narrowguage crossing so have some idea of what you might face.
Lay the straight section first, then bisect it with the curve. The trick is getting the frogs to all line up. Mine don't in a couple of places so sets up a distinct jog when the SG side is used. Someday I may fix that, but while it's ugly it operates just fine. Throw a curve in and things get somewhat trickier. These frogs also must line up, but you can't put a straight edge on them. You'll figure it out.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
As any of you who have sketched out layout plans know, there is much more room for thngs in your head than on the drawing board. Also, less on the drawing board than on the layout.
I am in the early stages of drawing up a track plan and it appears that the best option would be to have a crossing on a curve. Not just sure what degree crossing will be needed, but I can adjust it some. I'm hoping that someone here has had the same configuration and can give me some information.
My question is am I asking for trouble? If so, would adding a section of straight each side of the crossing reduce the problem?
As I said, I'm early in the planning, so expect I will have many more questions.
Thank you,