Turnouts

[superbe]

SPYDad

2.  Also, I created this layout on AnyRail - who or where would be a good place, person, or organization to submit the file to and request a critical analysis from an "experienced eye."

As for analysis of your track plan this forum in the layout section is a good place to start. There are some real pros at critiquing track plans on the forum.

You will be asked to post your plan as well as a diagram of the room and dimensions for starters.

I'll second the Peco curved turnouts and would reccomend their switch motors as well. I say this from personal experience.

Good luck and I hope to enjoy your threads.

Bob

[tomikawaTT]

Add my vote to those advocating hand-laid turnouts.  I build my own in place on the layout, setting the geometry by first bending flex track to the desired routes and tracing the tie lines.

As I see it, handlaying has the following advantages:

1. You, not some manufacturer, set the geometry,  This results in smooth, flowing trackwork, not a herky-jerky of alternating straight and curved segments.  Also, especially for curved turnouts, the frog number becomes irrelevant.
2. You are the quality control inspector, on the spot and equipped to correct minor glitches before they grow into major problems.
3. By using full-length rails for stock rails you do away with the commercial standard two rail joints just in advance of the points - and the potential for a kink right there.
4. The price is definitely right.  If you are planning that many turnouts, the savings could easily finance a couple of locomotives, or a passenger train.

Fast-track jigs are nice, but not necessary.  I have never used them, because I learned to hand-lay turnouts decades before they became available.  Two three point gauges and an NMRA gauge meet my simple need when it comes to keeping things in gauge.

As with any activity, there is a learning curve when building hand-laid specialwork.  Your first efforts might be cosmetically ugly, but fully serviceable.  Plan to put them in hidden staging or some other place where the sun won't shine.  If you build several hidden turnouts first, by the time your product sees the light of day it should meet the quality standards of all but the most die-hard rivet counters.

In conclusion, there is no feeling like the feeling of satisfaction you will get when you watch a train snake through a puzzle palace of hand laid specialwork and you can think, "I laid that."

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with hand-laid specialwork)

[hornblower]

There's a nice article in this month's MR explaning how to build your own N scale turnouts.  I have been using a similar method to build every single turnout (nearly 50) on my current layout including curved turnouts.  The biggest advantage to building your own is that you can create any frog angle and curve radius you need to fit your space.  The other surprise is that my rolling stock glides through my turnouts with barely a click or wiggle.  Far better performance than I used to get with the Atlas turnouts on my old layout.

Joe Fugate's website has a nice how-to using Central Valley tie strips as a guide.  I started this way but eventually just made my own jig cutting grooves in a piece of plywood to hold the PC ties while I soldered the rails in place.  I then use Evergreen or Plastruct styrene strips to create the ties in between the PC ties.  I also found it cheaper to buy inexpensive flex track from TrainWorld and strip the ties off the rails to get my rail stock.  This also gives my a large supply of ties to slip under my finished track joints.

I purchased a #6 frog and point filing jig from Fast Tracks as well as several bags of their PC ties (I wouldn't recommend cutting your own -- major headache -- don't ask me how I know).  I glued a copy of the Fast Tracks #6 turnout template to my plywood jig to help guide my assembly.  An NMRA track gage is a must!  It takes me about three hours to fully assemble one turnout.  My turnouts are a little under-detailed compared to the Joe Fugate/Central Valley method, but the build flexibility and final operation is nothing short of incredible. 

Oh, one funny thing I discovered while cutting my PC ties to length.  I use a Xuron track cutter to trim my PC ties.  However, I found that cutting the ties with the flush cutting side of the track cutter facing the desired end of the tie leaves a burr in the copper foil on both the top and bottom of the tie.  These burrs need to be filed flat or the tie won't sit quite flat in the jig or on your work surface.  After accidently cutting a PC tie with the flush cutting side of the track cutter facing the waste end of the tie, I found that the resulting cut was clean and square with no burrs in the copper foil.  Weird!

[tstage]

SPYDad,

I don't care for any of the commercial brands and prefer Fast Track (FT) turnouts.  And they come in quite a variety of straight and curved radii.  The downside is that you either have to make them yourself, or find someone who has the jigs and fixtures to make them for you.  Eventually I'd like to build my own but I've bought them in the past off eBay.  Here's some N-scale offerings.

FT turnouts are about the same price as Peco's (sometimes cheaper) but are more realistic looking and operate very smoothly.  The one's off eBay already come assembled, painted, and the frog wired.  Since I have a number of small switchers on my layout, I REALLY like the live frogs with the Caboose Industries 222S ground throws.  (They work well with Tortoise throws, too.)

I used Atlas initially when I first started in MRRing but I was never completely satisfied with them - particular the plastic insulation at the frog.  Since switching over to FTs, I've NEVER regretted it.  Here's Fast Tracks N-scale web page for additional information.

Lastly, the fella who sells the N-scale FT turnouts on eBay is the same fella I've bought my HO-scale turnouts from.  Jeff does very good work.  And, if you don't see what you need, just drop him an e-mail and tell him what you're looking for.  If Jeff doesn't have the jigs for that particular turnout, he might be willing to get it if you are wanting a few of that type.  And FT turnouts can also be fabricated in Micro-Engineering or Atlas railing.

SPYDad, to the forum.  Hope that helps...

Tom

[CascadeBob]

Peco makes large radius curved turnouts.  I don't remember the radii of the two legs of the turnout, but they're probably approximately equivalent  a #8 turnout.  I've used two of these turnouts in my own layout on 24" and 25 3/8" radius curves.  I like the Peco turnouts because they have sprung points which allows you to throw them manually and the points are held in place by the spring tension.

You might check with the Layout Design Special Interest Group (LDSIG) of the NMRA to see if they offer any kind of free review of draft track plans.  Failing that, I can personally recommend Byron Henderson who does professional layout and operations planning and who did an outstanding job on a plan for my large N-scale layout, the Cascade Southern, which can be seen on his website www.layoutvision.com.  Byron is the Editor of LDSIG Journal.

Hope this helps,

Bob

[SPYDad]

I just joined and have 2 questions:

1.  I'm planning a comprehensive N scale layout on a 18 x 20 foot "C"-shaped platform with many turnouts, 3 helixes, a 7-track double-ended yard, two A/D tracks, two double yard leads, and a hidden staging/fiddle yard.  Many of the turnouts are are curved, most with large radii.  Which manufacturer offers the best selection of curved turnouts, along with of course No. 6 up to No. 10 straight turnouts (for commonality in code, appearance, etc.)? 

2.  Also, I created this layout on AnyRail - who or where would be a good place, person, or organization to submit the file to and request a critical analysis from an "experienced eye."