Layouts and layout building

Laying your own track is relatively easy.  A search of this forum and past issues of MR ought to provide you with a lot of basic informantion.  Defintely give it a whirl.  If you run into to problems come on back here and someone can help.   You'll need rail, ties, spikes, at least two three point spike gauges, and an NMRA gauge.  You also need a good pair of needle nose pliers.

  Building switches is a little harder.  You've got three choices:  buy switch kits (either completely assembled switches for handlaying, or kits like Central valley's),  use the Fast Tracks jigs and fixtures, or assemble in place.  Option one and two are the easiest.  You'll have to invest a bit in the Fast Track tools, but they make it possible to assemble nearly flawless trackwork very quickly and easily.  Perhaps the best option is to buy a few preassembled switches (there are several makers of these) till you get the hang of handlaying and decide that you want to invest in the Fast Track tooling. 

Alternatively search this board for tips on building in place turnouts.  It's not that hard, but try laying some plain track first so you can see what's invovled adnd perfect your spiking technique

IMHO handlaying is the way to go.  It looks great and produces track that runs with almost no derailments.  The major mechanical advantage of other track systems is that you can widely stagger joints, avoiding kinks, while holding to much better gauge standards than commercial manufacturers can afford to do.

hope this helps

JBB 

Before designing my future layout, I got a hold of a three foot piece of homasote. On that, I built a section of standard track (no turnouts), then built another section with a standard turnout in it. My guide was the article on handlaying by Tony Koester that was in MR some years ago. While the track didn't come out perfect, it gave me a good feel for what is required. I gain enough confidence that I could go ahead and design the layout with handlaid turnouts, freeing me from the restricted geometry of commercial ones.

 So I would recommend to anyone to do a trial before making a commitment.

BLe wrote:

Where can I get the supplies needed to make them, like ties and rail and whatever else is needed? Also what gauges and or tools are needed? I can't afford a fancy jig, I'd rather make mine to my own angles to custom fit the layout. Also where can I find a free article about how to build one? thanks

Ties, rail, and spikes are available in the better hobby shops, from Walters, or from http://www.proto87.com/model-railroad-catalog.html.  Andy's Proto87 store sells all the supplies you need, most of them more detailed or closer to scale than the equivalent item in the Walters catalog.

The Fast Tracks web site (http://www.handlaidtrack.com/index.php has a complete line of supplies in addition to their well-known and highly regarded turnout jigs.  Under the documents section of the site are many articles and some videos on making your own turnouts.  Although Fast Tracks tools and jigs are featured, much of the information is the same, regardless of whether you use their jigs.   

Another web article on hand laid track is here:  http://www.railwayeng.com/handlay6/hndly-h3.htm.  Wander around Mr. Hatch's web site - there are hints on track scattered throughout.  Steve Hatch of Railway Engineering makes some of the finest custom turnouts available, but has been kind enough to share his techniques with the rest of us.  This is probably the closest to how I lay my turnouts.

I originally used Jack Work's article in the April 1963 Model Railroader as my guide when building my first handlaid track in the '70s.  I've refined my techniques since then, based mainly on tips I gleaned from the web sites I cited.  Don't be alarmed.  There are as many permutations on hand laying turnouts as there are model railroaders hand laying.  After you have done a few, you will find what works best for you.  Just don't be afraid to experiment. 

The other requirement for handlaid track is patience to stick with it until your track is spot on.  The first time, I had to replace a few ties because there wasn't any room for new spike holes.  But I replaced the ties, got the gauge and rail alignment right, and had a big old grin on my face when my trains ran flawlessly along my handlaid track and turnouts.

because track is a model, too

Fred W 

I agree with fred w  especially his last paragraph

be prepared to have a few attempts before you are really happy with your results

however when you run a train over your work without even the faintest click it gives you a wonderful feeling of achievement

go for it

trevor

"Where can I get the supplies needed to make them, like ties and rail and whatever else is needed? Also what gauges and or tools are needed? I can't afford a fancy jig, I'd rather make mine to my own angles to custom fit the layout. Also where can I find a free article about how to build one? thanks"

Your local hobby shop (LHS) should have most supplies you need - rail, ties and spikes. I bought a few pieces of MicroEngineering flex track for my trial section. Stripped off the ties and just used the rail. I would stay away from Atlas track - it has a springiness which makes it difficult to use for handlaying. I also bought a bag of ME turnout ties and cut them in half. Not really the right length for regular track (8'-0" vs 8'-6"), but it didn't require as much money up front. For the real track, I'll get standard ties.

I also didn't use any jigs. I figured if I could build a decent turnout without any special tools, then I could decide whether to build/buy some later.

I apologize in advance but I have to say this...

Making your own turnouts is definitely a good thing - you can save money and the finished product looks really good.

But I think that the appearance of hand-laid track is significantly inferior to flex track. Seeing those large, oversize spikes every five ties or so looks like a real eye-sore to me. In the old days before good flex track was available, I think this made sense but not any more.

If you have special needs, it may still make sense. If you are modelling a really old prototype (say lightly laid lines of more than 100 years ago), you would benefit from hand laying since tie spacings have changed significantly. 

The model railroad club in Union NJ (one of the largest layouts in the world), exclusively uses hand-laid track. Their reason is that commercial flex wears out too soon - but then again, they have a time horizon of 40 years!!. Apparently, the problem is that the plastic spikes in flex track get loose with time and the track gets out of gauge.

In this forum, search for the  topic "Rail" which was active a couple days ago.  It gives more ideas on where to get the stuff and suggestions.

I make all of my turnouts on the layout, and it is not all that hard once you've done one or two.  Kalmbach books on track and ballast have pictures with step by step pictures on how to do it. 

Have fun!  Hal 

Model Railroaders book "Trackwork and Lineside Detail" is one of the very good books on laying track and making turnouts.

Hal

Addressing the tool requirement only:

• LARGE flat mill file, for filing points and frog point rails to shape.
• Spiking pliers (long-nose pliers with grooves cut in the tips to hold spikes.)
• Rail cutter (Xuron nipper, diagonal-cutting pliers, fine saw.)
• Track gauges.  (I lay specialwork with two three-point gauges and an NMRA gauge.)
• Heavy-duty soldering tool.  (My personal choice is a huge, old Weller gun.)

Note that I haven't included any power tools or anything exotic.  Since I've been hand-laying specialwork for half a century, I got my start long before there were any special jigs - and I've never found a need for them.

Without going into specific construction methods (of which there are about as many as there are people who roll their own trackwork) I have found it helpful to consider these points:

• You can take the time to get things right - or waste the time doing things over.
• You can always file a little more off.  You can't stick metal back on.
• If you pre-bend curved rails to gauge before spiking, they are a lot more likely to stay in gauge during and after spiking.
• If a part is less than perfect, don't use it.  Rail is cheap.
• Above all, Patience.  You can develop speed AFTER you develop skill.

Just my .  Others may have other ideas.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - flex track with hand-laid specialwork)

A year ago when I started reading this forum and debating what to do on my first 'room size' layout I laughed at the thought of someone crazy enough to hand l

I've played around with some Code 80 flex from Atlas, and have recently aquried a few sticks of the Code 55 Peco.   Then the December issue (believe that's the one, not at home to look visiting family out of town) had an article on hand laying the switches with out the jigs.

A very good read, if you look at the issue you can see how it is done.   Personally I think I'm going to go with a jig instead of doing it by hand, but I do also use N Gauge and due to the size your margin of error goes up I think vs. using a larger scale.

Right now I'm debating hand laying the entire thing.  The little jigs they have for the regular trackwork look wonderful and it would let me do code 55 fairly cost effectilvely.  With the weakness of the dollar it seems that flex track is moving from the $3 per 3ft closer to $6 for 3ft while the rails aren't going up as much.   Plus, I think it'll let me relax a bit more in the evenings to just do something a little 'mindless' such as spiking a rail.

Also it seems that glue is becoming more the thing to keep the rails on the ties vs. spiking being as critical, but either way it looks relaxing.

I do plan on buying some parts and trying it without the jig first, but for the size of the room I'm looking at I think I'll be doing enough points to justify a jig or two depending on my final design.

I purchased the FastTracks Code 83 fixture and the No. 8 Point sharpener. I am working my way up by fabricating all of the parts before I assemble my first turnout.

In my opinion, anyone wanting to hand lay their own turnouts would find the point sharpener to be a most valuable tool. It produces an accurate angle every time, and results in perfect frog points and closure rail points in a fraction of the time that it takes using any other method.

I will never need to purchase a ready made turnout again.

I feel that a solder "gun" is too large for soldering rail to pcb

an iron of about 40 watts with a finer tip is better IMO

trevor