I've read both suggestions and am looking for a consensus, if there is one: attach turnouts only with rail joiners or solder them to some or all adjacent pieces of track? My iron is warming up; what do you say?
I handlay mine so they are spiked to the benchwork and the rails may be a 36" long piece soldered to adjacent rails.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I use rail joiners, but I do not solder them on turnouts.
However, I use feeder wires on every rail of every turnout, and I solder the feeder wires to the bottom of the rail joiners.
Rich
Alton Junction
I strongly prefer to solder joiners around turnouts. Rail alignment there is critical, and I like things to stay put.
Rob Spangler
I glue down my flex track, I do not glue the turnouts, I do solder all rail joints that are not insulated, even at turnouts.
Sheldon
I trust the designers of the commercial turnouts to make them reliable and to work, so I only feed them from the points end. So far, my Peco Streamline Code 83 turnouts have been very reliable. I do not let my turnouts float. I like to anchor them with lightly glued and lightly applied ballast. I prefer to have the points end well anchored to withstand the throwbar action, which on Pecos uses an over-center spring. Also, gluing ballast around and under the turnout helps to keep it firmly in place for smooth and reliable running.
I don't recall ever having to remove a defective Peco, and certainly not one of my hand laid Fast Tracks #8 turnouts, but if I did, I'd just wet the ballast, wait two minutes, slide back the joiners and lift it out. That is how I came to save all but one of my turnouts from the last layout. The one that 'got away' was stuck firmly in dark epoxy that I had spread near it to simulate a greasy puddle. Nothing could free that thing.
Crandell
there is really no right or wrong on this. personally, i fasten them down and solder the joints too.
in the few instances where one had to come out for repairs or track changes, i just chopped the adjacent rail with a dremel cut off disc and pulled the joiner off after heating up the solder joint.
charlie
Not an answer to your question, you have gotten several suggestions, but another suggestion.
Before putting your turnouts down, paint the roadbed under them the color of your ballast. Makes it so that the color of the roadbed does not show through if you only lightly ballast around the moving parts of your turnouts. Some folks do this to all their roadbed.
Have fun,
Richard
Only my curved T/Os are caulked to the roadbed, the rest sit quite firm as the track is caulked down right up to where they join the T/O.
I don't solder my joiners at the T/O. I will ad a feeder to the T/O if a problem develops. After seven years I have not yet had an issue with power getting to the T/Os. I have about forty T/Os and soldered feeders to two as they were in a spot that I didn't want to have to do it down the road. (an ounce of prevention)
I don't think there is a right way to do this. It is a personal preference thing.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
All of my track and turnouts are spiked in place and all rail joints are soldered. It's not that difficult to remove a turnout when necessary, even if it's soldered in place and ballasted. I've removed three, all because they weren't needed as operations developed.
Wayne
Thanks to you all for your views; very helpful in making up my mind.
I let most of mine float, even relying on that connection to hold them down. I set things up when all was DC, so I did solder a lot of stub tracks to feed via the Tortoise and the hot frog, so soldered rails in those cases to save a separate feed on that track. In a few cases, I did have to go back and spike the turnouts in some places because of a grade transition or other slight vertical alignment issue.
I do modify track at times, so not having things solder expedites changes.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
cowman Not an answer to your question, you have gotten several suggestions, but another suggestion. Before putting your turnouts down, paint the roadbed under them the color of your ballast. Makes it so that the color of the roadbed does not show through if you only lightly ballast around the moving parts of your turnouts. Some folks do this to all their roadbed. Have fun, Richard
Yup.
And if you lay the track while the paint is wet, it secures the track as well as caulk....but lay the moving parts of the turnout on DRY paint.
I have used glue, caulk, and paint to secure turnouts. Just don't use a lot of it.
I solder all joints that aren't used for expansion gaps.
- Douglas
I used to float all turnouts. Then I was having a problem with Atlas turnouts forming a hump in the center around the frog area. So if I am using an Atlas #6 turnout I will pin the center to eliminate the hump.
Likewise I do not solder any rail joiners connecting a turnout. I even cut the rail joiners down so they are short enough I can slide them back, pop the turnout for repair/change it, replace it and slide the joiners back on.
Texas Zepher Likewise I do not solder any rail joiners connecting a turnout. I even cut the rail joiners down so they are short enough I can slide them back, pop the turnout for repair/change it, replace it and slide the joiners back on.
Cutting the rail joiners down on turnouts is a great piece of advice because it facilitates the removal and replacement of the turnout.
I'm with Dave Husman - all of my specialwork is hand laid and I prefer using full-length rail for stock rails.
OTOH, I've NEVER had to remove and replace a turnout. Some currently active have been in continuous use since 1980. I foresee the need to replace a throwbar or two, but that won't be particularly difficult.
I also move points with rocksmasher KTM twin-coil machines. If the turnout as a whole was less than solidly anchored, the hammer-blow thrust would shift the point end sideways! (Don't ask how I learned this!)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
always fixed. switch machines that I use like it better that way.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
I'm soldering all turnouts' rail joiners to adjacent 3' (or less) flex track sections which each have their own set of feeders.
I'm testing installed track as we speak, and honestly, I don't understand how people get away without issues with turnouts floating. I'm finding that little tweeks have to be made on every loco to be happy with all turnouts on the layout and that's with no variables because of the glued down/ballasted track/turn outs. I'd hate to try to guess why something (like a steamer's pilot truck) is mis-behaving with the additional flexing of a turn out in the mix.
I'm a relative beginner and I take great comfort in knowing the turnouts are flat and soldered.
I had to replace one turn out and found it very easy to soak the ballast lose with alcohol (only a few minutes) and cut the turn out lose with a disc cutter. I thought this would be very hard to do in a scenicked area, but was one of the easiest things ever. (What a relief).
Hope that helps the OP to decide what he'd like to do. Don't forget to tell us later!
Jim
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
This may be better asked in the wiring forum--if so, I apologize--but I want to be clear about the electrical aspect of my question as well as the mechanical one. If I solder the joiners connecting a turnout to an adjacent three-foot section of flextrack (which may itself be soldered to the next adjacent section), and I have feeder wires soldered to the joiners, then I am obviously going to feed power to the frog end(s) and the point end of the turnout. Even with the DCC-friendly MicroEngineering turnouts, isn't this a no-no? Or do I need to read Polsgrove and Sperandeo yet again?
erosebudIf I solder the joiners connecting a turnout to an adjacent three-foot section of flextrack (which may itself be soldered to the next adjacent section), and I have feeder wires soldered to the joiners, then I am obviously going to feed power to the frog end(s) and the point end of the turnout. Even with the DCC-friendly MicroEngineering turnouts, isn't this a no-no?
If you're using DCC-friendly turnouts, then no, you don't have a problem. The polarity of the rails leading out of the frog will not change as the turnout is thrown, so you won't have a short. In fact, the Micro Engineering DCC-friendly turnouts don't have jumpers to the rails beyond the frog, so you MUST feed power to them to avoid dead rails.
Thanks, Rob! I get it now.