About 6 years ago, at an LDSIG/OPSIG meet in the SF Bay Area, I made the acquaintance of a fellow who shared my interest in the Monterey Branch of the Southern Pacific and was invited to join his operating crew. We met every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month except when holidays and/or family events intervened until it was decided that the old layout would be torn out and the space repurposed as a craft room for his wife and a new 40x24 building would be built to house a new layout based on the SP Coast Line between Salinas and Gilroy, with the Monterey Branch curving off at Castroville Junction going up a helix and representing all major operating areas of the branch.
The first track to be laid will be on the branch itself as, once the track is in place, it will be operable as a stand alone layout with temporary staging in the Castroville area. It was decided to use ME code 83 track and to hand build the turnouts using Fast Tracks tools and jigs. None of us had ever hand-built a turnout before and since 30 turnouts will be needed for the branch alone, it was decided essentially to make up turnout kits by building a stockpile of components that could then be assembled as if we had commercial turnout kits.
Building a turnout involves quite a bit of cutting, filing and soldering. Building 30 (of what wiil eventually be 140 )of them takes a whole crap load of the same activities. Stock rails have to be filed to accept the points. Points have to be filed to snug up to the stock rails without snagging wheels. Frogs have to be filed so that the right and left hand rails make a smooth angle. Of course, there are minor activities like cutting the copper clad ties to length and then gapping them to prevent shorts. There's other stuff, but you can check Fast Tracks for the videos.
The only operation I have not yet done is the actual assembly of the components into a working turnout. I was unable to attend the first session and so am a little behind the class. OTOH, I can file and solder with the best of them and have no doubt that, since I've become more intimately familiar with the components of a turnout than I ever thought possible, actually doing the assembly work will be a relatively painless process from the beginning. It'll be slow in the beginning, but it always is.
The nice thing about the Fast Tracks turnouts is that when they're assembled properly, cars run over them so smoothly that it almost sounds like they're on regular track. We test the things by running a couple of boxcars through the turnout 6 times through each route in each direction at relatively high speed. There can be no derailments. If one derailment happens, the test sequence starts over. If there is a derailment in the second sequence, the turnout is failed and put aside for analysis and repair. It's actually not too hard to improve a failed turnout so that it performs flawlessly after determining the problem and fixing it. So far, it's just been a case of fixing an out of gauge condition on one or more of the ends of a turnout and, in one case, smoothing out a point so it nests properly in the stock rail. Haven't had one frog related problem yet. It's kind of a rush to take a problem turnout and make it perform flawlessly.
Given that we used to have problems with the commercial turnouts on the old layout, I'm expecting that operating sessions will run much more smoothly once we have sufficient track down to try an operating session. Rerailing trains is a PITA. Fast Tracks tools and jigs are expensive, so they're not really suitable for a small layout unless you've got a friend/acquaintance/source who's willing to let you rent or borrow them. We're using two sets of jigs, one of which is owned by the layout owner and another which is on loan.
If you can build a turnout, handlaying track is a no brainer.
Andre
I have the point filing jig, and several tools for hand laying, (the specialty spiking pliers are awesome!) and it is really a LOT easier than most people think. The trick is to just take your time starting, but once you've done it a few times, it's so easy, you think you can do anything! (And, when it comes to hand laying special work, you basically can....) Yes, the jigs are expensive, but, you can do it without them... Once everyone is comfortable with it using one jig, you can make other sizes, without an assembly jig, as the same basic technique is used. The key is to make sure everything is smooth, and in gauge. Then, everything gets really cheep. It's just supplies then... (And, many use just templates, and make their own turnouts just that way....) However, FastTracks makes it even easier....
Anyone who thinks that it's hard, get yourself some ties, some rail, and some spikes, a couple three-point gauges, and try to hand lay a display shelf. It's really easy, and, something most don't get, ballasting is super easy.... Just lay the ties out, then ballast, then spike the rails down. Guaranteed to not have a single grain on the rail web, and so easy to keep them off the tops of the ties, it should be against the rules! And, everything, if your careful, will always be in perfect gauge... unlike some pre-made tracks...
So, those who are interested, try it... You will be surprised how easy it is.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Joe Fugate does kind of a composite jig made turnout using some of the Fast Track jigs and Central Valley turnout tie strips. It's the best of both worlds what with the molded in detail on the CV ties.