AFAIK, you can do that to just about all turnouts, handlaid or commercial. I have even hand-bent the through route on my turnouts to get the beginnings of a curve that otherwise would cause me problems closing things up. Just leave enough room for a joiner half.
You'll also have to clear some space between the ties close to the end and the rails for a joiner, which kind of makes those last ties useless in terms of retention...you'll have to rely on the joiners for that.
Ron
As you surmised, you can trim the non-functional ends of turnouts just as you would cut a piece of flex track to fit. And as Crandell states, you can even carefully "curve" the turnout itself by trimming the webbing between the ties under the outside rail(s). If you do "curve" an already fabricated turnout, keep in mind that the radius of the inside turnout leg has also been decreased. Ordinarily, that is not important because the closure radius of the turnout is usually significantly larger than our minimum radius - but not always!
Think of your turnout as another piece of track, not a piece of sacred model equipment. Trim it, modify it, make it work for you! The only downside is that turnouts are a little bit more expensive than other track if you butcher it. But it's still less expensive than bashing a locomotive, and is worth its weight in gold if the modification makes your track arrangement better.
Happy New Year
Fred W
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Not trying to be politically correct here, but always wear eye protection when using the Dremel. Those little cutoff discs have a habit of breaking, and I've had a couple bounce off my glasses. And I was glad I was wearing glasses at the time.
hobo9941 wrote: Not trying to be politically correct here, but always wear eye protection when using the Dremel. Those little cutoff discs have a habit of breaking, and I've had a couple bounce off my glasses. And I was glad I was wearing glasses at the time.
Right after I hit the return key, I remembered that 90% of people include the that disclaimer.
RULES:
1. Use 'track cutters' - such as Xuron. Avoid 'smashes'.
2. CUT from the 'frog' rails end.
3. DON'T use cutters on anything else.
What is the MINIMUM straight rail length that will (still) provide reliable operations?