Atlas turnouts (not) getting scarce again

[jdcolombo]

Suppose that the world's supply of DCC decoders was produced by a single supplier (located in wherever).
Imagine that supplier suddenly disappeared, perhaps because the factory burned down or a more lucrative contract to produce some other type of electronic devices was offered to them.
Would the advocates of hand-laid track also push for DCC users to assemble their own decoders, including acquiring the equipment required to accomplish that task?

That's really a pretty silly analogy.  Of course not.  Making a DCC decoder for N scale requires sourcing innumerable parts, advanced soldering techniques that are basically unavailable to the hobbyist, a degree in electrical engineering and computer engineering to design the circuitry, board, and software, manufacturing the base board, etc. 

That's like saying "If the supply of automobiles dried up tomorrow, would you tell me to build my own car?"  Nope, because you can't.

But making a turnout requires no specialized tools (a file, a soldering iron and some solder); no components that aren't readily available (rail, pc-board ties); and no advanced manufacturing or engineering techniques.  It's no more complicated than many other things we end up doing in the hobby - certainly for me it's no more complicated than making rock molds; certainly FAR less complicated than resin casting, etc.

Again, not trying to convert anyone.  It's an option, and it's an option I myself used back in the day when we had a 3-year hiatus in Atlas track supply and my layout was almost done, except for a few turnouts I needed.  Turned out  well for me (pun sort of intended), but the decision on what to do or not do in this hobby is strictly an individual modeler's. 

John C.

[wazzou]

Suppose that the world's supply of DCC decoders was produced by a single supplier (located in wherever).
Imagine that supplier suddenly disappeared, perhaps because the factory burned down or a more lucrative contract to produce some other type of electronic devices was offered to them.
Would the advocates of hand-laid track also push for DCC users to assemble their own decoders, including acquiring the equipment required to accomplish that task?

Sometimes, I miss the option to down vote.

[ednadolski]

I think it would be mandatory to have a supply of pre-cut rail, pre-bent frogs, filed point rails, pre-cut ties and pre-gapped PCB ties + a FT jig or one of your own making in order to knock out 2 per hour.
You'd have to spend a fair amount of time at the outset getting all of those things accomplished.

At that point it becomes a matter of process, and you probably could find ways to take advantage of efficiencies that might otherwise not be practical.  Say for example if you had a belt grider to file rail, or a resistance soldering tool, which might not be worth the investment if you were just building a few for yourself .

Ed

[DKS]

Sometimes, I miss the option to down vote.

I'll upvote this.

[Jbub]

I'll upvote this.

I think peteski might downvote this

[peteski]

No votes from me either way - just sitting back and enjoying this. 

I might also say - go Peco!  There is plenty of those around for people unwilling or unable to roll their own, or wait for Atlas.

[ednadolski]

BTW, for someone selling hand built turnouts: should those be painted, pre-wired, and/or include installed ties?

[Point353]

That's really a pretty silly analogy.  Of course not.  Making a DCC decoder for N scale requires sourcing innumerable parts, advanced soldering techniques that are basically unavailable to the hobbyist, a degree in electrical engineering and computer engineering to design the circuitry, board, and software, manufacturing the base board, etc. 

It's a "silly" analogy only if you take it to an absurd extreme.
Assemble doesn't necessarily imply designing the circuit, manufacturing the pc board, or writing the software.

Early DCC systems, such as CTC-16, were introduced as a construction article in a magazine.
One could buy the pc boards and a pre-programmed controller or eprom and source the balance of the parts elsewhere.
How many modelers went to the effort of building such a system?
Or did they wait until there was an easier off-the-shelf solution?

[wazzou]

BTW, for someone selling hand built turnouts: should those be painted, pre-wired, and/or include installed ties?

I would think no on all, IMO.

[ednadolski]

It wouldn't be "harping" if it didn't crop up almost every bloody time someone mentions prefab turnouts...

One could equally apply the term to discussing shortages of turnouts or any other manufactured commodity

Ed

[Angus Shops]

I started building my own turnouts back in the day when hobby money was tight. I could build one for about a dollar each. The early ones were pretty crude, but over time they improved. I like the look of them, they work really well, and I can have any size or shape of turnout any time I need it. It's still a time consuming process; I honestly don't think I could build a turnout in two (or even three) hours by the time I've filed the parts, prepared the PCB ties, soldered all the parts, tested for electrical operation, installed the wood ties, and painted the finished product. I can't say I enjoy the process but the time is worth it to me for the final product. I'm sure we all have aspects of the hobby that we would prefer not to have to deal with, but we do because we want to produce a complete model. On the other hand, if you're not interested, you can skip this part and do things that interest you more.
Geoff

[robert3985]

As to the question about C55 N-scale turnouts taking longer to make because of supposed "delicacy" of the rails....the answer is a resounding NO.  I've built C83, C70, C55 and C40 N-scale turnouts, and the bigger rails take much longer to make because there's considerably more material to remove, and bending the rails is more difficult.

Offhand, I'd estimate that it takes about 1/3 less time to build a C40 turnout than a C55 turnout of the same size.

However, I don't use jigs and fixtures other than scratched angle lines on my grinder's tool platform, NMRA "gages", ME 3-point gauges and taped down printed-up paper templates from Proto87Stores & Fast Tracks.  I also use my American Beauty 250W resistance soldering station, along with the ever-present and excellent Superior Supersafe No. 30 self-neutralizing gel flux, and 96/4 tin/silver bearing solder.  I also have my ancient Realistic 40W iron hot on the bench for tinning.

AND, I don't give a rat's weenie if anybody doesn't want to make their turnouts.  Just don't think you're morally superior because those of us who like to roll our own mention it when you start whining about a dearth of Atlas turnouts again.

When RTR turnouts are not available for whatever reason, it's not MY problem if you choose to sit there and twiddle your thumbs while I'm busy building track and running trains. 

And I'll be damned if I will pussyfoot around about giving good advice, or apologize for stating the many obvious advantages of making your own turnouts.

If anybody thinks I'm "looking down my nose" at you, it's just me using my bifocals.  If proper N-scale C55 and C40 RTR turnouts were magically available and I had the bucks to purchase them, I would.  That's why I have two ME #6's in Echo Yard...proper turnouts. All the rest of the RTR C55 turnouts in N-scale have major cosmetic and functional anomalies that my Optivisor-encased a$$-hat eyes can't tolerate.  So, I make my own, and even then, I'm not totally satisfied. 

Anyway...BE HAPPY! 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

 

[OldEastRR]

Hey, Bob, I love my ME track, both flex and switches. I even have stock C55 rail I bought way back when I first heard about "smaller N scale track". My hobby shop had the individual rails and I bought a few to lay my own C55 track as a spur on a layout of the huge old stuff. Had to build your own regular track then, not just the switches. Then came RailCraft flex and it was C55 from then on, while expanding the layout and replacing old C80 track.
And my ME switches are now on their second layout, as I'm the "let's reuse the old stuff instead of buying all new" kind of guy. I even have some first gen MEs, but except for a few all types still work fine on my DCC layout. I haven't isolated and powered the frogs but no big deal, the stall-outs are few and far between.
Never had a hassle using ME flex, never had an ME switch just inexplicably break. The ones that failed were usually ones I had tinkered with or resoldered something on (rails to throwbar).

[TLOC]

Bob Gilmore. Thank you sir for an answer to the question I was asking about. I have used the Fasttrack jigs and all the toys he sells to create his turnouts but never with code 55. No, I am not planning to sell turnouts. It was a qustion to see if there was an interest because of the shortage of Atlas turnouts again at what must be a limited number of dealers.

Tom

[ednadolski]

@robert3985  I think you would enjoy building P:48 turnouts... the point/frog/guardrail castings make it pretty easy     However the +600 or more individually installed spikes and all the other details are what make it time consuming

Ed