Which Fastracks fixture

[SD452XR]

Here a is a picture of some crossovers I did with #10's. I really like how they turned out.  I also used #6 and #7 on the layout. Quiet, smooth and reliable. I'm a big fan of fast tracks.

[nickelplate759]

For the nervous folks (meaning me) who have never done this --

Is making a bunch of turnouts to build inventory for a future layout practical?   
If so, what's a good way to test them? 
What's a good way to store them?
Is it relatively easy to make minor modifications to at installation time (e.g. shorten the diverging route a little)?

and ....

What about Naomi?

[Angus Shops]

For the nervous folks (meaning me) who have never done this --

Is making a bunch of turnouts to build inventory for a future layout practical?   
If so, what's a good way to test them? 
What's a good way to store them?
Is it relatively easy to make minor modifications to at installation time (e.g. shorten the diverging route a little)?

and ....

What about Naomi?

I started building switches months before the layout was started. We were in a new house and there were a bunch of things that needed to be done before I could get started on the layout (the Board of Director said so). The layout room needed work as well, as well as a suitable period of layout planning. Building the switches was one of the things that I could do that really felt like I was ‘building the layout’, and it speeded up progress when the actual construction started.

I tested with 3 pieces of flex track wired up to a cheap power pack - I don’t recall how I supplied power to the frog or held the points in place… I was careful with my gaps and soldering and don’t recall much in the way of problems.

Nothing special for storage. They are pretty rugged, and I always add extra copper ties around the frog, particularly on the diverging side of the frog where the gap cut in the rails leaves the running rails secured by only one soldered joint ( probably not very descriptive, but it’s been a long day). I end up with 2 copper ties on either side of the gap locations and another one under the center of the frog. Really solid.

No problem trimming the rails as needed for installation with appropriate rail nippers.

I should mention that I also purchased the stock aid and point forming tools.

[robert3985]

For the nervous folks (meaning me) who have never done this --

Is making a bunch of turnouts to build inventory for a future layout practical?   
If so, what's a good way to test them? 
What's a good way to store them?
Is it relatively easy to make minor modifications to at installation time (e.g. shorten the diverging route a little)?

Sure, it's very practical although I don't do it.  I like to build my turnouts monolithically, building as many (so far) as five together and minimizing rail joints...only cutting the rails where there are electrical gaps.

This is easy to do building turnouts on a properly scaled and printed CAD drawing (I use Cadrail) and piece in precise templates I download and print from Proto87Stores & Fast Tracks...all taped to my drawing board.

Photo (1) - UP Center Siding three turnout monolithic build on the table...one of two three-turnout builds for my Emory Center Siding:


Lots of those who build their own turnouts discover that the Fast Tracks turnout fixture they bought isn't needed any longer after using it to teach themselves how to make turnouts, and paper templates offer a lot more flexibility.

Making yard ladders is especially nice doing it monolithically...which makes for especially smooth trackage, but might be problematic to do trying to use an aluminum turnout fixture.

However, PCB turnouts are pretty robust, and there should be no problems with storing them. I add PCB ties to the throwbar area, at the frog, where I am going to cut gaps in the rails and at my point rail hinges.  My layout is portable, I don't want any breakage.

I test mine progressively as I build them, constantly checking clearances and using my three NMRA Standards "Gages"....and my three three-point Micro Engineering code 55 and code 40 gauges.  I also have a 40' boxcar standing by with old ME lo-pro one-piece wheelsets in it to test for smoothness, and a single truck with the same wheelsets in it for doing the same thing but in a more precise way.

Electrically, I don't cut "gaps" (mostly) in my PCB ties, but I use a fine, oval jeweler's file to remove copper cladding on the top of the ties...at odd angles and thicknesses...thus avoiding having a row of cut "gaps" marching down the middle of my ties for my eyes to gravitate towards.  Any burrs that are created by cutting gaps I remove with a stroke of the same oval jeweler's file.

Photo (2) - "Gaps" in the tops of my PCB ties made with my fine, oval jeweler's file.  These look pretty bad until the turnout is painted, ballasted & weathered...then they disappear:


On any PCB tie that I think I'm gonna solder a track feeder to (they're handy that way) I also gap the bottom of the PCB tie so I don't get any harder-than-Hell-to-find phantom shorts. Don't ask me why I decided to do this. I cut these with my fine triangular jeweler's file.

THEN, before I install my turnouts, I always test them electrically again with my multimeter...a quick and easy process.

This as-you-build-em clearance checking and electrical checking becomes rote after a few turnouts, and I am much more confident of the QA on my hand-built turnouts than I am of ANY RTR commercial turnout.

I have a few PCB turnouts that I just store in a drawer in my workbench where I also store other track building materials.  Nothing special.

Yes, hand-built turnouts are very easy to trim up and modify.  In fact, if you know how to build turnouts, even RTR turnouts with plastic ties are easy to modify.

Photo (3) - Here's a Micro Engineering #6 that I turned into a #6 Wye for a friend of mine:


I've really enjoyed making my own turnouts over the last three or four decades.  Trackwork is one of the aspects of the hobby that I enjoy the most, especially when I see the trains gliding smooth as silk through my hand-made turnouts that cost me an hour of time to make and about $1.50 in materials to build (prices nowadays have gone up).

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[jdcolombo]

Late to the party, but here's my experience.

1.  I got a Fast Tracks #6 jig, after reading Bob's earlier posts about how Atlas #7's really aren't #7's.  The #6's are perfect for just about everything on my layout - but I don't have mainline crossovers.  I've run everything from an Atlas S-2 switcher to an Athearn Big Boy over them with absolutely no problems (the Big Boy does NOT like Atlas #5's at all, which I finally just ripped out and replaced with the FT #6's.

2.  Bob's second observation is also correct: the Fast Track jig is great for teaching you turnout construction technique.  After you've done a dozen on an FT jig, you'll be able to use paper templates for anything else.  So if you're going to buy a jig, buy the one for the turnout # you will use the most.  Then do everything else off templates.

3.  You can absolutely make a bunch at the bench and store them.  I've been stockpiling #6's for an eventual layout expansion.  The critical thing is to check clearances constantly with an NMRA gauge.  For testing, I have a 8" x 4' piece of plywood with 3 pieces of Atlas Code 55 flex track and an "empty" spot for the turnout.  To test, I drop the completed turnout in the empty spot, slip on the rail joiners, and power it up from a set of jumper wires with alligator clips hooked to my layout.  I keep the point rails in place by just using a brad stuck in the plywood to push the throwbar one way or the other.  If it works fine, I put it in storage.

4.  While I use paper templates for anything other than #6's, I still use the FT Stock Aid tool and the Point Form tool for all turnouts I make.  I've found that I can use a #6 point form tool to make frog points for everything from a #4 to a #8 by varying how much rail sticks out for filing.  For a #10, I'd probably use it too, but then I might need to do some additional filing to get the point angle correct.  I find using those two tools much easier than using a small bench grinder to accomplish the same task, though an experienced machinist probably would make their own jig to use with a grinder and make dozens of frog points at once.  I don't have that skill.

5.  I like to solder a wire to power the frog while I've still got the turnout on the bench.  I use a 12" length of 28-gauge wire, which is just fine for this purpose.  Remember that your frog is never going to carry more amperage than what is necessary to run one engine (and usually not even that, since some other powered wheel will be available outside the frog, so you'll be dividing the power requirements) so no need to worry about "too small" a wire gauge for this.  While you could attach the wire after the turnout is in place, I find it easier to do on the bench, and then the turnout is completely ready to go for the layout when the time comes.

John C.

[mike_lawyer]

Late to the party, but here's my experience.

1.  I got a Fast Tracks #6 jig, after reading Bob's earlier posts about how Atlas #7's really aren't #7's.  The #6's are perfect for just about everything on my layout - but I don't have mainline crossovers.  I've run everything from an Atlas S-2 switcher to an Athearn Big Boy over them with absolutely no problems (the Big Boy does NOT like Atlas #5's at all, which I finally just ripped out and replaced with the FT #6's.

2.  Bob's second observation is also correct: the Fast Track jig is great for teaching you turnout construction technique.  After you've done a dozen on an FT jig, you'll be able to use paper templates for anything else.  So if you're going to buy a jig, buy the one for the turnout # you will use the most.  Then do everything else off templates.

3.  You can absolutely make a bunch at the bench and store them.  I've been stockpiling #6's for an eventual layout expansion.  The critical thing is to check clearances constantly with an NMRA gauge.  For testing, I have a 8" x 4' piece of plywood with 3 pieces of Atlas Code 55 flex track and an "empty" spot for the turnout.  To test, I drop the completed turnout in the empty spot, slip on the rail joiners, and power it up from a set of jumper wires with alligator clips hooked to my layout.  I keep the point rails in place by just using a brad stuck in the plywood to push the throwbar one way or the other.  If it works fine, I put it in storage.

4.  While I use paper templates for anything other than #6's, I still use the FT Stock Aid tool and the Point Form tool for all turnouts I make.  I've found that I can use a #6 point form tool to make frog points for everything from a #4 to a #8 by varying how much rail sticks out for filing.  For a #10, I'd probably use it too, but then I might need to do some additional filing to get the point angle correct.  I find using those two tools much easier than using a small bench grinder to accomplish the same task, though an experienced machinist probably would make their own jig to use with a grinder and make dozens of frog points at once.  I don't have that skill.

5.  I like to solder a wire to power the frog while I've still got the turnout on the bench.  I use a 12" length of 28-gauge wire, which is just fine for this purpose.  Remember that your frog is never going to carry more amperage than what is necessary to run one engine (and usually not even that, since some other powered wheel will be available outside the frog, so you'll be dividing the power requirements) so no need to worry about "too small" a wire gauge for this.  While you could attach the wire after the turnout is in place, I find it easier to do on the bench, and then the turnout is completely ready to go for the layout when the time comes.

John C.

Do you have any tips regarding getting the points soldered to the drawbar such that the points line up nicely with the straight and diverging rail?  I am finding that I need to do a fair amount of filing after the rails are soldered to the drawbar to get it "right."  Just curious if you have any tips on how to do this.  Thanks.

Mike

[jdcolombo]

Hi Mike.

No real tips.  When I'm using a paper template, I just make sure the rails all line up with the template rails.  I position the point rails so that the sharp ends fit nicely in the "notch" resulting from the Fast Tracks Stock Aid tool.  I don't use hinged rails, and I do solder the points to the throwbar last (I start at the frog and work my way down to the throwbar), which allows me to make sure I keep the point rails aligned on the template as I solder them.

When I use the FT jig, I just let the jig position the rails . . .

John C.

[timwatson]

I did the reverse, got the #8 double crossover fixture, and the #8 point form and stock aid fixtures. I work from paper templates now, or draw my own, but use various aspects of the fixtures to shorten build time regardless of the turnout number.

4 fixtures for the price of one with the double crossover idea …  “This is the Way”

[crrcoal]

John which template did you decide o go with?

[John]

I haven't ordered yet - but I will go with the #8s ..