Building a Code 55 #8 Curved Turnout

[Gen]

Snowed in yesterday here in Alexandria, VA, so I had plenty of time to experiment with one of the downloadable Fast Track turnout templates.

I am tearing up the code 80 on my little layout and replacing it with code 55. I have purchased a #4 fixture from them, but I also want to turn a tightly spaced single spur into a double, and hand laying a curved turnout would be the only way to accomplish this. I choose a #8 with a 12" outer, 10" inner radius.

All went well, except for forgeting to file the base of the stock rails at the points before soldering them in place....I spent an extra 20 minutes to remove, file, and reglue so I could proceed. Other than that, I'm relatively pleased with the result. Maybe the frog point could have been a bit sharper, but this turnout is still way smoother than the Atlas #4's I've been using. The full set of pics is in my Picasa Web Album, but here are a handful of pics:






I taped an 80 weight card stock template I had printed @ Kinkos to some 1/4" basswood...then used a drop of crazy glue at the ends of each tie to glue the pc boards to that:







I then kinked, filed, and folded a dog legged rail formed roughly by the frog angle to create the frog point. Thanks to Michael for sharing this technique. This was my first shot doing it, so it didn't come out as sharp as I wanted.



















Stock rails:







Diverging rails:







Frog point, guard rails, and throwbar:







Finished soldering, w/out gaps yet:

[Gen]

I filed down a new frog point after the fact. It's sharper, and works much smoother now.


Before:







After:








More pics of this build here.

[kaustav]

This is great! There is nothing like customized turnouts. I always wanted to build some, but always lacked confidence...

[JackBlack]

I also lack confidence in building custom turnouts as I think I will stuff it up on something. Anyway good work so far there Gen.

[Graffen]

Nice work there. Do you use FastTracks ties?

[Gen]

Originally Posted by kaustav

This is great! There is nothing like customized turnouts. I always wanted to build some, but always lacked confidence...

Originally Posted by JackBlack

I also lack confidence in building custom turnouts as I think I will stuff it up on something. Anyway good work so far there Gen.

Well, I don't have excess midi-chlorians, if that's what you're thinking. Believe me, I learn something every time I build one. So far I've built 7 turnouts, 6 using a Fast Tracks fixture, and this one this past weekend. And I didn't know how to solder when I started, so don't sell yourselves short! You can do it, it just takes time, effort, and patience. Just read all you can before you start...there's plenty on the internet. There's also a pdf file that came with my Fast Tracks package. My #4 fixture turnouts are far from perfect, even so, they put commercially made turnouts to shame, because the frog point geometry is so tight. The wheel flanges never need to ride on the floor of the frog, which is what makes derailments so common on the Altas turnouts. Instead the wheel base rolls off the point after making contact with the diverging rail. It's tight, and I've actually built 2 that are so smooth, you can roll a truck across the frog and not feel anything, just like a straight piece of track.

Because I had no fixture for this one, it was harder. I had to check the rails constantly with an NMRA gauge, and many times reheat the joints to properly space the rails. Lots of filing at the frog as well, but it was worth it. Learned plenty, and most important, I've now a double spur where I thought one was impossible.

If you've never soldered, and you have the funds, I would recommend buying a fixture from them, or someone else, to build a little confidence first. I might have been a little more discouraged had I not had some immediate success due to their product. That said, if you have told me when I started this process that my 7th turnout would have been a curved #8, I would have asked you to pass me whatever it was you were smoking.

Originally Posted by Graffen

Nice work there. Do you use FastTracks ties?

I have a package of laser cut Quick Stick ties for use with the #4 turnouts only. I used their pc boards for this one, but I haven't purchased any ties yet to lay under this curved turnout.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

[BR60103]

I built a few turnouts when I was in school and short of money. A yard of rail cost 15 cents and stripwood and spikes were cheap (spikes were 60 cents for a thousand) so the total was less than the $3 or more for a ready-built one. Or even $1.50 for an Atlas kit. At the time, our house didn't have a proper file, so I did a lot of work with a nailfile. Fortunately, my best friend had files and even a hand grinder, so later points went faster.
Remember rail is cheap and you can afford to chuck your mistakes. I tried the supplementary angle for the frog a couple of times but finally dropped it.