"Milepost 15": This Is Getting Serious

The fun continues. I had a bit of money from birthday gifts and started looking for more Atlas turnouts. As it turns out there aren't many code 55 switches on E-Bay. While I was looking, however, it ocurred to me that I could probably afford one of those FastTracks turnout fixtures. As I remembered they were about $50 the last time I looked (years ago). Surfed to their site and WHAM!. The N scale fixtures are no longer in stock. Apparently they only make them when somebody orders one. This is probably not a frequent event as they now charge $218 dollars for said product.

Hmmm. Went looking for used ones on EBay...Negatory. I did find a rather intreresting thread about the jigs, including one about the fact that folks who buy the fixtures stop using them after a while. Seems as though they are like training wheels. You store them in the garage or sell 'em once you learn to ride the bike. There was also a fellow who stated he doesn't use them because he found another way. For him the hardest part was making the frog. He gave a link to a site that shows a pretty nifty solution. If you go to Model Railroader you can look at it yourself...Incidently the site is NOT a Kalmbach site, which gave me a chuckle.

Anyway, I tried it and it works...You set the bend as suggested and file it until it can be folded...

Filed Frog Point

I found that it worked better if I filed a bit more...wider, not deeper. By "overfiling" I found I had some fudge room on the angle. The rails can be brought closer together creating a shallower angle.

Once started with the frog point I had to continue. I wanted to see if making turnouts really isn't "rocket science". Well it isn't, sorta. You do need a certain skill set, apparently one which I don't have quite yet, like soldering. I used one of those printable templates from the FastTracks site and built the urnout on top of it...

Using Printable Template

I cut the PC board ties from a large PC blank I bought at Radio Shack years ago when I had attempted this once before. I tinned the bottom of the rail and used flux and other solder related references. The end result was something only Victor Frankenstein could love...

Frankenstein's Turnout

Nonplussed I decided I WILL learn to do this. Instead of starting with with the frog, I began with the switch points. I grabbed a couple of pieces of rail and went to work. First I made a tool. I took a piece of wood about a half inch square and six inches or so long. It's not very big, but it doesn't have to be...

Point Stick

On one side I cut a slot with a razor saw. The slot is just big enough to accept the "toe" of the rail base...

Point Filing Jig

I also made some markings to show me where to file. The short spaced area is the area where the point will contact the stock rail...

Point Side

I flipped the stick over and cut another slot. This side is for filing the stock rails. The markings are the length of the inset for the points to rest against...

Stock Rail Side

I used a bastard file to shape the rail. I thought of using my Dremel, even tried it out. It's faster, but hand filing is just as fast but with better control. A bit of filing and I had points and stock rails in hand. Then I used the method mentioned above to make the frog point.

About this time I realized those FastTracks fixtures must be really helpful when trying to assemble the various parts. Rather then spend the $200+ I made my own. It's crude, but it seems to work. I took a chunk of hardwood I had laying around and cut some grooves in it using my "Jap" saw (a razor saw used by Japanese woodworkers). The slots are just big enough for the head of the rail, the turnouts are assembled upside down...

Railhead Slots

I copied the FastTracks fixture and made right hand and left handed jigs on the same block of wood. The curved slots were made with the same saw. The blade is quite flexible and can be used for cuts like these...

Turnout Assemble Fixture

There are slots to hold the points, frog, stock rails and wing rails. I can assemble the switch, but more importantly I can see where the points will rest in relation to the stock rails and what has to be done to make the wing rails fit the frog. It's pretty obvious where the point rails need to be bent to match. I tried soldering the PC ties on again and although it came out better this time I still can't solder any better than I can weld (you don't wanna know). At least some of the solder joints stayed together...