Question for JWARD

[Bill Baker]

Jeffry,
In another thread I started asking about Peco turnouts, you mentioned you hand lay your track.  Iam starting to build a cross over where a curved track crosses a straight section.  If you subscribe to MR, a picture of what I am trying to construct is on the cover page of the April 2009 issue.

I have started by using a sharp razor saw and cut the lengths from a section of Atlas 83 code, 22" radius curved section.  I remove most of the plastic ties, but keep some connected primarily to ensure the guage remains the same. I use the same technique on the straight portion of the crossover.

My question lies in how to wire the pieces of rail in between the gaps of the respective curved and straight rails.  The only way I can think of is to solder a small piece of wiring from the powered rails of the respective straight and curved sections to the interior rails of the crossover. Or, as I was typing this, I was wondering if I should remove all the ties, solder the individual pieces and then reassemble the rails to the ties.

If you or anyone else has any suggestions, I would certainly appreciae it.

Thanks again, Bill

[Jim Banner]

Bill,
I hand laid something similar in large scale last winter.  It has two parallel sidings coming off a two track main, one siding off each main.  One of the sidings has to cross one of the mains.  It looks something like this:

                  /      /
_______A__/____/___________
______________/__B_________

The crossing is all metal with no insulated frog points.  This means two of the frogs require changing polarity depending which route is being used (normal for all all metal crossing.)  We use toggle switches as switch throws on this particular layout, so I used a 4 Pole Double Throw toggle to throw switch "B."  One of the poles switches the switch frog polarity, two others control the polarity of the crossing frogs.  When set for the main, the crossing is polarized for the other main.  When set for the siding, the crossing is also set for the siding.

If this makes little or no sense, let me know and I will see if I can come up with the gapping diagram.

Question:  Do you use dc or DCC?  With DCC, you also have the option of setting crossing polarity with an auto reverser.

Jim

[jward]

one of my first projects when i started handlaying was a "sciccors crossover" which had 4 switches with a crossing in the middle.

like jim, i didn't even try to insulate the crossing frogs. i built the entire crossing section as one unit, and cut gaps in all 4 rails between the frogs. this is one place where i would recommend using an auto reverser if you have dcc, as these all rail crossings are complicated to wire. believe me, building one is the easy part.

while i can see what you are trying to do by sticking with the sectional track as much as possible, i don't think it will work. if you want to ensure the curved alignment through the crossing, make a template on a block of wood and build your crossing there. to make a template, first decide exactly how you want your straight track to go, then ink or paint the rail tops of a spare piece of track. flip the track over and carefully press the track onto the block of wood, rails to the wood. what you are doing is similar to using a rubber stamp, and you need to be careful not to smear the ink on the wood. when this dries, do the same with a spare piece of 22" radius, and again carefully press it into the wood on the exact alignment you want to build.

once the ink/paint dries, you will be able lay out your rails on the ink marks, and cut them where they need to be cut for the frogs. once you have the main rails spiked in place, and guaged, you can solder them together. be sure to filt the rail ends where they butt up against each other to make a smooth solid joint before you solder them. once the main running rails are soldered, you cut and piece together the guard rails. a photo of a crossing, or a spare one you have laying around, will show you what goes where. once again, file everything so it fits, use an nmra guage to set the width of the flangeways and solder the whole thing together.

at this point, the whole thing should be one unit, and the flangeways will probably need to be cleaned out with a file. at this point, i run a spare freight car or locomotive truck through each route, and continue to file the solder out of the flangeways until the wheels no longer bump through the crossing.

once you are satisfied, you prep the site of the crossing, and prepare the crossing to be moved into place. i lay all my track on ties cut and stained from matchsticks. they are cheap, and can be trimmed easily to any length up to about 2 1/4".  i glue mine with diluted white glue painted onto the roadbed, and leave them overnight to dry. you gave me an idea for your crossing that you could try. use as much of the old tie strip from the pieces of track you got the rail from. with a hobby knife, trim to plastic spikes of each strip until the are smooth, then fasten them down to the roadbed like regular track. where the tie strips from the two tracks meet up you'll want to cut them off. the area between where they meet on each end, the area under the crossing itself, will have ties you cut yourself. you can get strip wood in many widths and thicknesses, i believe 3 32" wide and as thick as the tie strip is what you want, get about 2 feet of it and cut the pieces to lengthto fit the crossing, glue these to the roadbed.

to prepare the crossing to be moved, get some thin brass strip. solder the brass strip to the tops of the rails of you crossing, in at least 2 locations. this will keep the rails in guage while you pull the spikes from the wood block and move it to its final location. spike it down atop the tie strips and wood ties. i spike about every 4th or 5th tie, more in the location of the crossing itself. once spiked, carefully cut you gaps between the frogs on all 4 rails, then unsolder the brass strips and file the rail tops smooth. once again, test the crossing with a truck, and make any necessary adjustments.

i wish i had taken photos of the crossing i built, while it was under construction so you could see exactly what i mean.

my tools for handlaying track:

nmra standards guage

3 point rail guage, by kadee or micro engineering

rail nippers.

needle and mill files. mill files make quick work of filing the necessary angles on the various rail pieces in the crossing, the needle file is good for flangeways.

dremel motor tool with thin cutoff disks. you'll probably break some so have more than one disk handy.

spikes, by micro engineering. i use the small size.

soldering iron.

silver bearing solder. it's stronger than regular solder.

long nose pliers, for spiking rail.



hope this helps.

as i progress to laying track. i will be posting photos of the progress.

[Jim Banner]

If I may add to Jeffery's excellent post, there is one more tool that can be a great help when making H0 turnouts and crossings.  That is a hacksaw blade for clearing solder out of flangeways.  The kerf width of hacksaw blades varies somewhat but one that are too wide can be ground down to an exact size.  I find hacksaw blades pulled through the flangeways get the solder out much faster than jeweler's files.

Jim

[Bill Baker]

Jim and Jeffrey,

Thanks ever so much for your thoughts and ideas.  With that in mind I think I'll try your method.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Bill