I didn't have much time last night, but I did remove the track between Ottawa and the west end of Utica as well as the staging yard at West Silvis.
Since Monday night, I have been pondering turnouts. Once I started pulling up the turnouts on 1.0, I was thinking, this turnout is bad (known issues, not because it was damaged when being pulled up). I pull up another....ugh... I need to find a better solution. With the Atlas Turnouts being in such high demand due to the Chinese shortage, I should be able to move them easily on eBay.
I had a discussion with fellow RI modeler Allen Heimsoth this evening about turnouts. I plan on using either Peco Code 55 or handlaid turnouts. I will research both over the next few weeks to decide which route to go. Thanks Allen for your input.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteLike the new look of the blog. Here's a brief of what my experience has been with both Peco and M/E turnouts.
On my current layout I used Peco code 55 turnouts. They work OK now but when I first installed them I had problems with 6 axle engines shorting on the frogs. These were very brief shorts and had not shown up when testing with DC. I ended up modifying how the frogs were isolated to correct this. So I suggest testing with DCC and with different engines.
I was quite impressed with the M/E code 55 because of it's better appearance, and how smoothly wheels go through the frogs. I purchased a few M/E turnouts on ebay to use on a module and had great results so now I've started working with the Fast Tracks tools to build my own. It's a learning curve. One thing is with M/E code 55 track you will need to have the low profile wheels on all cars as flanges will bump otherwise. All good Kato / Atlas engines wheels are OK.
I'll enjoy following your progress on this new layout.
Thanks Brad!
ReplyDeleteI have learned more about the Peco turnouts since last night including the shorting issue you mentioned. It appears that some modification would be required with them.
I have not used ME Code 55 turnouts personally, but a friend did. He had a lot of problems with them falling apart easily and derailments. Of course, that was a *long* time ago so maybe they have got better since then. Ever since witnessing that, I have always stayed away.
I found a guy on eBay that quoted me a decent price on the custom turnouts. The Fast Tracks jigs and related tools are pricey. I'd rather spend a little more and have someone else construct them that knows what they are doing. I have built about ten in HO scale. I got better with each one, but would really hate to have 50 turnouts and the first 15-20 were sorry because I was still learning how to do it. If you figure that cost in re-building those and all the time involved for me to do it, I'll let the experts build them.
I haven't completely made up my mind, but I'm leaning heavy toward the custom built turnouts off eBay.
Low profile wheels are not an issue as I had already converted everything previously as I use ME Code 55 flex.
Thanks for your input!
I stated I wasn't going to start destruction until July so I'm happy that we're already moving forward with that. I'm looking forward to getting the new benchwork up.
Steven
Steven,
DeleteThe guy on ebay who built mine for me was jscottw and his work is very good. Going that way will save you lots of time.
Brad
Brad,
DeleteThat's the same guy I plan on using. I'm looking forward to having those custom built turnouts on the layout and in operation.
Steven