Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The Rock 1.0 - Removal of Track - 06.11.13

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.




4 comments:

  1. Hi Steve,

    Like 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.

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  2. Thanks Brad!

    I 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

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    Replies
    1. Steven,

      The 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

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    2. Brad,

      That'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

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