TURNOUT CONSTRUCTION FOR OPERATION AND APPEARANCE

Transcription

1 TURNOUT CONSTRUCTION FOR OPERATION AND APPEARANCE By Bill Ataras Model Railroad Engineer, Civil (revised) September 29, 2013 (original) November, /28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 1 of 16

2 INTRODUCTION This clinic will describe techniques for the construction of reliable turnouts which closely resemble prototype appearance and require a reasonable time to build. These methods have evolved over a forty year period and represent the most effective way of building turnouts I have found. I don't claim that this is the best or only way to build turnouts, but it has worked well for me. And, the cost per turnout is about the price of a piece of rail or two, depending on your scale, spikes, ties and miscellaneous other materials we all have in our shops. In this clinic, we will follow the construction of a "plain vanilla" turnout. These same techniques described here, where applicable, have been used to construct curved turnouts, three-way turnouts, double slip switches and most other forms of exotic trackwork with excellent results. For "special" turnouts, the track gauge, check gauge and flangeway dimensions are almost always the same as for standard turnouts. What is different is that the points and rails through frogs in standard turnouts are straight, while they are generally curved in special trackwork. My example turnout is HO scale, but that's simply because that's what I was building when I prepared this clinic. At various times, I've used exactly the same techniques to build turnouts and special trackwork in N, HO, Hon3, S and O scale. TOOLS AND MATERIALS The turnout constructed for this clinic is an HO standard gauge #6 built with weathered code 70 rail. But ANY turnout, in any scale and gauge could also have served as the example. The techniques are the same; only a few dimensions change. The list of tools and other materials is as follows: 1. NMRA Track Work Standard S-3 2. NMRA Standards Gage Recommended Practice RP-6 3. NMRA Turnout Dimensions Recommended Practice RP NMRA standards gage 5. About 6 feet of rail for an HO standard gauge turnout 6. Ties, regular and switch 7. Spikes 8. Plexiglas, " thick 9. Track gages - at least two 10. Scale with 0.010" graduations 11. Straight-edge 12. Needle nose pliers 13. Small flush cutting diagonal cutters 14. Assorted files--needle and mill, medium and fine cut 15. Xacto knife 16. Brass shim stock " thick 17. Brass shim stock " thick 18. Pin vise for holding small drills 19. Small drills - numbers 70 and Tin snips 21. Soldering iron - 25 watts or so, more for the larger scales 22. Acid flux solder 23. Tin-lead solder 24. Soft silver solder 25. Hard silver solder (optional, but preferred) 26. White glue or carpenter's glue to fasten the ties 27. Vise with smooth jaws 28. Small hammer for flattening brass shim stock 29. Solvent for cleaning solder flux. Denatured alcohol works for me. 30. Hobby-Black for weathering rail and brass. Nice, but hard to find. 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 2 of 16

3 31. Dremel tool with cut-off disk and grinding burr 32. Fine point tweezers 33. Scribe 34. Wooden toothpicks 35. Small piece of tempered masonite to clamp rails while grinding 36. Clothes pins to clamp rails while grinding, soldering and cleaning NOTE: Some of the tools, materials and chemicals listed above, and others you use, may require special handling, good ventilation, eye protection, and so on. Check the various labels and other material to protect yourself. Lack of proper techniques and precautions may result in your removal from the gene pool! SOLDERING TIPS I use a simple method to avoid having a lot of solder to clean up. First, clean and flux the surfaces to be soldered. Position the pieces properly and clamp them. A wooden clothespin holding the pieces to a small sheet of Masonite works well. Then, with the Xacto knife, cut a small flake of solder. The size of the flake depends on the area to be bonded. A piece less than half the size of a pin head is sufficient for a square bond area 1/16 of an inch on a side. Place the solder on one of the places to be soldered and against the other part. Since the flux will boil and blow away the solder, I use a the end of a wooden toothpick to hold the flake in position. Hold the tip of the heated soldering iron against the parts, being careful not to disturb the pieces. After a few seconds, the solder will melt and flow into the joint, forming a solid and reliable bond. Only a very small fillet of solder will remain around the joint, and a few strokes with your needle file will do all the cleanup necessary in seconds. You can also tin the surfaces to be bonded by coating them with flux and heating them individually with a soldering iron with molten solder on it. When the piece heats up, solder will flow from the iron tip to the work. The amount should be equivalent to a moderate coat of paint. If there is not enough, the parts to be joined will not bond properly. When the parts have been tinned separately, carefully position them as desired and heat them again. The solder applied during the tinning operation will reflow, filling the joint and forming the bond. Any excess, which won't be much if you have tinned the pieces properly, will flow out of the joint. A couple strokes with a file of the right size and the joint is complete. I used to be intimidated by hard silver soldering, but with enough practice and a good torch, it really isn't much more difficult than soft soldering. Unfortunately, really good torches carry an appropriately high price, and most of us have to make do with a small, inexpensive propane torch. With care and patience, you can get adequate results. I use hard silver solder to make all high stress solder joints. For turnouts, this means the tabs which are used to connect the points to the throwbar, and tabs used to maintain the position of rails, should be extremely reliable. In any case, a discussion of hard silver soldering techniques is more than we can handle here. At a minimum, though, use soft silver solder to attach point tabs, being especially careful to clean the metals and use the proper flux. Caution - when using pre-weathered rail, be sure to remove the coating in all places which are to be soldered. Solder doesn't stick at all to the weathering. I routinely clean the bottom of the rail before I start because its easier, and I can't always plan in advance where bond wires, tabs and power feeds will be. A sanding block with 320 grit paper will remove the weathering in a few quick strokes. PRELIMINARY STEPS Before just throwing ties down on the layout, take a few minutes to study RP-12. This data sheet was prepared to help you lay turnouts with all the parts properly proportioned and positioned. This will not only improve the appearance of the turnouts you build, but will result in smooth, reliable operation. While this drawing shows some 26 different dimensions, I have found that certain ones are critical. If you 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 3 of 16

4 pay attention to them, things will work out just fine. These are item numbers 2, 4, 8, 20, 21, and 24, along with the frog number. Refer to the Recommended Practice to see which ones they are. Additional pages of RP-12 provide tables for the values for all of these dimensions for the various scales and gauges. I have the drawing and the HO standard gauge sheets side by side in a ring binder for easy reference while I am working. Using the proper dimensions for the turnout you are building, lay out on your roadbed the centerlines for the through and diverging routes. Generally, there are two situations which can occur. First, if you know the frog number and where you want the centerline of the diverging route, layout is very easy. Set a compass to draw an arc with the dimension equal to the frog number. For this example, let's use 6 inches. Then place the point of the compass where the diverging route centerline is to intersect with the main route centerline, and draw an arc near where the frog will be. Then, mark off one inch along the arc from the main route centerline. The centerline of the diverging route will pass through the Point of Intersection of the center lines and the 1 inch mark on the arc. This will locate the centerlines to build a number 6 turnout. Figure 1 shows this clearly. This method is perfectly good for our purposes, but the prototype uses a slightly different method, which results in a frog angle which is a very small fraction of a degree different than the value I get. Frankly, I don't worry about it since I have no way of even measuring the difference. L A Y I N G O U T T H E C E N T E R L I N E S N U M B E R 6 T U R N O U T S H O W N S A M E F O R A L L S C A L E S A N D G A U G E S " " F R O G N U M B E R P O I N T O F I N T E R S E C T I O N O F C E N T E R L I N E S Figure 1 Second, if you are starting with the centerlines in place and don't know the frog angle, you must find out what size frog you will need. To do this, locate the point where the two centerlines have separated 1 inch. Then the measure the distance from this point to the intersection of the centerlines. The value in inches is the frog number. You can then find the proper column in RP-12 for the other dimensions needed. If this is not one of the numbers in the tables of RP-12, you have to do some calculations. Dimension 2 is one of two sizes, based on frog angle. Dimension 4, the Heel Spread, is a constant for all turnout sizes. The rest of the dimensions are interpolated based on the table values for turnouts just larger and smaller than your specific size. Don't worry about getting into some heavy math. If your frog number is 5.3, pick values for dimensions 30% of the way between the values for turnout sizes 5 and 6. Next, using dimension 24, locate a line perpendicular to the main centerline. The point of the frog will be placed on this line. Then, use dimension 8 to place a line where the toe of the points will be located. From this line, use dimension 2 to locate the tie at the heel of the points. Position the rest of the switch ties on approximately 20" centers. Few nit-pickers will find anything to complain about here! The last layout step is to draw lines where the ends of the ties will be placed. These lines should be placed half the length of your normal ties from the centerlines. When these steps are complete, glue your ties in 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 4 of 16

5 position. I use either white glue or carpenter's glue for this. All of the prototype data I have seen shows them placing one tie directly under the point of the frog, one directly below the toe of the point, and another at the heel of the point. Put these three ties down first. Figure 2 shows all of this in detail. Substitute the corresponding dimensions from RP-12 when laying out your turnouts. Incidentally, even the prototype railroads had to deal with ties that were not all exactly the same length. In true bureaucratic tradition, they had engineering standards written to cover the situation. I ran across the following note on a PRR engineering drawing dated April, 1909: "Ends of Ties must be lined parallel with the rail as follows: The outside ends in outside tracks on double and four track lines, the inside ends in inside tracks on four track lines, and the right hand ends going north or west in single track lines." N U M B E R 6 H O S T D G A U G E T U R N O U T L A S T 1 6 ' S W I T C H T I E " D I M " " D I M 2 4 D I M " P O I N T O F F R O G T I E H E E L O F P O I N T T I E " R E M A I N I N G S W I T C H T I E S A R E O N 2 0 " C E N T E R S S W I T C H T I E S S H O W N A R E 1 6 ' X 8 " W I D E S T A N D A R D T I E S S H O W N A R E 8. 5 ' x 8 " W I D E Figure 2 H E A D B L O C K T I E S ( 2 ) After the glue has set completely, sand the tops of the ties flat. Clean up the dust and stain the ties. Be careful not to obscure the lines you have drawn. You will need to see them when you begin installing the rails. Let me make a suggestion about tie stain. Many years ago some well meaning modelers suggested using Rit dye or shoe polish to stain them. While the appearance can be quite good, these two materials contain salt. The salt will remain in your ties after the stain dries. Later, the humidity in the layout room and the salt will conspire to rust the steel spikes. My recommendation is to purchase regular wood stains. I use a shade called "Jacobean" made by Minwax. It does not contain salt, and the coloring is reasonably good. Other shades are available so you may want to experiment to find the shade most pleasing to you. I recently priced a one quart can for $4.44. This would be enough for a large, club sized pike. Be careful when shopping for stains such as this. There are many different types, some with wood fillers and others which leave plastic-like coatings on the wood. All you really want is a stain. Leave the other stuff for the furniture builders. PREPARING THE STOCK RAILS 2 2 " C E N T E R S 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 5 of 16

6 The first rail to prepare is the straight stock rail. Using the Dremel tool and a grinding burr, remove the base of the stock rail for about two thirds of the length of the switch point. Don't cut into the rail head at all. It's not necessary for good operation, and detracts from the turnout's appearance. Figure 3 shows a piece of code 70 rail prepared for a number 6 turnout. C L E A R A N C E F O R P O I N T O N S T O C K R A I L " Figure 3 T O E O F P O I N T L I N E Some method must be used to hold the stock rail in position in the area where the switch point meets the stock rail. Naturally, spikes cannot be used on the point side. For larger rail sizes, code 100 and above, the rail itself is solid enough when spiked just ahead of the toe of the point, and as soon as there is enough clearance between the point and the stock rail. For smaller sizes of rail, another system must be used to hold the stock rails in position. I have found that small 0.093" x tabs of 0.005" brass ( or thinner ) can be soldered to the bottom of the rail using soft silver solder, drilled to fit the spike shank, and used to hold the stock rails securely. Cut a strip of the shim brass slightly smaller in width than your ties, and then cut it into pieces for the tabs. For an HO scale standard gauge turnout, two of these tabs on each stock rail will suffice. A third tab is used on each stock rail to hold both the stock rail and the heel of the point in position. This third tab will be about 0.4" long. Figure 4 shows these tabs positioned for our sample turnout. P L A C E M E N T O F S P I K E T A B S H E E L O F P O I N T L I N E P L A C E T A B S O V E R T I E S H O L E J U S T C L E A R S S P I K E S H A N K Figure 4 T O E O F P O I N T L I N E While holding the stock rail in position on the ties, mark the base of the stock rail to show the edges of the ties where the tabs will be located by scribing small marks. I use one small tab next to the toe of the point, the long tab at the heel of the point, and the other tab near the center of the space cleared for the point. Use the soft silver solder for the tabs, and make sure that the small tabs will not interfere with the point by 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 6 of 16

7 filing them back to the web of the stock rail. Drill each tab for a close fit around a spike shank; drill the point heel tab on both sides of the stock rail. I recommend using very thin brass for the tabs. In this way, you can simply lay the tabs on the tops of the ties. If your brass shim stock is more that 0.005" thick, you will want to notch the ties carefully for the tabs to keep the top of the rail flat. With the thin brass, a little pressure will set the tabs into the ties. Install the straight stock rail half of the track gauge from the centerline to the inside rail head. Be sure to position the tabs over the proper ties. Use a straightedge to assure that the rail is straight. The diverging stock rail can also be prepared the same way at this point, but do not install it until the point of frog is spiked in place. Remember that the point clearance space and tabs are on the opposite side of the stock rail. CONSTRUCTING THE FROG The method I will describe for making the point of the frog is the quickest and most fool-proof method I have seen. If it takes you more than five minutes, you probably fell asleep! Select a piece of rail for the frog. Generally, I will try to use a whole 3 foot piece of rail, and leave the excess to begin the track which extends beyond the turnout. In any case, have at least three or four inches of rail on either side of the area to be worked. You can cut off any excess later. To be really frugal, allow enough to make the guard rails. Begin by bending the rail so that it matches the angle formed by the intersection of the centerlines. Use the obtuse angle, that is, from the point side of the intersection of the centerlines toward the frog. To check the bend, lay the rail down along the centerline of the main route toward the points and parallel to the diverging route centerline. Adjust the bend until it is just right. Grip the rail in the vise so that the bend points up and is above the top of the vise, and the ends of the rail hang down outside the vise. Then file the rail down toward the vise until the web just about breaks through. You will see a slight distortion of the web at the bend point when it is time to stop filing. Remove the rail from the vise, lay it on a flat surface, and bend the two ends of the rail back so as to close the filed side of the rail back on itself. The rail now forms the point of the frog. Lay the rail over the acute angle formed by the two centerlines and solder the frog closed. Make sure that the two rails are parallel to the centerlines. I install a small tab of 0.005" brass at this time to provide something to solder the wing rails to. See Figure 5. A F T E R B E N D I N G T O F R O G A N G L E F R O G A N G L E Figure 5-A 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 7 of 16

8 B E F O R E F I L I N G F R O G R A I L F I L E L I N E Figure 5-B A F T E R F I L I N G F R O G R A I L Figure 5-C A F T E R B E N D I N G F R O G R A I L Figure 5-D S O L D E R T A B T O H O L D W I N G R A I L S " " M A K E T A B F R O M " B R A S S S H I M Figure 5-E Since you did not file completely through the rail, the point will be a little blunt. For about a half an inch back from the point, file a taper on each rail head to sharpen the frog. Then, install the point of the frog. The point itself will fall on the "point of frog" line we drew when laying out the turnout. Use track gages to space the rail properly from the straight stock rail and spike the point of frog in place. This completes installation of the point of frog. Use your NMRA standards gage to place the point of frog as precisely as you can from the straight stock rail. Once this is done, you will not move it again. 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 8 of 16

9 INSTALLING THE DIVERGING STOCK RAIL Next, we install the diverging stock rail. Begin by spiking it down along the main route outside the point end of the turnout. When this is done, set the heel spread using dimensions 2 and 4 from RP-12. For an HO standard gauge turnout, measure 2-1/8" from the toe of the point to the frog. At this point, the diverging stock rail must have moved out 1/8". Add the heel spread ( dimension 4 ) to the track gauge and position the diverging stock rail by measuring this amount ( 0.775" in HO ) between the rail heads. Drive spikes into the tabs to hold the stock rail into this position. The rail must be straight from the toe to the heel of the point. Next, use your track gages to space the diverging stock rail properly from the point of frog and beyond. Use a straightedge and make sure that the stock rail is straight inside the frog for a distance equal to dimension 20 (11/16" for our sample turnout). Be careful not to distort the stock rail between the heel of the point area and the straight section ahead of the frog. Spike it down using its natural curve. If all is well, both stock rails and the frog are now in their proper positions. Use your NMRA gage to check and adjust the track gauge at the point of the frog. Do not move the frog to fix any problems; gently move the diverging stock rail if needed. Gauge at the frog should be as exact as you can get it. With care and some good track gages, there should be no problem. WING, CLOSURE, AND POINT RAILS The next step is to fabricate the two wing, closure, and point rails. Take a piece of rail and bend it parallel to the centerlines, just as you did when beginning to make the frog. One leg of this rail should be about two inches long to form the wing rail; the other leg should extend beyond the position of the toe of the point. Don't cut the wing rail to length at this time; we'll do that later. Hold the rail in position using your track gages. Note that as you slide it toward the frog, the flangeway between the wing and the point of frog will get smaller. Position the rail to make the flangeway the minimum allowed by the NMRA gage. Then mark the toe of the point using a scribe. The toe of the point should be located on the "toe of point" line we drew earlier. Cut the rail and file the end smooth to the scribe mark. We will form the point first. Begin by bending about 1/2 an inch of the end of the rail toward the track centerline. The end of the rail should be bent about half the width of the rail head. Secure the rail in your vise. The side that is to mate with the stock rail should be up with the bent part horizontal. The wing rail end should be sloping down. File the top side, the back of the point, until the web at the bent end of the rail is half its original thickness. The overall taper of the base will be about half the length of the point, half of 2-1/8" in our example. Next, turn over the rail and file the rail head on the inside of the point so that it tapers from full width at the bend to flush with the web at the end. The toe of the point is now flat, parallel to the web of the rail, and half the web thickness at the end. Now sharpen the point by filing toward both the end and the top of the rail along the bent portion. When done, the toe of the point at the top should come to a knife's edge. This will allow the rail to fit snugly against the stock rail and not catch the wheel as it rolls past. The sequence of drawings in Figure 6 illustrates these steps. 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 9 of 16

10 F I R S T S T E P I N F O R M I N G A P O I N T R A I L " F I L I N G L I N E H E E L O F P O I N T B E N D L I N E Figure 6-A A F T E R F I R S T F I L I N G S T E P F I L I N G L I N E F I L E D O W N A G A I N S T B A S E, H E A D A N D W E B Figure 6-B A F T E R S E C O N D F I L I N G S T E P F I L I N G L I N E F I L E H E A D U P T O W E B Figure 6-C A F T E R T H I R D F I L I N G S T E P F I L I N G L I N E T A P E R W E B A N D H E A D T O P O I N T A T T O P O F T O E Figure 6-D To make the wing rail, position the closure, point and wing rail in position just using the track gages to set the placement. With the prototype, the length of the wing rail depends on the frog number of the turnout. Select the length of the wing rail past the point of frog from the table below. For our sample turnout, I have used 0.517". 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 10 of 16

11 LENGTH OF WING RAILS PAST POINT OF FROG L E N G T H F O R S C A L E F r o g N o. P r o to F t. N H O S O Table 1 Mark the rail at this position and cut it to length. File a taper about half the length of the wing into the rail head and the web on the side of the rail adjacent to the point of frog. At the end of the wing rail, the head and web should be about half their normal thickness. Do not bend the end of the wing rail; if the stock rail and frog are in the correct position, it isn't necessary; it also doesn't look very good. A taper filed as described will allow a wheel to enter the flangeway without fouling and guide it smoothly into position. A taper also looks much better than the typical bent end. With a few light strokes of a file, put a small 45 degree bevel on the rail head at the end of the wing rail. The will help guide rail cleaning blocks past the end of the wing rail. Treat both the wing and the point ends of the rail with the Hobby Black for a few seconds to restore the weathered finish. I simply use a Q-tip to brush on a little, wait about 45 seconds, and then wash it off. Otherwise, Hobby Black will continue to corrode the rail, perhaps out of existence. This treatment will prevent the blinding glare of shiny, filed rail from ruining the turnout's appearance. Make both wing, closure, and point rails in the same fashion, but do not install them now. POINT TABS In most articles I have seen concerning turnout construction, the author recommends connecting the point toes with a brass throw bar soldered in place. This certainly works, but has two unpleasant consequences. First, the open point has the same electrical polarity as the closed point and therefore must open at least 0.068" at the smallest space between the open point and its mating stock rail, for HO standard gauge. At the toe of the point, the opening is about 0.125". Overall, the spacing is more than twice the 3.5 to 5" throw of a prototype turnout. That's necessary to keep metal wheels from shorting out the track as they pass between a stock rail and open point. I have been using insulated throwbars for several decades. This allows the open point to keep the same electrical polarity as its mating stock rail. The connection is made by soldering the heel of the point to the long tab on the stock rail. This eliminates the problem of dirt interfering with the operation of the trains. But most important, from an appearance standpoint, the open point must only clear the stock rail by 0.034" at the smallest spacing, and 0.067" at the open end of the point, assuming that the stock rails are at the maximum gauge of 0.667". If your stock rails are spaced the preferred 0.650" measurement, the point need only open 0.050". These dimensions are practically the same as the prototype, and appearance is greatly improved. One other interesting benefit of small point openings is that, should a wheel pick the closed point, the open point acts as a "guard rail" and pulls the wheel set back into position! This practically eliminates derailments at facing point turnouts. In addition to insulating the points from each other, I also want to insulate the linkage electrically. This prevents any unpleasant electrical surprises as we install switch motor wiring. To accomplish this, I use a 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 11 of 16

12 piece of 1/16" thick Plexiglas as the throwbar. Figure 7 shows my HO standard gauge throwbar for use with code 70 rail. For larger rail sizes, increase the length by twice the difference in code. For example, for code 83 rail, add 0.026" to the length. The length shown or calculated is the minimum. You can add a little to the length if you wish. The longer the throwbar, the greater its visibility outside the stock rails. We will install brass tabs on the bottoms of both points, positioned so that they are centered between the two head block ties and pass under the stock rails. These tabs provide a hinged connection between the points and the throwbar, and also keep the points from rising up above the stock rails. Make these two tabs from 0.015" brass and about 0.06" wide. Cut these tabs twice the width of the base of the rails plus the point throw distance. For our sample code 70 turnout, these tabs will be 0.21" long. Figure 8 shows the point tabs and the hinge pins. Hold the point rails in position on the ties and, with a scribe, mark the innermost edges of the two head block ties. The tabs will be centered between these two marks. Solder the tabs in position using soft silver solder, or, if you have the inclination, hard silver solder. About 0.030" of the tab should project beyond the base of the point rail toward the inside of the turnout; the balance extends beneath and behind the point and out under the stock rail. After soldering the tabs in place, clean all the excess solder from the backside of the point and the top surface of the tab. Since the tabs slide along the bottoms of the stock rails as the points are thrown, they should be clean and burr free to avoid binding. Then drill the hinge pin hole as shown in Figure 7 using a #77 drill. After this step is complete, install the two point, closure and wing rails. Solder the rails to the tabs at the heel of the points. This completes the electrical connection of the points. Solder the wing rails to the tab soldered to the point of frog. See Figure 5. Be sure to space the wing rails from the point of frog by the minimum flangeway dimension. I only use enough solder to maintain wing to point of frog spacing. This closely resembles a fabricated frog, and saves a lot of time removing excess solder from the frog. Add spikes all around the frog area to hold the frog and wing rails securely in place. Also, spike the closure rails at every tie. They will have to have gaps cut between the heels of the points and the frog. Plenty of spikes will make sure that they stay in place. Frequently, other authors suggest filling the frog area with solder and then clearing the flangeways with a hacksaw blade or other tool. While this helps to simulate a cast frog, it does make for a lot of work. If that is your intention, note that only rarely will the wing rails be spaced properly when the rail bases are adjacent. For smaller rail sizes, there will be a gap; for larger rail sizes, it may be necessary to file the base of the wing so that the wing rail can be positioned the correct distance from the point of frog. To fill frogs with solder, be sure to remove all of the rail weathering in the area to be filled. If the rail bases are not very close, I find it helps to cut a narrow strip of 0.005" shim brass and lay it over the gap between the rail bases. Add some flux, heat, and fill the frog and wing rail area with solder. Then, file or saw the excess solder from the flangeways. Be careful not to move the frog out of position. I normally don't do that when installing wing rails and guard rails. Why take time to fill a flangeway with solder, and then immediately spend a bunch of time cutting it out with a hacksaw blade? A couple of thin tabs that span the distance from outer edge of the stock rail and the inner edge of the guard rail work very well, look good, and save a lot of time and skinned knuckles! 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 12 of 16

13 FABRICATING THE THROWBAR P L E X I G L A S T H R O W B A R " " " " " H O L E F O R D R I V E W I R E ø " Figure 7 After cutting and drilling the Plexiglas throwbar, cut a drive wire of 0.025" spring steel. Clean one end of the wire and glue it into the small hole in the throwbar using a gap-filling ACC. The length of the wire is selected to connect to the switch machine linkage. If this is a long distance, so you can install the linkage clear of nearby track or obstructions under the roadbed, pass the wire through a 1/16" diameter brass tube. The tube is buried in the homasote or other scenery material and provides a guide for the drive wire. More on how to do this later. Position the throwbar as shown in Figure 8, spacing the open point slightly less than the check gauge from the closed point. Then drill 0.018" holes through the tabs and vertically into the Plexiglas throwbar. Clean the throwbar and hinge pins with your solvent and put a tiny drop of ACC glue into the two holes. Then insert the hinge pins through the tabs and into the throwbar. Make sure that only the hinge pins are glued to the throwbar; the tabs must be free to pivot about the pins as the points move " " P O I N T T A B " " H I N G E P I N ø " B R A S S " T H I C K " D I A. S T E E L W I R E 2 R E Q U I R E D " Figure 8-A 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 13 of 16

14 T H R O W B A R I N S T A L L A T I O N " " 2 H E A D B L O C K T I E S, 1 4 ' " T I E E N D L I N E S Figure 8-B BUILDING THE GUARD RAILS The next step is to fabricate and install the guard rails. Prototype practice, specifically the Baltimore and Ohio in the 1940's, used three different guard rail lengths. For high speed track, they used 13 foot long guard rails; for slow speed and yard tracks, they used either 11 foot or 9' 3" guard rails. The two longer sizes were constructed from rail, while the short guard rail was a one piece solid manganese casting. Pick the proper size for your turnouts. Because it is easier to model, I use guard rails formed from rail. In HO scale, this will result in guard rails of either 1.518" or 1.794" long. Start with two pieces of rail of the desired length. If you save every piece of rail a couple of inches long, you'll never run short of material for guard rails. If you examine prototype drawings for guard rails, you will see that the ends are not bent away from the stock rail. The guard rail is planed to a taper about 33" or 36" long, depending its length. At the ends, the guard rail is about half its original width. We do the same thing by filing the head and web back using a needle file. I have one with a "safe" edge which a hold against the top of the base of the rail. File a gentle taper about 0.4" long (for HO scale) on each end of the rails. The tapers must be on the same side of the rail head. At the end of the rail, it should be reduced to about half its original width. Do not file the base of the rail, just the rail head and web. There is no need to bend the ends of the rails. By filing the rail as shown in Figure 9, the flangeways are sufficiently wide at the ends to prevent fouling wheels, and the taper will guide the wheels into the narrow flangeways more smoothly than the typical bent ends. Appearance is significantly improved. This is illustrated in Figure 9; the figure was drawn using the dimensions for code 70 rail. While I have installed guard rails by soldering them to the adjacent stock rails, this is generally not the simplest way. When using smaller rail sizes, there will be a gap between the base of the stock rail and the base of the guard rail which must be filled in with a strip of shim stock to get the solder to flow. Also, weathering on the rail must be cleaned off to allow the solder to stick. I now install guard rails by coating the bottom with a thin layer of Pliobond contact cement and allow the cement to dry for a few minutes. It's ready when it has lost its surface tackiness. Then, I place the guard 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 14 of 16

15 rail in position, carefully gauging it with my NMRA track gage. RP 6 has excellent drawings which show how to do this. 1 1 ' H O G U A R D R A I L " " " " P O I N T O F F R O G L E F T O F T H I S L I N E Figure 9 While holding it in position with something other than a finger, heat the rail with a soldering iron. Don't bake it too much. Just heat it enough to soften the Pliobond while pushing down the guard rail. Remove the soldering iron and continue to hold the guard rail in position while the it cools. It will be fastened securely to the ties. If necessary, you can reheat the rail at any time to either remove or reposition it. This is definitely easier and quicker than soldering the guard rail in position. For those who are concerned about the durability of this method, let me just say that this is the same technique that many modelers use to attach code 40 running rails. There are no spikes small enough for code 40 rail that I am aware of. FINISHING THE TURNOUT Just a few steps remain to complete the construction. First, a wire must be attached to the frog so that frog power can be switched by the switch machine or other electrical contact. Drill a small hole, a little larger than the wire you will use, an inch or so away from the frog itself and next to one of the rails which lead to the point of frog. The hole will be between two ties. For years, modelers have been soldering wires to the sides of their rails. Even if this is done very neatly - SELDOM!! - you need sun glasses to endure the glare from the shiny blobs of solder. I prefer to bend the end of the wire 90 degrees end push it under the base of the rail. Add a little flux with the end of a toothpick, and solder the wire to the bottom of the rail. When the ballast is applied, the connection will be completely hidden. This only takes a minute or two, and adds greatly to the overall appearance of your trackwork. Next, trim your ties to length along the diverging route. Prototype practices vary somewhat, so you have flexibility. The New York Central cut their ties to follow the curve, while the Pennsy used ties with 6 inch length increments and the B & O used ties with one foot increments. The prototypes also have an exact number of ties of each length properly spaced, and you can consult a chart to determine exactly what you need for any particular turnout. I am not usually that "religious", but merely cut the ties by eye in steps of about 1 foot. A cut-off disk in my Dremel tool gets this done in short order. Mr. Nit Picker, eat your heart out! I should also mention that, because our model turnouts use flangeway and point throw dimensions larger than the prototype, our turnouts are not the same length as the prototype turnouts of the same frog angle. 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 15 of 16

16 This means that you can't use exactly the same number and lengths of switch ties are shown in prototype tie tables. Use such a table as a guide, but expect to use fewer ties than are shown. Finally, cut away the homasote to form the ballast slope and spread ballast. I won't say much about ballast spreading since there are many ways of doing it, and most are well covered in the literature. Just a word of warning: be careful not to glue ballast so that the points cannot move freely. Keep the ballast below the tops of the ties in the point area. A couple of extra minutes here will prevent a lot of pain and suffering later. If you look closely at prototype turnouts, you will see that they have the same problem with ballast fouling the works. See how low they keep their ballast in the point area. When the adhesive you use has dried, a few minutes of weathering will add the finishing touches which really add to the overall effect. In the February 1983 MR, the late Gordon Odegard provided some very useful hints. There have been a few other articles over the years, but this is the most recent I have seen. OTHER USEFUL IDEAS If you have followed everything so far, you probably noticed that nothing was said about hinging the heels of the points. For standard gauge HO turnouts made with code 70 or smaller rail, I have found that hinges are not necessary. The rail is sufficiently flexible that all but the smallest switch machines will provide sufficient force. There are situations which do require hinging the points: heavy rail, weak switch machines, and short points. For example, HOn3 points are so short that even code 70 rail seems to require either a strong switch machine or hinges. To make the hinges, I cut a strip of 0.005" thick brass shim equal to the height of the web of the rail and about 3/8" long. The point rails of the proper length are cut from the closure rails. This is then soft silver soldered to the rail webs, half to the heel of the point and half to the closure rail. A strip of paper is placed between the ends of the two rails to avoid soldering them together. The paper is removed and the brass strip then provides a very satisfactory hinge. SUMMARY The techniques above are a combination of things I have read by many authors (my MR collection is almost complete!), as well as experimentation (call it trial and MANY errors!) on my part. In special situations, some other techniques are useful. But before getting into the three-way, dual-gauge or doubleslip business, build at least a few "plain vanilla" turnouts. After a little practice, anyone should be able to construct reliable, good-looking turnouts without spending an excessive amount of time. It took a lot of practice before I could regularly count on building a reliable, prototypical turnout mostly every time; you may have the same experience. However, it's all worthwhile when you have a 2 or 3 hour operating session with a bunch of guys and trains, and NO derailments or stalled trains. It's really worth the effort. Sadly, I'm between model railroads as this is being written; in time, this will change! This clinic was prepared by Bill & Dave Ataras, with most of the photos by Dave ( now deceased ). For further information, or to make suggestions, or comments of any helpful nature, please contact me: Bill Ataras 1212 Weymouth Street Westminster, MD (cell) (fax) signalman@wsaeng.com 9/28/2013 Copyright 1994, 2013 W. S. Ataras 16 of 16