Andy,
The name of the owner is Brad Strong and his company url is signatureswitchco.com
He does great work.
Ed
Thank Ed that is who I am planning to use for my turnouts! Just wanted to make sure there wasn't another good alternative...I know there are, but I have heard great things about Brad's track.
Andy, I am currently attempting to build my own switches using Fast Tracks. I have switches I built, an Old Pullman switch, a scratchbuilt switch built by Gordon Whitlock, Atlas switches and two switches by Brad. In every switch I have except the Brad Strong switches if you move a truck slowly across the frog the wheel will dip into the frog. His switches are by far the best out of everything I own in my opinion. Please note I do not have any switches by “O Scale Turnouts”. I have heard good things about them but don’t have an opinion.
What I was wondering since the Gordon Whitlock switch came off of a functioning layout does it matter if the wheel dips into frog? I would prefer it didn’t because the trains will run much better without that very slight hiccup. I wonder if this happens on the prototype? Or does the weight of a prototype boxcar not allow it to happen?
I actually like building switches but it does eat up a lot of my spare time which isn’t that much. So I looked online to see what switches cost these days. I was shocked at the Atlas price tag of $124/$135. When I bought mine they $49. I know a lot of 2 rail guys dislike Atlas switches but I think they are okay. I once had a small switching layout and other than one of them that was shorted I had no issues. But then I checked the Signature Switch (Brad’s) website. The same size (roughly) switch was only $84 and it is a much better Switch! I immediately ordered 2 #6 switches. I think $84 is an extremely reasonable price for a switch of this quality in today’s O scale.
Anyway, you won’t be sorry with Brad’s switches. They are well worth the money.
Thanks Phil all good information! I think $84 is reasonable also. I have Brads website saved on my list of train items. I had 5 or 6 #5 Atlas switches I bought at a great price and sold them last year since I didn't have a layout. I had a carpet switching layout for a while, but had to take it down...then I sold them since I knew I was going to move. They worked fine for what I used them for, but I like the look of Brads better.
I have no problem buying switches...I just want to lay my own rail...maybe one day play with making my own switch.
My question is with the numbered switches...what do they equate to in terms of radius? I know the larger the number the larger the radius (I think), but is a #5 equivalent to ?What? radius or do they not equate that way?
@roll_the_dice posted:Thanks Phil all good information! I think $84 is reasonable also. I have Brads website saved on my list of train items. I had 5 or 6 #5 Atlas switches I bought at a great price and sold them last year since I didn't have a layout. I had a carpet switching layout for a while, but had to take it down...then I sold them since I knew I was going to move. They worked fine for what I used them for, but I like the look of Brads better.
I have no problem buying switches...I just want to lay my own rail...maybe one day play with making my own switch.
My question is with the numbered switches...what do they equate to in terms of radius? I know the larger the number the larger the radius (I think), but is a #5 equivalent to ?What? radius or do they not equate that way?
Not direct relation. A numbered switch diverges at an angle and both tracks head off in a straight line from the frog (you can certainly bend it shortly thereafter). You can sometimes find an "effective" or "diverging" radius or something of the sort listed for a given switch. A #5 is about a 50" radius, and an 11 degree angle between the legs.(https://www.handlaidtrack.com/...wnloads/tt-o-t-5.pdf), but thats just the divergence in the switch. An 8 is a 7 degree divergence but the radius jumps to 120". The higher the number of the switch, the shallower the diverging angle and the larger the diverging radius gets.
Here is what the Dean of track planning (John Armstrong) had to say about it.
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Thanks to you both. That helps a lot. Makes sense now!!
Which ever way you build or lay your track, hand or ready made, painting the rail first makes a huge difference. I spray the individual rails with a Rustoleum brown and then weather with diluted india ink and use separately pre-weather gray tie strips with wooden ties laid in here and there. It's [pretty effective.
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@Ron H posted:Which ever way you build or lay your track, hand or ready made, painting the rail first makes a huge difference. I spray the individual rails with a Rustoleum brown and then weather with diluted india ink and use separately pre-weather gray tie strips with wooden ties laid in here and there. It's [pretty effective.
Or you could just start with weathered rail.
Hi,
After laying my flex track, I spray everything with Rustoleum Camo Earth Brown paint. It looks great.
Ed
Rick Bacon already mentioned the A&O. A HUGE reason to hand-lay is that it can save SO much layout space. Here is a curved scissor crossover being built in-place.
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$84 per switch
If one can make a Fast Track jig switch in about 45 minutes using about 15 dollars in material (less the price of the jig that you can easily sell for 75% of new when done) is $84 really that reasonable??
Not sure,
Peter
@riogrande491 Bob, thanks for sharing. That crossover is awesome! I also just looked at your website. I am blown away at what you have done! Saying great job is so understated. One of the best well thought out layouts I have seen!
I can't take any credit for the track laying. That's the layout owner David's department. I've only laid a few inches for a new deck in a brass Overland truss bridge with full spikes and tie plates. I'm more of the electrical and signal department.
The A&O uses weathered Microengineering rail, codes 125 and 100. We have had lots of problems with the chemical treatment it received at the factory. For many years after the rail was laid, the treatment had not yet stopped. We found dark green insulating nodules growing on the rail head that had to be removed mechanically. ME had no advice regarding a way to neutralize the chemistry. We still occasionally find a new, crusty lump or two.
@Peter E B posted:If one can make a Fast Track jig switch in about 45 minutes using about 15 dollars in material (less the price of the jig that you can easily sell for 75% of new when done) is $84 really that reasonable??
Not sure,
Peter
Wow, many years ago I calculated what the costs were in materials to build a Fast Tracks switch I got $30. I just redid the calculations and even with today's costs it came out to $17.42 (for a #6). So now I feel even better about investing in the Fast Tracks system. Someday when I build a small yard it will save me a lot of money.
45 minutes? Peter, you are very fast. It takes me much longer to complete a switch. Hopefully, as I get better at it I will get faster. Also I am using code 148 rail which takes the longest to file.
One thing though, Brad's switches are not made from Fast Tracks jigs. I can only assume he has his own jigs. You can't put a Brad Strong switch into a Fast Tracks jig it won't fit. The ties won't line up. Labor is very expensive. It is just my opinion that Brad's switches are better than a Fast Tracks switch but yes they do cost more. However compared to an Atlas switch I feel the price is extremely reasonable.
I have never used the ME weathered rail and after reading what Bob from the A&O Signal Department said I will stick with the non-weathered rail. IIRC Fast Tracks recommends not using the weathered rail when soldering it to PCB ties and it really isn't that much extra labor to paint the sides of the rails. Thank you very much for the information Bob.
Hudson, I certainly agree with you about the comparison to atlas being reasonable as well as it being only available in code 148 which I think it too big for most small layouts.
I admit that I make more than 1 at a time as I cut all the rail at once then do the assembly. I first one takes the longest the next ones go quicker as you’ve “relearned” the process. They average out to about 45 minutes. LOL
Peter
@mwb posted:Laid my track 20 years ago - Micro Engineering sold weathered rail back then. Supposedly it was "stiffer" that the unweathered. I never noticed...
I guess I just didn't see it. Since I was buying ready made 30 or maybe 36 inch track, I can't remember and probably wouldn't have bought it.
Ron H
Bob,
What are the radii of the two curves in the double crossover?
Great work!
Thanks,
Ed
Just got a reply from David. The outer track is a consistent 75" radius, and the inner about 55".
Bob,
Thanks to you and David.
Ed
Thanks to everyone that has contributed so far to this thread! What a great wealth of information you guys have...I appreciate you passing it on. OGR has some of the best and most knowledgeable people and they are willing to share that knowledge! I have learned a ton! So Thanks!
Just completed branch line track. Micro engineering non weathered rail and ROW switch parts. Both fun and satisfying project. 
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@Ron H posted:Which ever way you build or lay your track, hand or ready made, painting the rail first makes a huge difference. I spray the individual rails with a Rustoleum brown and then weather with diluted india ink and use separately pre-weather gray tie strips with wooden ties laid in here and there. It's [pretty effective.
@mwb posted:Or you could just start with weathered rail.
Weathered rail is preferable to me and it's pretty much all I've ever used. I also like to tape off and airbrush the rail using a mixture of rust and grimy black colored paints after everything is ballasted. I find a small amount of overspray bleeds through down between the ties and helps weather the ballast a bit as well.
I haven't been able to find individual code 125 NS weathered rail sections for some time so have been installing non-weathered rail instead. I don't mind scavenging rail from flex track sections to build a turnout here and there, but not for a larger area of trackage. I currently have about 35' feet of rail to weather but that will need to wait until after I get caught up on some other projects. Luckily, I haven't installed these sections permanently and they're up on rollers, so all the rail is easily accessible to prep and airbrush.
After I get those sections caught up, I'll be installing flex track pretty much for everything else on my layout except for turnouts and bridge decks. I definitely think hand laid trackage looks better but I don't mind mixing it with flex track and think it can look pretty good. Here's a shot of the two being installed together.
MicroEngineering's O scale, and the Proto48 code 125 rail they produce for Right 0 Way look very good imho, especially after ballasting and weathering. I too have never found the weathered flex track to be any more difficult to shape than the non-weathered. Here's a shot of ME's O scale flex track, (left side of photo)
John
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@mr buttons @jgtrh62 Your track work is excellent! looks very realistic. If you paint the ties what color do you use for them?
I wanted to hand lay 3rail switch's but there are no jigs available. Plus since I would be using Gar Graves track I assume I'd have to use their rail or Ross's.
You would think as high as switch's are this would be a viable option.
A lot of great layouts are shown in this thread, including many finely-detailed turnouts. The A&O track is less finely detailed but makes up for that in sheer quantity. Here are a few stats regarding David's hand-laid track, all built in place:
- 246 single turnouts
- 11 three-way turnouts
- 3 double slip turnouts
- 4 lap turnouts
- 10 diamonds
- frog numbers from #5 to #15
