Model Railroading > Fast Tracks Turnouts

Received my kit today...looks cool..can't wait to build them..Has anyone on here have any experience building these..Looks like fun..open to amy tips people have...

Yes I have several of his jigs, just watch the videos and you will be fine. The man put out a real high quality product. And yes I have no connection to him or the jigs.

Andre

Isn't his kit just a Central Valley?

Absolutely not. Central Valley's are plastic ties with slots for the rails and frogs. Fast Tracks uses jigs made from precision milled plates plus frog and point making tools. They also supply wood tied turnout blanks and circuit board ties that are used in the construction of the turnouts.

I started using Fast Tracks tools and it was great but because I'm using a wide variety of rail sizes (code 100, 83, 70 and 55) and turnout frog numbers, the investment in the jigs would have been high. I have a guy building them for me now for about the price of Walthers turnouts, but of course, they are much better and with powered frogs, plus he paints the turnouts too. He has most of the jigs so can make me anything down to code 55 in HO plus many curved turnouts. He also sells his work on ebay.

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> Isn't his kit just a Central Valley?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/10 13:47 by wabash2800.

I use them and really like them.
Takes me around 30-40 minutes to build a turnout from start to finish.
The first one I did I messed up, but learned from. Actually I was able to later on fix my mistake and go from there. Each turnout gets better and they function great.

I tell everyone to just take their time, learn from each turnout they build and don't expect the first one to be perfect.

I recommend them to everyone!

While I do not own any of them, I have used one. Very high quality. I will get the jigs if/when I start a HO layout.

I, too, can add that I have built an entire yard lead, curved turnout and a few easy mainline switches with this system. Take your time, and I will recommend that you use your ohm-meter (or multi-meter set to the appropriate setting) to test for simple short-circuits to make absolutely sure that your turnout isn't shorted out anywhere *before* you slap it on the layout. It's way easier to find a sliver of copper cladding from the PC ties on the workbench than it is stooped over on the layout.

Each one I build gets a little better, but CIOR's still look better than mine.

You're right. I bought a couple of switch "kits" from someone and they were nothing more than CV's basic kits with a couple extra parts. I can't remember who it was. I've bought direct from CV also.
I've got a bunch of the "Bullfrogs" in use and really like them. I'm pretty well done building turnouts, so it wouldn't pay to buy the tooling now.
Fast Tracks are great folks to deal with.

I can also happily sing the praises of the Fast Track's turnout jigs and end results. Very well constructed and as stated above, watch the videos included on the CD they send and you should be all set.

My recommendations when building them.

- Buy individual wood ties. Print out their templates off the Fast Track's website. I laminated mine, then put double sided sticky tape down across the centerline of the turnout. Line up and place your individual wood ties on the tape matching the template below. Apply the glue or adhesive of choice and set your turnout down ontop of it. Let it dry or use the "fast cure" method of heating the contact cement with your soldering iron. I love the Quick Ties (I believe they call them), but it drives the price of each turnout up quite a bit. So I just got used to using my template and trimming the wood ties myself.

- As stated earlier, Ohm-out your turnout prior to placing it on the layout. This can't be overstated. Once it's installed, you will spend hours finding the culprit tie causing the short. I've never done this of course, a friend did though. Yeah, yeah, a friend. . . :-P

- As you cut a gap in your PC Board ties, be sure none of the copper cladding rolled over onto the side of the tie. This will happen during the shearing process and it's easy to miss as you file or cut a notch into the tie for the gap. As stated in the videos, just run your file over the sides to remove any copper.

- File until you think you've got the points sharp, then file a bit more. The sharper the points, the smoother they are.

- Same goes for the frog. You'll get a feel for how far you should push the rails together while forming the frog, but the closer the frog points are to the stock rails/diverging route rails, the more seemless the switches will be.

- Have an NMRA guage handy. The turnouts will be spot on, but you will find each and every wheelset that's not. The knee jerk reaction is to blame the switch. More often than not, it's the wheelset.

- Depending on the guage of track you are using, I'd suggest experimenting with different rail types. I did Code 100 (I know, travesty, but cost pushed me there). While the jigs are made for ME rail, I bought Atlas Code 100 off various places (mostly HOYardSale) and stripped the ties off. All my turnouts were well within NMRA standards. Mileage may vary there, but worth a shot if you are looking to keep the price of each switch down.

That's all the things I can think of. Haven't had to make one in awhile so I'm sure if I sat down and started again, I'd think of a bunch more things I did while making them.

Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor! Well worth it!

ChessieFan2

all of our clubs switches are fast tracks and there awsome