Thank you Rico....
As I was finishing up the roadbed install, I built the top deck of the logging railroad.
For all the radiuses of curves, I marked and carefully cut strips of card board so the outside edge matched the radius of the curve for marking the centerlines.
With the roadbed installed, it is time to lay some track down.
I used all Shinohara code 83 nickel silver track. I laid the mainline first, starting with the switches and then fill in with flex track. I never did care much for the, drill a hole in the bench work next to the track, thread a feeder wire down the hole and solder feeder to rail.
Once the switch position had been determined, I marked 3 hole locations with a marker pen. Inside rail, outside rail, and frog...green arrows.
Then I took the switch to the workbench so I could better control the conditions of soldering.
My whole goal during the mainline track install, is reliability electrically, and reliable smooth running at track speed. Track speed for my layout turned out to be 45 scale miles/hour. (Faster than that and the train looked goofy on the smaller radius curves.)
Here are the tools I used for soldering. The "pen" is a fiberglass scratch pen. I have yet to find anything that will clean like this thing. I've tried using a whole bunch of other stuff to clean with, I went back to the scratch pen. Some care is need though, I used it at the same spot on the workbench, followed frequently with the vacuum. The soldering iron is a Hakko variable temp.
With the feeder wires soldered and holes drilled in roadbed, install the turnout. Concerning the red feeder on the outside of the rail, by the time you paint and ballast, hard to tell they are there.....
A group of turnouts ready for install.....
The Shinohara track has "spike" holes next to each rail, 11-12 ties apart or about every 3 1/4 inches. With the turnout installed, I put in 4-5 spikes to hold it temporarily in place. Final securement will come after all mainline track is laid down.
I never did care for the look of Atlas track and having to secure it with a nail through the middle of the ties.......just my preference......
In the bottom of the photo above, there is a piece of rectangular plastic tube in the middle of the cork. That is where the throw rod from the switch machine goes. This way I am assured that the throw rod will not snag on anything. When the turnout is finally secured, the throw rod doesn't always line up in the middle of the tube, maybe over to one side, even so, it can't snag on some errant piece of foam or cork.
Here are turnouts for the main yard....
On the subject of reliability, I didn't want contact of the point rails to furnish power for the stock rails. so I soldered jumpers on the point rails, please refer back to post #54 for a review.....
I'm another one modeling the transition era, with first gen diesels, and again, for the reliability factor, I powered the frogs.
