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Okay, I am considering changing over to an HO layout from N scale due to greater detail. I have been using Kato Unitrack and am thrilled with it. But if I were to switch to HO what switches/turnouts are the most reliable since three of them will be in the back of the loop and only reachable with great difficulty. They would be number 4s. I did used to lay traditional flex track for N and HO so I do know how to do that. Please give me advice on what is serving well and what to avoid. Thanks
Okay, I am considering changing over to an HO layout from N scale due to greater detail. I have been using Kato Unitrack and am thrilled with it. But if I were to switch to HO what switches/turnouts are the most reliable since three of them will be in the back of the loop and only reachable with great difficulty. They would be number 4s. I did used to lay traditional flex track for N and HO so I do know how to do that. Please give me advice on what is serving well and what to avoid. Thanks
You didn't mention what size of rail you plan to use. Code 100 and code 83 are most common.
You did mention #4 turnouts. I have found that Walther's #4 are true 4s and are very tight complete with kink. I've seen 6 axle diesels have trouble with them. On the other hand, Atlas Custom Line #4 are really #4.75 and that extra .75 makes them much more forgiving. Peco code 100 short turnouts, which fit the footprint of a #4, are even more forgiving as they are European style. The frogs are actually #6.
I only use number four switches on industrial trackage. Since I have a short line terminal railroad, number sixes are generally appropriate, although it probably would have been wiser to use number eights in some places.
I recently finished my trackage, using Walter‘s track and switches. I did have a couple places where the switches weren’t quite right. On one, the points were too narrow. I was able to install a couple of guide rails, and that addressed the problem. On a couple of them, I had to put a slight outward bend on the points to get good positioning. But generally, it works very well.
Thank you all for your most welcome input. My apologies for the tardy response, but I was not receiving notifications of answers [why I have no idea, as my other followed threads are really good at alerting me].
If you go with HO Code 83, Peco turnouts would be a good bet. My reason for going with Code 83 is that Peco's turnouts are built to American specs, whereas their Code 100 are built to British specs, which have caused a few problems under rare circumstances, which can be corrected easily. I personally have used Code 100 exclusively as I have a lot of older equipment and had a lot of Code 100 track from previous layouts. I only encountered one problem which had one of my locomotives picking the frog. That was solved easily by narrowing the guard rail with a .010" plastic shim.
The main reason Code 83 is becoming more popular these days is simply the shorter height of the rail looks a little better to some folks, as it is more equivalent to prototype rail weights, except for some Pennsylvania mainline 152 lb rail.
I would go with Peco US Streamline turnouts. I’ve been using them on my new build and they are fantastic! They are very durable and have not caused any issues with a variety of rolling stock.
