Earlier, I decided that I needed a new spur. But, as luck would have it, this spur would have to cross my interchange track. I started looking for a crossing in code 250. SwitchCrafters has some, but they are too narrow; I wanted a 30 degree crossing. Rodney noticed my dilemma and offered to make me one. I decided to take him up on the offer and went ahead and ordered one from it. I received it last Thursday and I was immediately impressed with the packaging. It’s basically a shipping crate! It’s made up of 2 pieces of Masonite with some pine boards separating them. The crossing was sealed inside this excellent protection. Rodney decided to make this crossing a bit different than most. He started with a piece of 1/4" brass 3" wide and 9" long and milled the diamond into it. Needless to say, this makes for a VERY strong and sturdy diamond. Also, this is a clue that it is designed for battery or live steam operation only. Pulling it out of the box, I was struck by how solid this crossing is. It’s not light and there is no flex at all. Frankly, it’s just perfect.
In the shot above, I decided to add one AMS tie at the end of each track, just to fill in the blank area when I hook it up to my existing track. A shot from the underside.
Notice the battens underneath. Rodney cuts dado slots in each tie and pins the battens in place. Even if a spike should work loose, the tie is going to stay in place. The ties are made from Red Oak and stained. Rodney recommends covering the bottom of the ties with boiled linseed oil; I did this and also put a coat over the top of each tie. He stated that he has a friend that has used red oak for ties and had them outside for over 10 years with no deterioration. Good enough for me!
You can see that there are two spikes on each side of the tie. Combined with the battens, there is no flex. The rails are even angled to fit up against the milled diamond. I’ve put this in place on my interchange track, but haven’t yet had a chance to complete the spur. I’ve run cars back and forth and have had no problems at all. It’s a well designed and well engineered diamond. I like it a lot. You can purchase this diamond as well as other products at http://www.randkrailroadproducts.com/