Large Scale Central

Switches My Way

Articles
#1

I start by cutting my tie material into strips of my tie width and hight. Then I cut to length on the miter saw. Set up the dado on the table saw and dado the ties.

I have a fixture to lay the ties and get ready for to glue the battens to the ties. My battens are 3/8" wide X 1/8" thick.

I use a lead weights on the battens after they are glued.

All the stock rails of my switches are notched where the points come against them. Locate the notch so it is in the center of the headstock tie at the small end of the switch. I use a good straight edge and clamp to the stock rail that is straight.

Start a few spikes on the outside of the rail. Remove the straight edge and add spikes opposite of the spikes that were started. Finish spiking the rail down. I use 2 spikes per tie per rail and 4 at the ends.

For my #6’s I measure 15 1/2 inches to the frog.

Spike the frog in place using regular and the special track gauges.

Spike the rail from the frog to the end of the switch using the track gauges.

I use a good straight edge and slip it in the flangeways and line up the rail and spike it down.

The diverging stock rail is laid in place with gauges and spiked.

Lay the point rail on top of the diverging stock rail and bend to it to match. Mark where the point joiners go and notch tie for clearance.

Using gauges spike the rail down

All that is left is to attach the throw bar and the guard rail. For me I use .125" for the width of the all flangways and works great.

Rodney

#2

Very nice Rodney.

#3

Thanks for the writeup and the photos.

#4

That’ll come in handy…:wink:

#5

Nice! I just rebuilt a #4 Y using your method of cutting the slots in the ties. I am amazed at how much stronger the switch is. I need to rebuild a few more and this will really help.

#6

Neat, Rodney… :slight_smile:

#7

Nice switches.
You have a dead AirWire board on your bench just like I do! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#8

where’s a good place to pick up stock rail pieces? I’m assuming that is what you use to build your switches?

#9

Hey Rodney,

Great looking switch!! I know you sell the frogs on your web site. Do you also sell the track gauges?

Chuck

#10

Thanks for the kind words.
A little history on how I started making switches. It all started when a small group that I was part of, built
a display layout for a department store as a teenager. The track plan that we were using had a double
crossover on a curve. One of the guys (Frank) hand spiked it in place and I watched ever so close. As a
young teenager, I could not afford very many switches and this was a way to have as many as I wanted
without the cost of buying them. Frank was a Machinist by trade and also had a Bridgeport in his shop.
Frank had made the track gauges he was using and I asked him if he could make me a set for me. On
my first real layout I had a lot of hand spiked track and switches and the more I did, the better I got
at it. In the early 70’s, MR had a article by Gordon Odagard (spelling may be wrong) on soldering rail
to PC board for trackwork in n-scale. I started using this method for my HO and it worked better for
me. In 1977 I switched from HO to N-scale and continued to use the PC board method for my switches.
When I started my present n-scale layout and now could afford to by switches, #10 and #12 were not
available so I had to build them. When I first started modeling large scale, I bought 1500 feet of
ME 250 alum rail and the first layout was all hand spiked. Once the roadbed was done, I spiked the
300 feet of mainline in 3 days and another 2 days to do the switches. So what you see here is over
40 years of my experience of building trackwork.

John
You are right on the Airwire board. That is the first one out of over 35 that I have installed.

Michael
I use what I have available in the shop. I have bought rail in 8’ lengths but with shipping it is
almost cheaper to buy track and disassemble it.

Chuck
e-mail sent

#11

Rodney - what dimensions (height and width) are you using on your ties?

#12

Steve
I make it mine match the AMS ties that I’m using on the layout.
They are .370" (a hair smaller than 3/8") X .470" (15/32")

Rodney

#13

Wow…almost exactly how i go about building a switch… I guess Im obviously doing it right! Only differnce is i use miniature wood screws to hold the frog in place. Since mine are resin castings
I thought there might be cause to replace one at some point…

#14

Rodney,

What is the stain you use? Sure looks good.

#15

Rick
I just noticed your question
I use Min Wax Dark Walnut and a small amount of Ebony mix in with it.

Rodney

#16

Thanks, the color looks like fresh creosote. I think that is a compliment.

#17

Rodney
After seeing your switches in person, they really look great. I still plan on making some, someday.
I really enjoyed talking to you at the convention and seeing your layout. It looks great.
Dennis

#18

Rodney, this is great, thanks.

I suggest that you save this article, here, though, http://www.largescalecentral.com/articles , where it will be more permanent, and easier to find. In this section, it will soon go onto the second page, and mostly be lost.

Take a look at the bar across the top… home… profile… messages… forums… chat… articles… freight sheds… and so on.