Be careful what you wish for..proto 87 is most unforgiving since the wheel flange is smaller then the normal .110"..Track work must be carefully laid.
Tie spacing and color Comparing Altas c55 with Micro Engineering c55 , how is the tie spacing and color? Will an Atlas c55 turnout look out of place with Micro Engineering c55 flex due to tie spacing and color?
Well, from what I've seen, Atlas's color is about the color of their code 83 line, if you have any experience with that.
I agree that the combination of ME Code 55 flex + Atlas turnouts has given me the most realistic looking track short of handlaying we can expect in N. I also really like the slight random tie spacing that you get wih ME flex The simple fact the the Atlas C55 turnouts are DCC friendly off the shelf is a winner. Steve
In this pic you can see an Atlas code 55 #10 turnout with a pice of ME code 55 flex track attached for the siding: The color and tie spacing are pretty much the same; the tie width on the ME track is a bit wider than the Atlas. Ugh I really mangled that turnout with my feeder wires--that will need a do-over. Jamie
I was at the Baltimore & Ohio Musuem today, and I got reading a N scale book, and it said about a code 40 track made by aspen models. Is it good? Aspen Models?
I was aware that they sold sectional Nn3 track and turnouts. It is code 40 rail cemented to wood ties and looks real nice. However some folks have had problems with it delaminating under temperature extremes.
I remember researching Aspen model turnouts a couple years back. They don't seem to list them on there website anymore, but I do remember them being about $40 bucks apiece. That'd be a bit pricey depending on which side you used them on.
Expensive...lol I think I'm going to try and handlay some code 55 track on my JVRR side of my n scale layouts. Also, if you handlay code 40 track, could you spike the outside of the rail, as opposed to spiking them where the flanges go, could this solve the low profile axles?
I don't think the rails would stay down only spiked on one side. I don't even use spikes. I solder the rail to PC board ties
Here is a shot of a turnout I was working on. Most of the ties are wood that are glued to the bottom of the rails but you can see the PC board ties periodically that provide strength to the assembly. They are the darker ties except for at the very bottom where I slid some plastic ties on for spacing. The copper foil has to be cut in the middle of the PC ties so the rails are not shorted out. Here it is with all the ties painted gray.
Here is a link to the San Diego Society of N Scale (SDSoNS) and their track standards. All visible track is code 40 handlaid on PC ties similar to what Russell has done above. SDSoNS has been working under this standard for over 15 years that I know of and probably a lot longer. SDSoNS turnout data. OT: SDS0NS layout tour.
The more I thought about it, I think handlaying is getting more and more daunting. So, maybe I should use some Micro engineering code 55 flextrack. We shall see.
The only reason I didn't use ME flextrack was the problem with availability in 2002, when I was building most of the layout. The Atlas C55 worked out very well.
