I am one of several who have jigs from Fast tracks and mine are left and right dual gauge #6 and N gauge #8 code 40 turnouts. Initially in Z and Nn3 we had trouble with the openings for soldering iron to reach rail to solder rails to ties, but the crew at fast tracks worked with several of us to get them working including adjusting track geometry and new jigs to get my dual gauge N and Nn3 lefts and rights to work. properly My k28 and 27's work fine through them now. I also have several Japanese Tendshodo D51's working through them also now. In my book if you are hand laying track fast tracks is the way to go. When you consider the fact that you can build as many switches as you can fabricate from one jig. With a pair of of dual gauge jigs I have total flexibility to build break outs. shift third rail from left to right and do standard N- gauge turnouts or Z or Nn3 turnouts. With tie beds available now you can get really good looking track work and switches. plus they can supply rail, pc ties, solder flux everything you need for hand laid track work and there display module of circular NY harbour reefer terminal is really as site to see. Yes it requires work but everything worth while requires work or dollars you just have to decide which it is going to be. If you want plug and play track work then you need to look at rokuhan line of z-scale track. I have over 80 hours of display time now on my double track main of 6.5mm rail display layout with cross over switches between the two mains. Bullet proof operation of my Nn3 and Z trains on this track in DC and DCC modes. which is a crowd pleaser. cheers Garth
No question laying traditional track work with flex requires the Peter Wright turnouts and they work great too. Would be nice to see larger quantity available. If you can find Aspen ones that have come unglued it is relatively easy to transfer them to hand laid versions on PC ties. regards Garth
Thanks Jeff, they sound like a nice option, but problematic to get with his illness. I hope I'll get to see some on a layout in Sacramento in July. Garth, the FastTracks jigs are nice (I have two), but I think their tie spacing is bit off from the MT track, or maybe it's because I have a code 40 jig, not code 55. I initially wanted to get several jigs, but the prices went up and for the few turnouts I wanted to make, it didn't make financial sense for me. The Proto:87Stores jigs are top of the line for the bigger scale of HO/Proto87, since they have tie plates that look great. Not as much detail for the Z jigs, but I'll know more this week when I build one of two turnouts. And I believe the tie spacing is a better match for MT track. -James
I guess with hand laid track I determine the tie spacing. but if you are ordering a jig it is easy to get that set to your preference. It was not one I checked as I was not using flex to connect to switches.
I e-mailed Peter 2 weeks ago to inquire, since it had been a few months. He was working on quite a bit of other Z stuff I am not at liberty to say. I reminded him of the National Train Show in July and offered to buy 250 or whatever of each and distribute to the locals and resellers so he could guarantee business but have not heard back. I never got his number all these years (he just did not feel comfortable) but do have his private e-mail. We need a guy like him. .
