09-07-2011, 08:13 AM
Justinmiller171 Wrote:I have heard that Peco code 100 turnouts aren't NMRA compliant, Is there anything I need to do to make sure they run well?
No one's ready made turnouts are up to NMRA standards, but Peco is closer than anyone else. I think the place the Peco is "off" is track gauge at the frog. The gauge should be at NMRA minimum at that point on the turn out. You can fix them to work reliably by using the NMRA gauge to check the spacing between the rails and the guard rails and gluing shims to the guard rails to get the spacing between the guard rails and the stock rails perfect so that the guard rails will "catch" any wheels that want to "wander" and pull them to the stock rails. That will keep cars or locos from trying to take the wrong route through the frog. One of the guys in the club found that .005" styrene made perfect shims to shim the guard rails.
The latest issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist has an article by Joe Fugate on how he uses Central Valley switch tie strips as cheap jigs to make his turnouts. Even if you don't want to try handlaying turnouts, there are a lot of good tips there on what you want to find to have reliable turnout operation. The magazine is free if you haven't seen it before.
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