Fast Tracks

Greetings all.
TO those naysayers that think our fast-tracks switches aren't prototypical enough (especially in the area of the frog) I present the (hopefully attached) photograph taken by me in the Yard I work out of. This is a switch that was placed in 1940 and still in daily use today.
I've got several other detail shots of this switch frog if people are interested...who knows, maybe some kind of "headblock detail" package could be made by the Fast-tracks folks for those that would like to detail their frogs!

By the way, this is a #8 switch in the CSX (Former Conrail/NYC Big 4) yard at S. Anderson, Indiana. I'm a locomotive engineer, and took these shots when I was at work last week during my lunch break.

If the moderators want more information (or i put this in the wrong board) let me know--I'm new here, although I've had fast-tracks jigs and ties for a year or so now--and have been enjoying handlaying track much more now than ever!
I'm sorry I couldn't figure out how to minimize these photos since they're large sized.
_Kris>

Greetings,

GREAT pictures! Wow, 1940! Those tracks would have been in use for nearly 10 years by the time we would get to when my layout is set.

The wheel wear pattern on the frog is very cool. I think I will be getting out the bottle of rust and a tiny paint brush tonight to simulate that on my frogs.

In that first picture it looks like a few of those spikes could do with a bit of a hammering back into place.

Thanks,
Christopher

Not to sound sarcastic, but what's your point? I'm just trying to figure out what statement you are trying to make.

Donnell

WELLLLLLL.
My point was that if someone wanted to superdetail the frog area of their handlaid switches, they could use these pictures as a prototypical guide. Or, if the fine folks at FastTracks wanted measurements of the headblocks and other parts of the frog if they decide to dive into the proto trackdetailing world, I'd be willing to provide that. I'm just trying to help out here, since it's the only switch frog like this i've ever seen!
I just kind of thought it'd be neat to have a "spruce up your switchpoint" kit available-for those that would like it.

The statement I was attempting to make was this:
I tend to hear that the one drawback to the fast-track switches is that they lack detail in the frog area. Those that can afford to can drop in those nice Proto:87 replica manganese frogs (or details west, for that matter.) For those on a budget, like myself, this shows that there *is* a prototype for how we make our switches, although it isn't commonplace.

Oh--notice in the last photo the flipped-over piece of rail that is used to make the "point" of the frog between the outgoing rails...it's a detail I think would be pretty nifty to try to replicate. and the wear pattern is pretty neat--that crack isn't. This frog sees daily use, and I'm amazed we still make it over this switch when we use it. The yard track isn't exactly held up to the highest of track standards, hence the full-size bolts with about 10 split washers to reach out to the nut...this is CSX folks...we improvise...a lot.

Cool... nice to see that they cut a gap in their frog for DCC.