Fast Tracks

I built a #8 double crossover and wish to share my experiences. For the creation of the first half of the crossover I followed the construction PDF doc to the letter. It went fairly quickly after having read the document over several times. (This is after I constructed about 25 turnouts in combinations of #4, #5,#6 and #8 ). Because it went smoothly I changed my approach. I like to position my frog points, after they are soldered together, by sliding them forward or backward to find the sweep spot while looking at the rail at a low angle to check alignment through the frog. There is about 1/8" play forward or back within which one can select the best rail alignment. While holding the frog points in the chosen position I take a Micro-Trains truck fitted with NWSL 60 wheel sets and run it through the frog area. If the truck runs smoothly through the frog I solder the frog points in place and test again. Testing the frog points for smoothness by using the truck is the best way to determine smoothness of the transition point because it involves the sense of touch. At this scale touch is better than sight. (And a fingernail run along a rail is the best for finding nicks and bad joints.)

The Fast Tracks document has the fabricator build the track work starting from the inside and then working outwards. Because of the close proximity of some of the rail, this is the best approach for getting a soldering iron or resistance soldering tweezers on the rails. However, its not as effective for picking the sweet spot for frog placement in the fixure since to do that one needs to have the rail that surrounds the frog points in place.

If you follow the documentation by the numbers, the work will progress quickly. If you fabricate half of the crossover with steps out of sequence, you will probably add 50% additional time to the process. But which ever way you do it, you will have the smoothest, sweetist crossover money can buy.

The best way to validate that statement is to compare a finished Fast Tracks double crossover with a Peco double crossover. The Fast Tracks crossover allows the truck wheels to glide from rail to rail through the frog regardless of wheel flang size. The Peco double crossover drops the wheel as it enters the frog and the flange rides on or near the foot of the rail. It produces a very rough ride for your passengers.