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OK, I see that now. I wonder what parts were used as replacements?Is replacing that frog difficult?Mark in Oregon
EDIT: Posting at the same time as Mark, decided not to modify as comments are still valid.
...Notching the rail foot at the hinge point of the closure rails seems like a good idea, I might start doing that on all my turnouts, even the long ones.
I'm am a bit surprised to not see "gang-downvoting" here to even suggest hand-building turnouts. I received over ten down votes over on another thread for suggesting the way to not be held hostage by Atlas manufacturing shortages in China was to build your own turnouts...
I would encourage readers and contributors to give a thumb's up if you like a fellow contributor's post.
Photo (1) - Just for those who may not know what "...Notching the rail foot at the hinge point..." means:Actually, you are creating faux closure point rails, and are creating hinges where the closure rail heels would be on a switch with separate closure point rails. The sharp part down by the throw bar is called the "toe" of the closure point.This is pretty easily done with a sharp, quality triangular fine jeweler's file. To actually make a "hinge" at this point on your switch, you will need to file on both sides of the rails clear through to the rail web, and take a bit of that off too on either side of the rail.Making the notches line up with each other so the points of the notches are close to being in the same position on either side of the rail is the most difficult part. Don't worry, even if they're not perfectly aligned, if they're somewhat directly across from each other, the "hinge" will still work....Cheerio!Bob Gilmore
I'm actually a bit surprised you file through the rail head and not just the web. At a certain point I'd be worried about metal fatigue when the points are thrown. How long have you had turnouts with this feature in service? (And how often do you throw them?)
...I'm a bit surprised to not see "gang-downvoting" here to even suggest hand-building turnouts. I received over ten down votes over on another thread for suggesting the way to not be held hostage by Atlas manufacturing shortages in China was to build your own turnouts, with several personally denigrating remarks.Although I don't give a rat's a$$ as to how many up or down votes I get, I would encourage readers and contributors to give a thumb's up if you like a fellow contributor's post.Cheerio!Bob Gilmore
Personally, I'm tremendously interested in hand-building turnouts. Following "thebige61's" YouTube tutorials, I've cobbled one together out of scavenged materials. It was crude, and for the most part, non-functional. However, I was delighted and hooked by the "look and feel." Unfortunately, I don't have time to go down that particular rabbit hole yet.
Bob, any particular reason to notch those rails? Is there excessive stress on those rails? Just for looks to match the 1:1? Reason I ask is I always thought it was better to not have hinged rails as it seems to be less that could fail or go wrong. Thanks!