RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 22, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 22, 2010 I have a feeling this was discussed on the previous forum but I couldn't find it when I searched. I am about to order all the components I need to build the turnouts on my new layout. I will be constructing these from plastic chairs & timbers. As exactoscale don't do plastic timbering I have settled on c&l thin timbering (to match the smp plain track). But does anyone have any comments on the relative merits of c&l vs exactoscale chairs? I'm leaning towards exactoscale at the moment because (surprisingly) they are quite a bit cheaper. Will exactoscale chairs work with c&l BH rail? (I'm hoping so because exactoscale won't supply lengths of their rail via mail order) Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Both were designed by the same person just 20 years apart (the Exactoscale ones being newer). Note both are quite high next to the rail so you may find some flanges a little bumpy on it compared to SMP which has underscale chairs. The latest S1 chairs I have from Exactoscale do have a bit of flash on the jaws of one side making fitting to the rail on one side of the line a bit more difficult than those with keys facing the other way. I do still think they are better than the older C+L components though. Cheaper is a bonus.. Intercity models or MSE may sell Exactoscale rail to order by the way as they do sell some of the other components from Exactoscale. Their rail is very good compared to the S4 Society stuff I have, I think it should work with C+L rail though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 Both were designed by the same person just 20 years apart (the Exactoscale ones being newer). Note both are quite high next to the rail so you may find some flanges a little bumpy on it compared to SMP which has underscale chairs. The latest S1 chairs I have from Exactoscale do have a bit of flash on the jaws of one side making fitting to the rail on one side of the line a bit more difficult than those with keys facing the other way. I do still think they are better than the older C+L components though. Cheaper is a bonus.. Intercity models or MSE may sell Exactoscale rail to order by the way as they do sell some of the other components from Exactoscale. Their rail is very good compared to the S4 Society stuff I have, I think it should work with C+L rail though. Thanks for the info. I was aware of the possible chair / flange issue. Hopefully most, if not all, of my stock should be ok. Unfortunately I don't know of any other option if you want chaired pointwork. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted March 23, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 23, 2010 I could be wrong, but isn't there a difference in the moulding of the chairs for how they locate on the sleepers? I thought for straight track at least that the Exactoscale chairs had a 'pip' on the underside for locating them in a 'dip' on the sleeper? I don't think that's the case for the point timbering though as I'm not that familiar with Exactoscale products I could be wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Hiya I prefer exactoscale componets but I use C&L rail. Exactoscale do plastic point timbering although its not thin. HTH Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 Thanks for the info guys. I think I shall be going down the route of exactoscale chairs and c&l timbers and rail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
25 BoBo Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Just ordered 2000 chairs from C&L and got 30 meters of n/s rail free. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 Just ordered 2000 chairs from C&L and got 30 meters of n/s rail free. Les Interesting. how did you manage that then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 They have a special sale offer on at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 Thanks Rod and Les. I think you have just swung the balance back in favour of c&l (at least for the standard chairs). Looks like I shall end up getting a combination from both camps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Prism Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 The dimensional footprint of the Exactoscale and C&L chairs are slightly different, so I would suggest don't mix them up on the same length of track. If you want to know why they are different, you'll have to ask Len Newman! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Half chairs would be useful for gluing to the outside of Peco points. No doubt someone has already done this or used half chairs to glue over solder joints. Any advice and siggestions anyone? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 Thats ok, I shall only be mixing different types of chair on pointwork. I would be very surprised if, for example, a exactocale L1 chair had the same footprint as a c&l s1 chair My plain track is going to be either smp (for BH) or Colin Craig McBeth spikes (for FB). Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Hi Larry Peco points are flat bottom not bullhead. You can get pandrol clips from Peco (a bit rubbish) or Colin Craig (full range for S&C work) HTH Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Allport Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Thats ok, I shall only be mixing different types of chair on pointwork. I wouldn't recommend this. I seem to recall that Exacto chairs stand slightly higher than C&L ones, so if you mix them you end up with a slight gap under the C&L ones (this is assuming that you're sliding them onto the rail and glueing them down - if you're just cutting them in half and using them cosmetically, doesn't really matter I guess). I find the Exacto ones superior in general though, crisper moldings and generally easier to work with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Hi Jim, The idea was simply to make the outside of the Peco points more or less visually match my SMP plain track. Cheers, LG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 23, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 23, 2010 I wouldn't recommend this. I seem to recall that Exacto chairs stand slightly higher than C&L ones, so if you mix them you end up with a slight gap under the C&L ones (this is assuming that you're sliding them onto the rail and glueing them down - if you're just cutting them in half and using them cosmetically, doesn't really matter I guess). I find the Exacto ones superior in general though, crisper moldings and generally easier to work with. Thanks for that info. At the moment the only exactosclae ones I was going to go for is the 4 bolt L1 type, which I can't see listed by C&L. I am planning on following Norman Solomans instructions as shown in Righ Track10, where apart from the L1 and slide chairs, all other types are represented by s1 chairs. So, with only a handful of L1 chairs per turnout I will lower them in height to match the C&L ones, if the issue occurs. Although the general consensus seems to be that the exactoscale chairs are slightly finer, I have seen C&L pointwork in the flesh and am happy with the appearance. The current sale males the total package £7.50 cheaper with C&L over exactoscale. Now, how tight am I feeling.......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Exactoscale sell the point chairing on its own now if you really want to be posh, the nose chairs especially stand out. Hi Jim, The idea was simply to make the outside of the Peco points more or less visually match my SMP plain track. Cheers, LG You could try it but you may end up with very little Peco chair holding the rail in place to get anything stuck over it near the rail. As Peco is FB not BH then you'd also have a height problem as the Peco track isn't spaced off the sleepers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 You could try it but you may end up with very little Peco chair holding the rail in place to get anything stuck over it near the rail. As Peco is FB not BH then you'd also have a height problem as the Peco track isn't spaced off the sleepers. Herebye lies the strength of RMweb....I can discover any potential gremlins before wasting any money. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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