Track advice

[Michaelaface]

so I'm about to start building my layout and I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on what would be ideal to get the best looking track for the lowest price?

 

My layout will be in OO gauge and ideally I'd like it to be finescale

 

I've had a go at building copperclad points/turnouts before but I'd need more practice, and I'd be up for the challenge of other methods of building track

 

but is it worth it? or should I play it safe and go with peco code 75 stuff?

 

priced up what I'd need with peco stuff and it came to £140 ish, ideally I'd like to spend less than that if possible

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Don't ever scrimp on the track; it's a false economy.

 

PECO code 75 is the best ready made option. If you want bullhead track, there are a number of manufacturers/suppliers in the market.

 

Trade off between the set geometry of the "open the box and lay the track" type or the time/effort /skill required to assemble/make your own turnouts. However, you're not limited to the radius/angles of ready made track and can create more customised formations.

[Michaelaface]

hmm I guess what I meant to say was would it be possible for me to build my own track for less than the cost of buying ready made track

 

also the skills in building track are ones I want to learn too, and also can create a very realistic appearance which I'd like to achieve 

and with my plan the geometry isn't an issue, my layout is fairly small and simple due to limited space

[BR60103]

When I started, doing it yourself was cheaper -- but that was 55 years ago.

You need to check prices on point kits (to start with).  You will need soldering tools and files and stuff, but that's included with the modelling basics.

Do you picture plastic sleepers or copperclad?  Or EM style with rivets?

 

Expect to ruin the first few points -- figure that into the cost.

[Michaelaface]

yeahh I do expect to ruin the first few points hahaha, the first copperclad point I built was pretty bad, but they started to get better, never tested them in a layout yet, didnt feel they were up to standard, but they cost hardly anything to build

 

and I'm not sure really, that's why I'm trying to work out what'd be the most cost effective way to get the best result, looking on the C&L website you can get various components relatively cheaply

 

and as for copperclad I'm not entirely sold on their appearance vs the work put in, on their own they don't look quite right due to lack of chairs despite being relatively cheap to build, but adding chairs adds quite a lot of fiddling about which I'm not too keen on (after seeing pictures of this on the liverpool lime st layout)

[BR60103]

The last time I built any (over 20 years ago!) I used a kit with plastic sleepers and chairs but a bit of copperclad in some of the sensitive areas. Sliding the chairs on, especially where things were going to be soldered later, was a chore.

I also had problems because I was trying to do odd curves and make it usable for stock back to TriAng.

[Siberian Snooper]

For my next turnout build I will be using C & L chairs on ply timbering if you intend to follow this method and you get a chair or two in the wrong place a blade slipped under the chair will release it. Liverpool Lime Street used ply and rivet construction and the they fitted the chairs cosmetically afterwards.

 

I always file up my own switch blades and 'Vee', see Martin Wynne's method on the Templot Forum.

 

http://85a.co.uk/forum/view_topic.php?id=359&forum_id=1&highlight=Filing+V

 

Knocking up a soldered turnout normally takes me just under a couple of hours and gets quicker as I get my hand back in, I suspect that using the chaired method will be a little slower due to having to thread the chairs onto the rail.

To check for running as I go along I start off with a single axle followed by a bogie and as a final test a long wheel based 4 wheeled vehicle, I find that this tends to find any tight spots before being able to get some plain track connected and wired up to test with a loco. 

 

At the end of the day there is the satisfaction of having built it all yourself.

 

SS

[edcayton]

Before you embark on a big layout why don't you build small shunty plank and try building the track and see how you get on? You could try different methods for different points and compare then.

 

I would think that building your own track from scratch (ie not using kits or bought-in components) would be the cheapest in pure financial terms.

 

A friend of mine(hi Theo if you're reading this) built Chipping Norton in 00 in the loft in his old house with scratch-built track, but had to destroy the layout when he moved. His new layout uses Peco because he reckons he gets better reliability.

 

Ed

[Michaelaface]

after drawing up my plan on templot it just didn't look right anymore and also looked to be a bit too ambitious 

 

so for now I'm going to go with peco code 75 just so I can have a layout I can run, will still have a go at building my own track though

 

do I get the matching code 75 flex or pay a bit more and get C&L stuff? (used C&L before, looks really good imo)