NFWEM57

Hi, Yes, will be finishing off point and inserting into a new 8 x 4 test track layout I am building (OO, EM and N). As always, real work getting in the way of progress...! Baseboard made but needs painting / varnishing, this weekend's task, then track laying and wiring up can start. Patrick

Hi, The 'step up' was foul up on my part, not a fault with product. That's why it is a prototype and assembly method was being tested using me, who has no experience of track making, without instructions - to bowl out any issues..! Here is a shot prior to soldering on the frog wire and gluing. No step..! On insulating gaps, Wayne will respond I feel sure but there will be small gaps required between rails and frogs I believe. If you go to the Finetrax site and look at the assembly instructions for a kit it shows the same methods being used on the N gauge kits. Hope this helps. Patrick

About 296mm rail end to rail end.

Hi, Yes, I think it will be a game changer. Looking forward to getting my hands on the EM prototype and the finished products. Patrick

I was recently given the opportunity by a company, British Finescale, to try out a prototype OO gauge point kit and thought I would share the results with you. I have no link to the company developing the product other than a keen interest. The OO gauge finescale prototype kit provided is of a B7 Left Hand point and is based on prototypical drawings. I managed to dry assemble the kit, which came without instructions on purpose, in around 30 minutes using nothing more than track cutters and small pair of pliers to bend the check rails. The frog is cast and the switch blades are pre-formed. Latterly, I glued the nickel silver cast frog in place, to which I had previously soldered a dropper wire, and soldered the switch blades to the tie bar. I then attached the almost complete prototype to some PECO Bullhead, images of the finished product below. I am advised by the company that, based on some of my feedback, there will be some refinements prior to production; tabs on switch blades already soldered on, cast frog will have wire already attached – so for the production kits, no soldering is required, just some glue. I am also advised by the company that a wide range of point kits, like those they already manufacture in N gauge, will be available in both OO Finescale and EM gauge. The rail used for the OO version will be SMP whilst the EM variant will either be SMP or rail like that provided for C&L and EMGS scratch build purposes. I am looking forward to test assembling a prototype EM variant soon. Approaching retirement and returning to railway modelling last year after a 50-year break I was somewhat surprised, given the progress in other areas, DCC and fine detailing to name but a few, at the lack of progress with regard to track with the choice still being either mass market Peco OO/HO or scratch-built track. Having never liked the narrowness of OO, I initially considered P4 but the recent introduction of PECO manufactured EM flexi track and B6 points by the EMGS was a significant influence on my final choice of gauge, EM; ease of RTR conversion was the other. Not everybody wants to, or is comfortable with, scratch building their own points and nor do they want to pay a premium to have points made for them. I think the planned OO Finescale and EM gauge range of point kits will therefore fill a gaping hole in the market and at last bring kit point assembly into the 21st century. I have no doubt there will be mixed opinions – cost, accuracy, aesthetics will, as usual, all be debated at length - but I see this product as a significant and long overdue step forward. So, while the debate goes on, I will be getting on with more easily building the layout I have planned with a near prototypical product and, critically, probably at a much reduced cost (monetary, time and stress) in comparison to other near prototypical kit offerings. I can now use more of the finite time I have available on RTR conversions, scenery and enjoying my planned layout and possibly scratch building one or two more unusual point configurations for my layout; unless bespoke ordering becomes a possibility..! Patrick