I’m hand laying my track and I have three curved turnouts to build. All three are the equivalent of #12s and needless to say that size is intimidating.
I’m pleased to report that the first one is done, and although I built it at turtle speed it works flawlessly. Building this turnout has given me the confidence to know that I can handle the others. Whew! Building the #6’s will feel like a cakewalk.
One of the benefits of hand laying is one can tweak and adjust the geometry to get everything very precise. It’s a good feeling to see a train move through silky smooth.
July 8, 2018 — 11:01 am
What do you use to drive those Proto87 spikes into the wooden ties?
July 8, 2018 — 6:09 pm
Hi Ed,
I use a small needle nose pliers from Bead Smith that I purchased from my local Hobby Lobby. I use the pliers to push the spike about halfway down into the tie, then I use a 1/16 inch pin punch made by Dasco Pro to push the spike up against the rail. The punch has a perfectly sized concave point which “cups” the head of the spike for easy control.
July 20, 2018 — 4:21 pm
The distressing on the ties looks great!
September 6, 2018 — 1:51 pm
Thanks, Ben. I did it once, I’m not sure I would ever do it again. It takes forever!
September 6, 2018 — 1:16 pm
Man, that IS a MONSTER! Looks absolutely beautiful though!
September 6, 2018 — 1:49 pm
Thanks, Matt!