I'd thought about the pins, but I'm still trying to think it through. I could add some framing to sides, for that stiffener
I'm going to be a guest on a live stream tonight hosted by the Train Freak on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/c/TheTrainFreak. I'll be talking about the Frisco and my layout. I'll post a direct link later. It is at 7 pm Central time (right during the Chiefs gam unfortunately). Hope you can take a few minutes to check it out.
Alright guys. I'm getting close to having some actual track on the layout, but first I needed to make a bunch of ties and other stuff.
@rjthomas909 I'm looking over the instructions for the double crossover. They suggest building it as two seperate pieces and soldering it together. I'm thinking about keeping the stock rails as one piece (#7 in the diagram) in the instructions. I was also thinking of trying to keep outside frog point rails as one piece (#10 in the diagram) , although that seems a bit trickier. What do you think?
Drew, I have not had a single piece of rail long enough to do the whole length of the stock rail (as I remember), but that should be fine. I sent the pair of fixtures, so you should be able to set them up with something holding them in place and aligned and do what you describe. The building in halves note might apply to the situation where you only have one fixture. Also, the center of the crossover might not have the two fixtures touching when you build. Check the alignment of the pair and see there needs to be space for one additional PC tie across the whole thing. Also, the pair of fixtures is handy to make a single turnout with the diverging route curving into a parallel siding. I have done this and it makes a very nice transition. Be sure to have a supporting tie across the two routes while building and until you put in place. Without support, the soldered joint is easy to bend at the frog. -Bob T.
I highly recommend using single pieces of stock rail to make a more rigid assembly. Likewise with the Frog Point Rails as you indicate. Take your time and make certain that you get your relief in both ends of the stock rails positioned correctly as you lay things out. It's what I did because I had three foot sections of rail.
I would recommend using DAP Dynaflex 230 Clear Acrylic Caulk since it has a better tack than silicone and does not have the nasty acetic acid odor. It is good for roadbed and track. Don't glue down switches, tack them down with spikes.
Good to know. Since I'm hand laying the rest of my track I was planning on gluing the ties to my roadbed and spiking the rail. I've considered other options though, e.g. pliobond and pc board ties. Thoughts?
Here is the latest video. It'll probably be a while before I release another one. Got spring break trip with the family and some other weekend activities on the schedule.