MATTRAIN,
Hi, thanks for the update.
" I came back and measured my turnouts - I see the O-72 and O-60 turnouts have the removable 1-3/8" piece, however if I remove that piece, the "V" plastic roadbed between the straight and curved section would prohibit the ability of the next piece from connecting to the turnout - if I were to remove the extension piece, does this "V" roadbed need to be cut"
No, one does not cut that piece, the road bed in the center of the diverging and thru track. The end of that piece, measured to the end of the thru on the straight side, is the length of the switch. SCARM adds in the length of arc of the turnout when one selects the track, right-clicks and selects "length of selected section". It was something in the coding for that feature that required that. perhaps this is what is confusing you.
Use the measure tool in SCARM and measure the longest straight side on the switch. That's what I use when working on fitment.
How does one mate a track to the switch without the 1 3/8" filler?
- Turnout to turnout - use the 1 3/8" no-roadbed piece. It looks like a block.
- Modify a regular track to either the diverging track or thru track - cut off the roadbed for 1 3/8" on the side that has to clear the V. You can use the filler piece for an idea of how much to remove - essentially the sloped ballast - that leaves enough
My first try at this I removed too much and left a gap.
I used this technique to make a 4-way crossover and was able to narrow it by removing the 1 3/8" pieces and removing the ballast on a 45° cross to mate 4 switches. I use a Dremel and a cut-off wheel. Reduce a 10" center to spacing using stock pieces to 8.5". I made up the difference by staggering the entry into the curves at the ends to return it to FasTrack's natural 6" center to center spacing.
