A #5 definitely does not need to be 21" long. Back to back like that you can trim the tail ends til theres not much more than a rail joiner between the tips of the moving points (or if you hand lay it, next to nothing). I think the minimum length you can get out of a #5 is around 16". Once you clear the frog, nothing stops you from immediately bending a 36" radius right into the diverging leg. I suspect a curved switch will be even longer than a straight one, and you will eat a lot of space before the clearance point (of note though, that a number 5 is a 50" radius equivalent). If its really just a siding, a #4.5 would be a little sharper of a frog, but the length savings isnt all that much.
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