Dave45681 posted:The one thing I've not seen mentioned yet in this thread is the geometry situation. It's different than the way tubular was designed.
Specifically, a turnout is not a "geometrically pure" replacement for a curve section labeled as the same diameter curve. If your layout is large enough that you have some play in the alignment, it might be OK, but it can be an issue. The turnouts have a small "fitter" section (with ballast removed for one edge where it mates to the turnout) that is required on the diverging ends, unless you surgically modify a full size mating curve track to remove some ballast (thereby making the fitter piece that comes with the turnout unnecessary).
This becomes obvious if you do a simple setup like a circle to start and try to drop in a turnout for a simple spur track. The circle won't really be a circle anymore, while it would for tubular. Another example, if you have an oval and try to add turnouts in the straight sections to create an interior passing siding, you will not have a simple drop in solution of all the same curves and straights as those that make up the exterior of the oval. At the least you will need some different fitter sections for the length, and the angle really isn't correct either.
I found an old thread here. It started with someone asking if an O72 wye was a drop in for a curve (it's not), and we went in a bit of a deeper discussion later on in the thread (I didn't want to re-type a lot of it here
)
-Dave
"This becomes obvious if you do a simple setup like a circle to start and try to drop in a turnout for a simple spur track. The circle won't really be a circle anymore, while it would for tubular."
This is not completely true for FasTrack. The only orphan is O60. O84 & O96 do not have switches, so, yes those do not have a drop in switch.
Another example, if you have an oval and try to add turnouts in the straight sections to create an interior passing siding, you will not have a simple drop in solution of all the same curves and straights as those that make up the exterior of the oval. At the least you will need some different fitter sections for the length, and the angle really isn't correcteither.
Any track system requires fitting a passing siding. It is obvious the the divergent track of the turnout and the curve to bring it parallel have length that the reduce the passing siding length from the adjoining straight.
The wye geometry would not work in any track system. Again, fitment is needed.
The one point you made is true ,"It's different than the way tubular was designed". I don't think that you understand the difference. Which track systems use center rail and which use "a nominal circle of ___ diameter" ?
