I am in the process of planning an N scale layout that will include a rather cramped port area. A lot of the rail in this area will be run in the streets, and I will have to build a lot of custom curved turnouts to accomidate the tight quarters. The minum radius in the port will be 7.125" as the only motive power in the area will be a two axel switcher, and most of the rolling stock will be 40 or 50 box cars. So, as part of my research, I am looking for detailed plans for single point switches. These switches are commonly used on street car lines. Thanks in advance. --C. Alan
First, welcome aboard. Second, you may want to check out the following site. They have some interesting info. http://www.trolleyville.com/school.shtml
That is a great site! Thanks for the link. I hope to soon have some track plans up for comment in the layout section. I am on about the 5th version of my track plan, and I am still not happy with my port area. I am trying to model a central california port with the railraod runing through the streets to get to the industries that are along the water. Imagine if you will, cannery row in monterey being served by rail service. It has a lot of challenges in it.. Steep grades, narrow streets, and sharp curves.
Are you aware of Peco Setrack switches? They have a radius of around 9" or so. Not quite 7 inches, but fairly tight nevertheless. I use them for my switching layout and they work fine, even for my SD9 6-axle switcher.
After reading some of the trollyville site, I may have to build some test track. If I were to build some of the track to scale they show on their site, I would need to use easement curves with 4.5" middle sections. I will take a look at the setrack switches. --C. Alan
