Yesterday, 11/08/23 my 'final' Kato HO track order arrived. Great! I got right down to work and installed the Right Hand Turnouts for my ladder track yard. Completed. Track Switch: Works great. Yes! Then I tried to add straights to the diverging tracks Oooops. Not so good. They don't 'fit'. If you add 1 track There is no room for a 2nd tr Add 1 Piece to Diverging or Straight and you *cannot* add a 2nd piece of track. With or without the 'wedge' piece you cannot add a track piece to straight and diverging routs. Please see pictures. Please let me know if I'm overlooking something? My solution is to cut the 'wedge' off with a razor saw. Any thoughts? Thanks! I don't understand why they would do this. Any ideas before I get my razor saw out?
I'm not sure I understand the problem, but if Kato's HO line is like their N, there's somehow a fitment solution. I know nothing about their HO line, but I see what may be two switch radii which are somewhat close. You have the 2-840 and 2-841 I'm guessing. 2-840 and 2-841 (aka P490) #4 246mm (9 3/4") Manual Turnout With 490mm (19 1/4") Radius Curve. The "R490/22.5" curve seen below is Kato 2-270. 2-852 and 2-853 (aka P550) 550mm (21 5/8") Manual Turnout With 550mm (21 5/8") Radius Curve
@Hardcoaler Thanks! I really appreciate your effort. Yes, it *should* be like the 'N-Scale', (I have several), line but for some reason they aren't. Yes, those are the pieces that come with the 'new' turnout which is shorter than the old version which came with my 'starter track set' The old ones work great!. They don't fit without adversely bending the rail.
As seen here, it seems that the shorter length Kato 2-852 and 2-853 (aka P550) comes with five additional pieces to square things up. I see two of the angled roadbed pieces amongst them. Is this what you bought or did you buy the longer length switch 2-840 and 2-841 (aka P490) which appears to include only the switch? From the looks of things, no way these two will play nice together.
It's pretty crazy. I can't make sense out of any of it. Using a track design program, I can't even find a combination of track lengths to build even a simple passing siding using either choice of switches. I must be missing something obvious. As @Grey One noted, it's a cinch in N Scale with all kinds of track combinations.
It doesn't always fit in the planning software , but there is a bit of fudge factor built in to the track. If you build it using track pieces it should fit . Mike
The Fix Isn't Pretty In the first photo Either: 1) Cut the 'Roadbed' off of the small piece on the left. or 2) Turn the piece with the 'wedge', (on the right), around and cut about an inch of roadbed off. Make sure you cut all the way to the ties and then a little extra. Apparently these came out in late 2021 with little to no description. They are at least 2"s shorter so make for a 20% more compact yard. My 4 track ladder track yard was destined to hold about 15 40' cars but with the new turnouts it holds about 19 cars. Pics to follow. Lemonade / Serendipity It was raining here today and the wife did not want to go out to the hardware store. I started digging through boxes hoping to find an old razor saw. Instead I came upon a Dreme with lots of attachments. My mother bought that for me 20+ years ago but it got packed away and never used. I used the cutting wheel and grinder to cut / smooth the pieces. I got that done and the rain stopped. Go figure.
Keep that info coming. I may learn something I may need in the future. It's the little tricks that help.
