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Joe Fugate returns to The Backshop Clinic to talk about his new book,  Make it Run Like a Dream - Trackwork.  In this segment he focuses on standards for curvature and turnouts as two considerations for getting more reliable operation out of your layout.

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Reply 1
Big Zeke -On30

Will this be available in a

Will this be available in a DVD ?

Reply 0
joef

Eventually

Quote:

Will this be available in a DVD ?

All the Run like a Dream videos (Trackwork, Rolling Stock, Locomotives) will eventually be on DVD.

This one video is only 22 minutes, which is not long enough for a DVD. Once we have all the segments, it will be over 60 minutes and long enough to be on a DVD.

But if you'd like to download an digital copy of this video now today, you can get it for just $3.49:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/tmtv20170502

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Reply 0
Prof_Klyzlr

PECO turnout clarification : BRMSB VS NMRA specs

Dear MRH Turnout-brand hunters,

At the 17:30 mark, Joe tests a "PECO turnout" and finds a number of issues when compared to an NMRA gauge. It should be noted that:

- The turnout shown in the video is an OLD PECO "StreamLine" range turnout,

http://www.peco-uk.com/page.asp?id=tempc100 
http://www.peco-uk.com/imageselector/Files/Instruction%20sheets/HO-OO%20Insulfrog%20Turnouts.pdf

not one of the NEW "US Geometry Code 83" range.

http://www.peco-uk.com/page.asp?id=tempc83
​http://www.peco-uk.com/imageselector/Files/Instruction%20sheets/Code%2083%20Insulfrog%20A4%20Eng.pdf 

(NB spotting features include geometry, isolated "Insulfrog" frog design, and the throwbar shape/size/design).

- These older "Streamline" turnouts are designed and manufactured to the British Railway Modelling Standards Bureau (BRMSB) turnout specs,

http://www.doubleogauge.com/standards/index.htm

not to NMRA spec.

http://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/sandrp/pdf/s-3.2_2010.05.08.pdf

IE the "failure" of the turnout shown VS NMRA spec has little/nothing to do with "pre-DCC VS DCC-friendly" headspace, (co-incident in time, not necessarily in design),

and everything to do with model railroading being an international hobby with "more than just NMRA specs". 
(leaving aside the potpurri of scales/gauges/specs that the UK "HO/OO/Proto4/EM" modellers have had to navigate for soo long...)

Upshot:
- For the sake of demonstration, I can understand why "a PECO turnout" was included in the example,
but it feels a bit weird to use the test of "Standard A" on a turnout which has never claimed to be designed to that standard (and is known as designed/manufactured to "Standard B"),
without actually stating the specific make/model/range of the unit in question.

- For the modellers watching along, I would not discard "All PECO turnouts" because "there was that one video which says PECO turnouts are not NMRA spec".
(check the "US Geometry Code 83" instruction sheet linked above,
and note the very first sentence at the top of the sheet).

Rather, Do The Research and make sure one selects the appropriate turnouts for the equipment one intend to run on the layout...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to compare apples-to-apples,
Prof Klyzlr

Reply 0
ctxmf74

 "For the modellers watching

Quote:

 "For the modellers watching along, I would not discard "All PECO turnouts" because "there was that one video which says PECO turnouts are not NMRA spec""

I wouldn't discard any track items before testing them. If they work reliably then being out of spec might not matter. Trains have run millions of model miles over various manufacturers products, likely many out of spec, and I could handlay out of spec turnouts that work fine, it's a matter of where the error lies ,some places matter and others don't.I'd give ant turnouts the bumblebee test before tossing them......DaveB

Reply 0
joef

We used what Barry had on hand

We used what turnouts Barry had on hand ... I've had all commercial brands fail at times, then be in spec on the next one, same brand, totally new or "older". To wit, from the trackwork book, we had a Walthers Shinohara turnout fail ... (click image for the full-sized page)

_Page_47.jpg 

In the Trackwork book, I show how I corrected this out-of-spec commercial turnout to get it 100% in spec at every dimension, especially NMRA dimensions C and P as mentioned in this video.

To summarize, there was no deliberate attempt to select any specific brand or age of turnout to get an out of spec turnout for this video. We just used what Barry had on hand (he used to own a hobby shop so he has a lot of old "stock" still around) and we checked them until we found something out of spec.

Whether or not the PECO turnout was designed to different European specs, Barry would use this turnout on a US layout and it had better be in spec for US/Canada HO rolling stock or watch out. So the point about this older PECO turnout being non-standard to begin with is somewhat moot - it is off and needs corrected to be used on Barry's layout.

Quote:

- For the modellers watching along, I would not discard "All PECO turnouts" because "there was that one video which says PECO turnouts are not NMRA spec".

Note I say in the video that vendors do not deliberately make turnouts out of spec, but mass production variations result in all brands of commercial turnouts being out of spec at times. Other times commercial turnouts of the same brand will be perfectly in spec.

So I completely agree with the point that not all PECO turnouts are bad. I made this point in the video AND in my book: just because one turnout of a given brand is out of spec, that DOES NOT MEAN all turnouts of that brand will always be out of spec. You need to check every commercial turnout to be sure, and you need to correct the ones that are out of spec if you want the most reliable performance.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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