Time to lay some track.  After reading through the forums and a few trial runs, I've decided to use Atlas code 83 flex and Walthers code 83 turnouts.  It will be my first room sized layout and I feel these are good choices for my budget and free time.

But before I place my order, I still have a few questions:  Can I neglect the difference in tie sizes between the Atlas flex and Walthers turnouts and is there a compatible low profile rail joiner for these products?

Just found a set of city trackwork pics that are so uneven that I wonder if they can be negotiated at all. I can supply the link to anybody who wants to extract them for the page because there is some questionable material at the bottom. Just write me: pipopak at yahoo dot com.

I'm planning a closet layout with Atlas N Code 55 track.  There may be double or triple track on the curves - 11.25", 12.5", and 13.75"R.  How close should these be so that long passenger cars do not touch the adjacent trains?  And, what size steam locomotives will/will not manage on these curves?  I'm guessing 2-6-2 is probably about my size limit, but a 4-8-4 would be nice.  Tell me like it is, thanks.

Otie 

In the layout under construction there are a couple of double crossovers and (so far) a double slip. The straightforward approach would appear to be one motor for each set of points. Thats a lot of expensive turnout motors! Thinking about the crossovers I realized that there are three positions of the four points possible -- both sides open or either cross-over thrown. Be nice if there was a three position tortoise motor! Anyhow, I am a newbie on these matters and am curious if any of the old hands have developed a better approach to automating these kinds of turnouts?