The code 40 turnouts leading into the yard and those making up the yard ladder are now in place. Not visible beneath the bench work are the switch machines and frog juicers. The track at the top of the photo is temporary Peco which I’m gradually replacing with hand laid code 40.
In a way it’s much easier to scratch build turnouts in groups. You tend to get into a groove after the first one, and progress is much quicker. The four I need for the yard are now done (code 40, number 6’s). I did an article on the subject in the November 2011 issue of Model Railroader.
Over the next month or so I’d like to get the Brooklyn Terminal yard done. Since there aren’t any code 40 turnouts available commercially, they need to be hand built. I think doing them in batches will make things go faster and result in higher quality since you can build up some momentum. I made photo copies of a Peco switch and glued those down to slab of MDF to serve as a guide and working surface. Next, I used white glue to adhere the pc ties to the photo copies. From there on out it’s a lot of filing and soldering.
In thinking about which way to go with the BT locomotive paint scheme, I decided to do a Google search on steam switchers. In looking through the images, I decided to follow the L&N approach, understated, simple, old school, no logo. There’s still a lot to do on the model but at least I have the factory lettering off, the paint dulled down, and a coal load in the tender. Images like this illustrate that, while it’s a little bit of a pain, code 40 really helps the look if you’re going to be doing close up photography.