The story of a special switch together with
photographs to accompany the article
Hand Laid Gauge 1 Switches
When Scott Gibb wants to add a siding, he does not go looking for a
switch that he might somehow squeeze in - he grabs some track and spikes
and builds himself a switch that fits exactly how and where he wants it.
Scott usually arranges his switches so that the mainline goes straight
through while the secondary route curves away from the main. This allows
through trains to run at track speed. But sometimes space problems force
even Scott to build a siding tangent to a mainline curve. Here are photos
of Scott's solution, one of many switches he has built using the methods
outlined in "Hand Laid Gauge 1 Switches."
 Jim Banner image
figure 2
Scott cut his switch into an existing curved mainline. He made the
baseboard for his switch by fitting a new piece of pressure treated plywood
(still green) to the side of the existing roadbed (stained black). He joined
the new to the old by screwing both firmly to a full size piece of pressure
treated plywood underneath. Scott installed new siding and switch ties
perpendicular to the straight route, interleaving the ends of some of them
with the existing stained ties. This is visible just to the right of the
frog. Scott's switch was fully operational at the time of the photo but
he had not yet stained or ballasted it.
 Jim Banner image
figure 3
Looking down at the frog of Scott's switch we can see why trains can
take the curved route at track speed - the curve is constant throughout
the switch. In fact Scott never lifted the curved stock rail, seen at the
bottom of the photo, during the construction of the switch. Rather, he
fitted the other pieces of the switch to it so that in the finished product
the inside stock rail, the closure rail, the points and the portion of
the stock rail beyond the points all form a true curve parallel to the
curved stock rail. This may not be prototype practice but then the prototype
would never consider a diverging mainline through a #4 frog.
When studying fig.3, notice the extra length of the wing rails and how
Scott has placed the wing rails and guard rails tight up against the frog
rails. Scott used longer wing rails because they are made of aluminum and
are held in place only by spikes. And because he uses code 332 rail, Scott's
flangeways are the correct width when he butts the foot of the one rail
against the foot of the other. The spikes Scott installed in holes drilled
in the feet of the rails inside the flangeways are barely visible. Also
notice in fig.3 how Scott has doubled the switch ties under the frog and
under the point rail pivots for extra support in these critical areas.
 Jim Banner image
figure 4
The steel panel nails Scott uses as pivots for his code 332 point rails
are visible in the centre of the rails toward the right side of fig.3.
Also visible are the jumper wires which bypass the gaps between the point
rails and the closure rails. Scott later re-routed these jumpers to the
outer stock rails for improved d.c.c. performance. At the centre of fig.4
is the light grey throw bar. Scott likes bakelite throw bars with #2-56
machine screw pivots installed through the throw bar and up through the
rails from below. The ends of the 2-56 screws are visible in the centres
of the rails. Scott fitted this switch with a double-pole-double-throw
toggle switch visible at the bottom of the photo. He uses toggle switches
linked to his throw bars to mechanically move and lock the points and at
the same time electrically switch the frog polarity and control his signal
lights. Barely visible at the left end of fig.4 are the notches in the
stock rails that the points fit into.
 Jim Banner image
figure 5
A low angle view of another of Scott Gibb's fine switches showing the
smooth flow of the rails right through the switch. This smooth flow together
with careful gauging of wheels make derailments a rarity on Scott's layout.
Generally such a reverse curve, an S-curve with little or no straight track
between curves in opposite directions, is a no-no in layout design but
Scott gets away with it here because (a) his cars do not use body mounted
couplers and (b) he has no reason to back anything more than an engine
and 1 or 2 cars through it.
Source unknown - if you know who took this photo, please let us know
so that we can give credit where credit is due.
Bill Wagner tells us this switch may be on the Cass Railroad in West
Virginia
figure 6
This is a stub switch. It has no point rails. Instead, the stock rails
leading up to the switch move from side to side to select the route.
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