5: The railheads of the diverging route have been
traced. Because this turnout is part of a crossover, I
also trace the parallel track’s route.
6: For good measure I also include the route of the
adjoining spur track. These markings help me identify
where to place ties when the rails are close to each
other. It also helps to visualize the final result and
locate the template when I tape it down in preparation
for building the turnout on top of it.
7: I tape the paper turnout template to the roadbed
to immobilize it. Then I use double-sticky (sticky on
both sides) tape to hold PC ties in place. I like build-
ing custom turnouts on PC ties because they allow me
to reheat a rail-to-tie joint and nudge the rail to adjust
gauge and position. The little squares on the far side
of the PC ties are tie alignment marks. Once the turn-
out is soldered together, I’ll glue switch ties in place
on the cork roadbed leaving spaces for the PC ties. A
big drawback of this method of turnout construction
is keeping even spacing between the glued-in-place
wood ties and the soldered-to-the-rails PC ties.
7
