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Model Railroad Turnouts Explained and Compared

Posted on March 23, 2022

DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate We earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything through one of these links we will earn a commission.

Everything you need to know about turnouts! We compare and explain the biggest model railroad turnout brands. We start with the basics, how the elements are powered, the various types of turnouts available, and we compare different aspects of the 4 most popular brands being Walthers, Micro Engineering, Atlas and Peco.

One video full of information and tips.
0:00 – Turnout geometry
1:11 – Walthers
3:54 – PECO
5:12 – Electrofrog reconfiguration
7:23 – INTERMEZZO: Model vs Prototype
8:59 – Atlas
9:47 – Industry turnout & curved turnout
11:52 – Available turnouts Atlas, Peco, ME, Walthers
12:47 – Comparison overview
13:27 – Recommendation

10 thoughts on “Model Railroad Turnouts Explained and Compared”

  1. mystic southern railway says:
    March 23, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    what a tremendous video. big thumbs up!

  2. cRusty says:
    March 23, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    I don't mean to be confrontational but I am wondering if you mean track feeders when you refer to jumpers? I'm new to wiring and having a hard time keeping up with all the terminology.

  3. Roy Reynolds says:
    March 23, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    Where the wheel flanges cross a rail, it must do so with a flangeway which means a frog. Turnouts are composed of 2 movable point rails with the throwbar, 1 frog, and the rail to connect everything. Number 2 and 2.5 turnouts along with No 3's & 4's are usually used in mining and other narrow gauge tracks. For model railroads, No 4, 5, 6, & 8 are the predominant sizes to use the least room. Full-size railroads start at about No 7 and predominantly No 8 for industry while No 10 and larger in the mainline depending on the speeds needed to be taken on the divergent side. Generally any number of 24 or 30 will have movable points for the frog nose and will not need flange guard rails but are meant for high-speed traffic. The IC had a No 5 136RE out of the mainline in Monroe, LA because it dated back to when the line was built to serve cotton warehouses and not enough room to install a larger turnout in the location.
    Crossings are labeled by the angle between the tracks or the angle and radii or the curve(s) and will have 4 frogs-2 point & 2 wing; the situation where all 4 frogs are the same is a 90 degree angle.
    Special trackwork is a mix of the two. A crossover is either a facing point or a trailing point. A crossover placed between 2 tracks and within the same length is a double crossover needing a crossing where the crossover tracks intersect(more expense and more upkeep). The last ones are single slip and double slip turnouts to be used in very tight places to provide the most variability to train movement. These are used mostly in Europe and Japan. They are used mostly in terminals in the Northeast, Chicago, and other locations with lots of trains and traffic with cramped space. They are numbered by the turnouts and the points are all within the length of the point crossing frogs. Depending on the history and speed needed, they will be No 8 to 12. Under a lot of traffic, they will be remotely controlled by a tower or interlocking within that plant.
    For those who model dual-gauge trackwork, sketch out on paper how the tracks are to go; whether the common rail is left or right, turnouts are facing point or trailing point, and which gauge does not diverge. When laying out a wye or loop, the common rail will switch sides just as polarity does so to alleviate the problem a "draw" can be inserted somewhere on the wye or loop to change the sides of the common rail and with no moving parts. The larger gauge is laid on-gauge or snug straight through while the smaller gauge has a point laid slightly over flangeway width away from the running rail with the opposite rail gauged wide with a flangeway guard laid snug to bring the wheels away from the common running rail. The other end of the "draw" is laid out in mirror image. The angles and gauge changes need to be carefully done to make it work well. The D&RGW had several around Antonito and Alamosa, CO when they had dual-gauge trackage there. I had drawn all of the possible combinations including the "draw" and it was in one of the old issues of LIVE STEAM years ago.
    I give this to try to help those interested in what is usable and where to help make the modeling a little more realistic.

  4. Bill Chisholm says:
    March 23, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    Good video ,I have had so much trouble trying to get my switches working properly and prevent derails but I notice that the heavier the rolling stock is the less likely it is to derail my engines never derail only the rolling stock and the Bachmann seem to be more prone to derailing why this is I have no idea my athearn cars hardly ever derail or other brands but the Bachmann does alot it has to be the wheels I'm going to change all the wheels on them I bought the Bachmann when I was new to the hobby and didn't know that some had plastic wheels and others had metal so it's time to upgrade all cars ,thankyou for the video !!!

  5. Ned Merrill says:
    March 23, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    I'm in N scale, and I lay my own turnouts. It's a little tedious but much cheaper.

  6. Allen Hiebert says:
    March 23, 2022 at 2:24 pm

    When I read about the mistakes prospective model railroaders make; it is to purchase the Atlas product. There is a distinct lack of product control – inconsistent manufacturing. Specifically in what I have to contend with: the spacing of the guard rail and the frog in general. So, when the wallet permits, I will changeover to Peco.

  7. Chicken Bites says:
    March 23, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    Is this for DC?

  8. Dave Panichelle says:
    March 23, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    It’s a shame you gave the Micro Engineering turnouts such a brush off. They are not only the most detailed but also are set up for DCC without any alterations. They are delicate but that’s because the dimensions are correct. I think their only drawback is that they only come in a #6. ( #5 in their ladder track arrangement.) Hopefully they will make more sizes in the future. In the mean time, I’ve taken to making my own #8s and #10s with Fast Tracks gigs. Not a cheap proposition but economical in the long run if you need lots of turnouts.

  9. Abdullah Abu says:
    March 23, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    Hi, I am very interested in your show, so I am planning to build up a staging area in my layout HO Scale size 8X4 feet by using the DCC System to run my train . Thank you and have nice happy new year 2022.

  10. just4fun Trains says:
    March 23, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    Great video!! I really like the ladder system from ME, but disponibility and price are a big problem. In my current layout I only have Atlas, but the next one I will use PECO or ME. thanks for the tips

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