#8 Switches for UP Junction

Here are the two switches for the main line on the UP Junction.

The right-hand switch still needs gaps on either side of the frog. Both switches need frog wires.

Note the short straight route on the left-hander and the short point route on the right-hander. both switches needed to be heavily trimmed to fit the ties that had been laid down on the centerlines. This is how I discovered that the 3rd Plan It NMRA switches are not the same as the FastTracks NMRA switches. I’ve since measured and created FastTracks templates for 3rd Plan It.

Don’t gap PCB ties with a Dremmel tool!

The pcb ties offer almost no resistance to the high speed tool. To avoid cutting through the thin ties, 1) gap the PCB ties BEFORE creating the skeleton switches, and, 2) gap the PCB ties with a very fine file edge. Aside from the risk of slicing the few ties on a skeleton, it can be difficult to detemine where the short is when there are multiple PCB ties potentially bridging the rails. Fortunately, I was able to get these guys to be isolated where it counts.