The Facing Point Crossovers

There are two facing point crossovers where the Cranberry Grade feeds into the top of the helix.  The purpose of these crossovers is to allow trains from the three-track Cranberry Grade to enter the two-track helix on the proper eastbound or westbound track and vice versa.  

I had been building the turnouts in the crossovers through a few of the weekends in March and early April. The turnouts were built in Fast Track's jigs.  I was able to install them tonight and complete the roadbed leading up to them.

The roadbed and track for two of the tracks on Cranberry Grade are in the foreground (the third, at the right, roadbed is not finished).  In the background, the roadbed for tracks from the helix are ready to receive track.   

Once the turnouts had ties attached (by epoxy) and they were in place on the layout, I cut through the frogs and made sure that the left and right rails were electrically separate before adding the next one or the track leading up to it. Several ties along the length of the turnout were reinforced with Micro Engineering medium spikes, that also help hold the turnout in place.  ME small spikes will be added to the remaining ties later, mostly for cosmetic purposes.

Tomorrow I hope to have the tracks leading up to these turnouts in place and, if that is the case, the two ends of the layout will be physically connected.