Experience of curved points?

Discussion in 'RTR Trackwork' started by Tallpaul70, Mar 10, 2019.

  1. Tallpaul70

    Tallpaul70 Full Member

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    I am considering using curved points to lengthen loops in the fiddle yard of a round and round 00 gauge layout.
    I seem to remember seeing threads in a forum, but I cannot remember which one, that commented on the use of Peco and Hornby curved points.

    If anyone has first hand experience, good or bad, with curved points from either of these manufacturers, or any other manufacturers, I would be grateful to hear from you?

    Many thanks
     
  2. gormo

    gormo Staff Member Administrator

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    G`day Tallpaul70,
    I have used curved points on my layout for exactly the same reason as you are considering.....to save space and lengthen loops on a fiddle yard.
    I have a mixture of older Peco and newer Peco. To me they perform pretty much the same as a straight point, although the older points tend to have a larger gap at the frog which is not ideal. The older points, whether they are straight or curved, and due to the larger gap at the frog , allow a bit of wheel drop on some wagons and locos.
    I have even used Atlas straight points and removed the webbing between the sleepers to allow conversion from straight to curved by gently easing and bending the point to the desired shape. Sometimes this method may ease rails connected to the tie bar, slightly past the notch in the main rail where they are supposed to sit and some filing is required to make them sit flush.
    So in summary, I have used old Peco, new Peco and Atlas converted straight points as curved points on my layout. The new Peco and Atlas conversions perform the best and that just comes down to the gap.
    Derailments on any of my points are rare, but usually happen because I`ve not set them correctly......human error.
    I would recommend new Peco with live frogs for best performance, whether straight or curved.
    :cheers::tophat:Gormo
     
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  3. SRman

    SRman Full Member

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    When I tried this on my old layout with the small radius Peco Set Track points compared to Hornby ones, I found neither were particularly satisfactory, but one type had a much sharper lead-in to the inner radius, causing problems with some of my stock. I ended up giving up on these and buying some rather expensive Roco code 83 points of 3rd and 4th radius, which worked a treat and were fairly easy to match up to the Peco code 100 track I was using. The Roco range had a whole heap of different radius combinations that allowed far more versatility in track geometry, but they are a lot more fragile than the Peco or Hornby products.

    Currently, I use quite a few Peco large radius points, which offer 4th radius inner curves and 5' radius outer - not all that versatile for compact layouts, but the sleeper bases can be strategically cut to allow a little careful tightening of the curves.
     
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  4. Dr Tony

    Dr Tony Full Member

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    I certainly concur with Gormo about the older Peco ones. I have a couple of older (1980s) Peco setback curved points on my Poppy layout. They do have a very large gap around the frog. This is not a problem for the older Hornby or Lima units or anything with so called "Pizza Cutter" wheels, as the flange keeps the whole thing at the correct height where there is no rail. But the modern finer scale wheels drop into the gap and derailment is an issue especially in the facing directions.
    In contrast, the new Peco Streamline large radius points have no such issue, the gap is a lot shorter so the wheels do not drop as much.
    I guess that makes a strong argument for using the lower profile code rails when using fine scale wheels, for reliability as well as possible appearance, as the smaller flange would not tend to drop much in the gap.
    Haven't used Hornby points for many years. I have noticed that Americans seem to be only aware of Atlas points, but when they discover Peco they wonder why they didn't find Peco earlier
    Cheers
    Tony
     
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