Peco Switch Help


H

High Speed Kurt

Gone Railin!
Hello all,

I have been researching Peco switches, I think I am going to end up using them. They are a little more expensive but the reviews speak for themselves. I am a little confused, they come in small, medium and large. I have grown up raised on the #4, #6 and #8 atlas mentality. I designed my layout in SCARM using atlas #6 switches, when I replace them with a medium switch it appears they are a little shorter, with a tighter radius. Reading on their website the medium has a radius of 36 inches, which is pretty good.

My question is, if I went with medium switches, would I have any issues with longer cars and engines? (autoracks, tunnelmotors, SD70M-2's etc)

Thanks,

Kurt
 
You probably will not have any problems with them handling modern equipment. However, the Peco code 100 turnouts are built to a European profile, meaning instead of tie plates and spikes, they have chairs and screws to "hold" the rail in place. Whether or not this bothers you is entirely up to you. They do make a North American type turnout in #4, #6, & #8. These are code 83.

Is there any particular reason you'll be using code 100, when code 83 is closer to the size of rail used on most RR's today?
 
I agree. Had a friend give me almost 100 pieces of code 100 many years ago. I used it in my hidden staging, and on all hidden track. The visible is handlain code 83 and code 70, including the switches.
 
Autoracks are gonna have problems on the medium sized switches. You better go with the large.
 
If I'm not mistaken, the 'large' is like a #6, & 'medium' is like a #5. If you've got the room, bigger is better, particularly as the length of the car increases.
 
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