I'm (re) building a turnout controlled 5 track fiddle yard, with two of the tracks being "up" only and two being "down" likewise, for automatic operation. To save both on expense and the issues of two turnout motors working consistently in tandem, I am considering fixed trailing points where the fiddle sidings return to the main line. I've seen these used both in model and prototype on street tramways and in colliery lines. I'm hand building the relevant track since it does not have to be beautiful, just effective
Do you mean trailing points effectively without any blades at all, rather like moving one gauge away from the other in dual gauge trackage?
I had heard that there was a commercial sprung trailing point turnout available or at least a turnout that would operate in this mode. I thought it was Kato N gauge Unitrack, but now I've checked I can't find any information about this feature. The person I heard it from had a similar situation, but I don't know how he got on.
Fixed blade training points can be done on model railways I have recently seen it done on a very nice 2mm scale, 6.5mm gauge tram layout. But in this case every single item of rolling stock was a powered tram. The way the wheels bridge the gap is to run on their flanges. This will require every single wheel on every item of stock that you use to have an identical wheel profile and then you will need to build the points to suite that chosen depth of wheel flange.
It can be done but why would you wish to do it?
Apart from tram systems where having moving parts in a roadway is undesirable I know of no other prototypes that use this system other than on hand worked sections.
Most narrow gauge railways use sprung points to accomplish the same thing. In 009 you will have to use dead frog points for this, with the two blades insulated from each other as well, the ROCO DCC HOe points have this feature as standard, so did the 1960
I have recently built a fixed divergence between narrow and standard gauge tracks, though not in 009 I must admit - this works well in both directions, without having to rely on the flanges touching the ground. I am being very fussy about my wheels, so the gap the wheels have to jump is quite fine.
Built properly, the gap required for fixed point blades should be little, if any different to the gaps around the point frog, so it should work reasonably well. My philosophy in these situations is to give it a try, rather than sit worrying about it. If it doesn't work, you won't have used up a lot of modelling time - but if it does work you will be feeling pretty smug.
Richard
Thank you all for your thoughts on this. I was thinking exactly along the lines of a mixed gauge convergence, with no moving parts. Even a sprung set of blades could derail some of the lighter 009 wheelsets. Because they're only going to be negotiated in the trailing direction, the necessity for flange riding is avoided. The electrics need some skull sweat, but should be soluble, since this is a stock storage area and the electrics are going to be complicated anyway. I am attempting to emulate the late great Peter Denny to produce a hands (and eyes) free double-ended fiddle yard, so that I can be at the front of the layout rather than the back.
Regards
Paul