Fast Tracks

Building short turnouts like the #4 double slip I will be attempting soon puts a bit of extra strain on the soldered points. I decided to experiment with pivoting points on a #4.5 just to see what I was getting into. I decided against the soldered spike in favor of 1/32" brass rod, formed over into a "spike head". I believe someone else has posted about doing that and I got to thinking about how to secure the "bottom end" of the spike so that the throwbar would be free to move. Just bending the rod over under the throwbar works fine but causes a potential drag underneath. What I wound up with was using 1/32" ties so that the entire assembly was about the same overall thickness of a regular PC tie throwbar. When glued onto QuikSticks, they are free of drag completely and I can't get over how light the force required to move them is. The points are held down flush with the stock rails and the throwbar thicknes doesn't worry me because there's very little force needed to move it, even on a #4.5 turnout.