Track and Point Building Book

Description

Track and Point Building Book, written by Colin Edmondson.

Learn how to build durable, workshop-made 7¼” gauge railway points, turnouts, and track panels using steel flat bar — without the need for a milling machine.

This comprehensive, fully illustrated guide shows model engineers and miniature railway builders exactly how to construct left-hand and right-hand points, plus straight and curved track panels, all fabricated on the bench from readily available steel bar stock.

Rails: 25mm x 10mm steel flat bar
Sleeper ties: 25mm x 3mm steel flat bar

What’s Included

• ✔ Fully illustrated, step-by-step construction guide

• ✔ No milling machine required — only an angle grinder and welder

• ✔ Dimensioned drawings for the most common 7¼” gauge point sizes

• ✔ Ready-to-use tables for accurate sleeper cutting and rail positioning

• ✔ Instructions for producing your own working drawings

• ✔ Guidance for adapting the methods to other gauges

• ✔ 26 well-filled A4 pages

• ✔ Printed in full colour with glossy card cover

• ✔ Comb bound to lay flat on your workshop bench

The appendix includes fully dimensioned tables and technical drawings for the most commonly used 7¼” gauge railway point sizes. These ready-to-use plans allow you to:

• Cut bar sleepers precisely to size

• Secure them to your workbench

• Mark rail positions accurately

• Build consistent, repeatable turnouts

No need to produce your own drawings — although full guidance is provided if you wish to customise or design alternative sizes.

The same proven construction methods can also be applied to building railway points in other gauges (dimensions will need to be calculated separately).

No milling machine is required to build 7¼” gauge railway points — just basic fabrication skills using and access to:

• An angle grinder

• A welder

• Standard workshop tools

This makes the guide ideal for model engineers, miniature railway clubs, and hobbyists working from home workshops.

For improved accuracy, precision laser-cut track gauges are available from CMD. Alternatively, you can manufacture your own gauges using official standards published by the 7 1/4 Gauge Society.

Because flat bar steel typically has sharp corners, the guide recommends increasing the track gauge by 3mm to reduce wheel wear and improve long-term durability. For this reason, the matching point-building gauges are set to 7⅜” gauge.

Additional Topics Covered:

• Tools required for 7¼” gauge track building

• Preparing and setting up your workbench

• Point levers and remote lever operation

• Building points in situ to replace existing track

• Making fishplates for steel bar rails

• 3-way points

• Single-bladed points

• Layover points

“I would hope that by the time you have read this through several times and bought or made some simple gauges that you will feel competent to build your first point. The first one is the scary one, but if you stick carefully to the instructions you will end up with a fully operational point, ready to be laid and used. Provided that your track layout is designed round standard points, rather than needing too many specials, points can be produced on a jig at a surprisingly fast rate, up to one a day if they are all the same hand and radius.” – Colin Edmondson

 

Supplied: 1 complete comb bound book.

Estimated lead time: In stock items 2-3 working days | Back ordered items 8-10 working days.
Please also see the compatible  Point building gauges plus wheel profile gauge and Track building gauges