# crossovers



## Shawn91481 (Mar 20, 2016)

Hello,

In a perfect world my layout would be big enough to run two trains on a single main line with passing sidings. As such I plan to run a double main line and will need crossovers to get to the yard. I'm having difficulties getting the Atlas 054 switches but my hobby shop has O72. I tried using scarm and the distances between the different switches varies. So, I guess my question is: With O54 and O45 mainline will the O72 switches work without looking strange, and how far apart should the tracks be in general?


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Nothing wrong with your thread in this forum,
however, I think you would get more response
to your question if you moved it to the 0 gauge
Forum. They have a very active and informed
group of modellers.

I'm an HOer, so I'm no help at all.

Don


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

In my opinion, the O72 switches would look fine. In fact, O100 would look better. You may even want to cut the diverging legs of the switches to reduce the distance between your main lines at the crossover. I’ve done that a few times with Gargraves O100s.


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## Shawn91481 (Mar 20, 2016)

Lehigh74 said:


> In my opinion, the O72 switches would look fine. In fact, O100 would look better. You may even want to cut the diverging legs of the switches to reduce the distance between your main lines at the crossover. I’ve done that a few times with Gargraves O100s.


Nice. How far apart should the lines be? Everything I have runs on 036 though the SD70s do like a wider curve.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

For straights (where I'm assuming the crossovers will be) you can run the mains 4 to 4-1/4 inches apart center to center. NMRA RP-7 draft says 4" for classic and 4-1/4" for modern.


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## Shawn91481 (Mar 20, 2016)

Lehigh74 said:


> For straights (where I'm assuming the crossovers will be) you can run the mains 4 to 4-1/4 inches apart center to center. NMRA RP-7 draft says 4" for classic and 4-1/4" for modern.


That's scale 16' apart?


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

Shawn91481 said:


> That's scale 16' apart?


Right. The minimum spacing would be 16 feet center to center for classic and 18 feet for modern. And for O scale, the modern spacing would be 4-1/2" (not 4-1/4" as I stated above).


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## Shawn91481 (Mar 20, 2016)

Yeah, I mocked it up and realized that actually made sense.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

This is what I did with a couple of old style Gargraves switches to make the distance between mains closer. You probably won't be able to do it this way with O54 or O72 switches.


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## balidas (Jun 3, 2011)

Lehigh74 said:


> This is what I did with a couple of old style Gargraves switches to make the distance between mains closer. You probably won't be able to do it this way with O54 or O72 switches.
> 
> View attachment 298970
> 
> ...


That's a great tip!


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