With encouragement from the good folks on the “Model Railroader” forum, I pursued adding a return crossover from the inner oval to the outer oval of the Blacktop Crossing layout. Originally, I thought of using a double crossover. I wasn’t sure I had enough room otherwise, and for some reason the double crossover just looked like a neat approach. Input from the forum suggested that the crossover might be expensive, and then all the talk about electrical continuity raised my concern. A couple of posts suggested just using a return crossover.
So, a return crossover, it was. There was a little room on the back, left side of the layout; maybe enough for a crossover. I wanted to use #6 turnouts as we had done on the first crossover. My thought being, operationally, that the occasional passenger train on Blacktop Crossing could make a loop or two around the outside, then around the inside for a change of venue, then back again. I liked the lower angle of the #6 – even though the inside loop does have 18” radius track. Oh well, it was a thought.
I ran into only a couple of issues. One was that two ties on the straight track between the turnouts overlapped with turnout ties. Only one turnout gave me that problem, and I had not seen it on the first crossover. No big deal; just cut those ties close to the rail. Another issue was the distance between the last 18” curved track and the first spur track turnout. That required cutting an inch or so off of the inside turnout. Another, “no big deal.”
I used a fairly long straight section between turnouts – maybe a 9” plus another 1 ½” section. I replaced two 9” straight sections plus a short piece or two with the second turnout and some flextrack on the outside track. As luck would have it, one of the rail connectors was also an electrical junction; and the new turnout put the junction right in the middle of its straight section. Fortunately, it was a "common" junction, so I just moved it into the next curved section. Of course, I needed an insulated connector between the turnouts. None could be found in my "inventory", so a special trip to the hobby shop was in order. Between the two ovals, I decided to just “ballast” the whole thing; I think I had seen that on another layout and that seemed easier than figuring what to do between two roadbeds!
When all was said and done, I pushed a couple of cars over the new crossing and then ran a locomotive pulling a few cars including a passenger car. With just a little modification (mostly tacking down the track), everything ran fine. I found myself trying to get track very straight, but then recalled seeing the “real thing” with twists and bends everywhere. I wondered if I didn’t need to take a sledge hammer to our layout! The "S-bend" worried me a little, but loco and cars navigated everything smoothly. We do need to install a tie here or there, and ballast the WHOLE layout. But, as it is, see what you think:
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