Both TwistTies and Assembly Fixtures are used to construct turnouts, but there are some important differences that you need to consider when deciding which solution to use.
| TwistTie Built Turnouts | Assembly Fixture Built Turnouts | ||||
| Cost | Lower cost. | Higher initial cost, but cost goes down if you have a lot of turnouts to build. The break-even point is about 10 turnouts. | |||
| Ease of Use | Makes turnout construction easier than traditional hand laid track, but requires more patience and skill than with a fixture. | Makes turnout construction very, very easy -- even for the novice. | |||
| Can Build Curved Turnouts? | Yes. Any radius. | Yes, but only in HO and N scales. | |||
| Accuracy | Much more accurate than traditional hand laid construction techniques, but not quite a good as a turnout built using an assembly fixture. | Fixtures are hands down the most accurate way to construct turnouts. No track gauge required. | |||
| Construction Time | 3-4 hours for your first turnout. As little as 1-1/2 hours as you gain experience. | About 2 hours for your first turnout. As little as 45 minutes as you gain experience. | |||
| Available Types/Scales |
Available for turnouts and wyes in the following scales. Code 70, 83 and 100 rail only.
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Available for all popular scales, types and rail sizes including:
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