Steve - I've bought your stub switches before, and was impressed with the
pin in the bottom scheme, but wondered how you managed to do the soldering.
How do you do this?-- Anne Ogborn

     I notch the base of the rail with the dremel and cut off disk
    on the outside of the rail. The pin sticks up in this slot
    that is very clean (because of the dremel cut)
    I hold the rail with my tweezers and heat and touch the solder
    till it flows. Takes a fraction of a second.  Does that help?
    -Steve Hatch WTA (answer)

  Here is how I do my stub bridles.



-Stephen Hatch WTA


I notice you mention putting an electrical gap in the PC tie.

I've been doing this with a knife, and I'm really dissatisfied with that
technique. Invariably I end up slicing partway through the tie itself 
and weakening it. Is there a better way?

Annie


   Yes...turn your file on a 45 angle. (on it's corner)
    A couple of draws across the copper will put a gap.

  -Steve


I've been wondering about using a small brush, dipped in PC etching
solution, brushed across the tie. Would this be enough to etch 
through the copper?
Bruce Pryor


   Probably would work just fine. The file does a quick simple job of it
   though so I'm not sure I would mess with the etching solution.
   -Steve Hatch WTA

From Bob Foley:
 Steve Hatch sent us a great diagram for making the stub bridle 
turnout.  A question Steve, and perhaps it's obvious.  Do you leave 
the head on the pin under the PC tie, and is there a clearance 
problem? Thanks, Bob

    Yes leave the head on the pin so it won't pull up through the
    pc tie.  I use a thin (.030) pc tie for this.  If you use
    a normal thickness tie, you will need to groove the roadbed
    underneath to accomodate the pin head.
      This pc tie has no copper on the top and a gap in the copper
    the bottom. That way the rail soldered to the top of the
    pin, sticks to the pin ONLY and not the tie. The head on the
    bottom anchors the rail but allows it to swivel.
      The pins become a hinge pins.

   -Stephen Hatch WTA

 Steve,
 I guess this is probably another obvious question, but I really 
don't know much about stub turnouts. I am wondering how the 
distance of the throw is determined, as in how much distance is required 
between the two sets of stub rails? I was planning on using some hand 
throws from Caboose industries, but wonder if these will work for a 
stub turnout - the throw there is set. The ground throws I have are 
the ones with the auxiliary  electrical contacts I would use to power 
the points. Comments on this? 
 Thanks again,
 Joel

    I would just measure the throw of the Caboose throw and then
    set my pairs of stub ends that far apart. (minus the rail width)
    It's probably a bit more than needed for HOn3 but it should work.
  
     I'm prejudiced so I would use Railway's Hand Stands with
     auxillary contacts instead. The throw is about right. 
 
        http://www.railwayeng.com/handstnd.htm

-Steve Hatch