My apologies to Darrell for not replying to his August 17 comment. For some reason (aging process?) I didn't see the comment until today, when I was flipping through past posts.
Darrell, your question was regarding using a ruler in building turnouts. I use a ruler when laying the straight stock rail to ensure alignment. But I also use it to measure gauge at every tie. I should amend my statement to say I also check the gauge by using the three-point track gauge, but it's not my primary tool, and I find it a bit difficult to use with my frog assemblies. I guess it comes down to the fact that I am probably over-meticulous in laying out turnouts, and indeed it does take me a while to build one!
I hope this answers your question.
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Chuck, thanks for the response. I do wonder about your measuring gauge with the ruler. I know I would have difficulty with that, and getting any consistency. Are you using a constant gauge through the whole turnout, or are you varying the gauge at different locations, e.g. wider at the points and frog and tighter at the approach rails? If you are using a constant gauge, maybe you could make yourself a track gauge out of sheet metal (brass?) as a go-no go set of points similar to an HO NMRA track gauge. If you are varying the gauge at specific locations, perhaps a cheap caliper would be of assistance, as you can read the dimension you want on the caliper and lock the slide in place, then use the points for your gauge. Just thinking..... I know my own eyesight is not getting any better as I get older...
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