Manufacturer: ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS/Polk's Model Hobbies, Inc., 346 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07304. Price: ART-11200 manual right hand turnout $29.95 each suggested list (ART-11210 manual left hand turnout also available); ART-11600 six foot diameter curved sectional track $96.00 suggested list per box of 16.

ARISTO-CRAFT track has two exclusive features: A hole through each rail joiner lines up with a hole in the rail when you assemble the track sections. The hole is tapped for a stainless steel screw, and when you install it, you will have accomplished two things: First, the track joint becomes very strong. Second, and even more important, the screw provides a better electrical connection than track with joiners alone. That means you may never have to solder jumper wires between track sections to maintain consistent conductivity in track you leave outdoors. The manufacturer has encased the screws in wax; you will find them under a tie on each track section. Additional screws and rail joiners are available separately.

Each rail has a screw hole underneath to allow you to attach power leads directly without the additional expense of a lock-on connector.

The rail measures a nominal .332-inch high. I used the word "nominal" in referring to the rail height because that of our sample appears to be a few thousandths of an inch lower than the rail on our LGB track. If you run your finger over a joint between the two, you can feel the "step". It is so minor, though, your locomotives and rolling stock will never know it is there.

The ties are dark creosote brown, weather resistant plastic. The length, shape, and overall appearance of the ARISTO-CRAFT ties are very similar to those of other makes.

The gauge on our samples ranged from about 44mm to about 47mm. That may seem excessive but it is consistent with mass-produced curved track from most other large manufacturers. We experienced no derailments or other side-effects from the variance in gauge.

The turnout comes with a marker light and a spare spring. The throwbar, frog, and guard rails are cast plastic. Pins fasten the points to the throwbar. Their connection to the frog is very loose, probably to allow them to swivel, and a gap 3/32-inch separated the curved rail from the frog. The spring loaded control box exhibited a positive snap-action. Even so, the points failed to make perfect contact with the stock rails. Again, that apparent lapse of precision is consistent with other large mass-producers of code 332 brass track products.

Even though the wheel and track standards for large scale outdoor railroading are forgiving, we consistently experienced derailments at the switch frog of our sample. The problems occurred with smaller flanged, closer to scale metal wheelsets from Gary Raymond, Dean Lowe, and Precision Scale. The derailments occurred only on the turnout's curved track. Metal and plastic wheelsets with traditional deep flanges from ARISTO-CRAFT, LGB, USA Trains, Bachmann, and Dean Lowe passed through the frog without derailing.

The appearance of our track samples was better than average and the construction was durable. The apparent inability of the turnout to handle the widest range of scale wheelsets does cause concern.-RR

Walter Matuch, Product Manager of ARISTO-CRAFT Trains responds:

There is a difference in the operation of scale versus toy trains and that becomes more apparent when trains run through turnouts. Even so, in the case of prototype railroads, one would never expect a Union Pacific Big Boy to negotiate the tightest and most restrictive yard switch without derailing. But the opposite is true of Number 1 Gauge deep flange model trains.

In the world of model railroading, a manufacturer must make certain compromises to allow the greatest number of hobbyists to use a given product. The majority of large scale model trains still has wheels with deep flanges and any manufacturer must take that into consideration when designing a turnout. It would be a disservice to the hobby if ARISTO-CRAFT were to make a small radius turnout incompatible with tight radius curves. As ARISTO-CRAFT continues to expand its track line with larger radius components, the direction of large scale trains will move toward greater realism rather than toylike operation.

Also please note the aftermarket wheelsets having difficulty running through ARISTO-CRAFT's 11200 series turnout are designed to run on code 250 track rather than the code 332 track in use by such major manufacturers as ARISTO-CRAFT, Lionel, Kalamazoo, Bachmann, and LGB.