Splicing Microengineering turnouts

I chose Microengineering code 83 turnouts and flex track for this project. I like the appearance of this track, and the ability of the flex track to hold a curve was a big help for laying the 9" radius curves.

The track plan includes two turnouts that are very close to each other, requiring a shallow-angle crossing that is not commercially available in code 83.  Here's how I spliced two #5 turnouts into a single unit and then completed the crossing:

The first step was to establish how close the two frogs should be.  Overlapping the turnouts by eight ties would allow each diverging track to clear the guard rail on the opposite turnout:

 

I then removed four ties, leaving a four-tie section on the end of each turnout.  Once the turnouts are spliced together, these sections will fill in the gap in the opposite turnout:

I then removed the rails from the diverging routes of each switch (the outside rail had to be cut) and one length of rail from each through route.

At this point I was able to thread the "bare" rail section of the left-hand turnout through the "empty" spike details on the right-hand turnout, resulting in a single piece of trackwork.  At this point, all ties and rail sections are derived from the original turnouts.

And here are the turnouts installed on the layout.  I have started to build the crossing, starting by laying the two sidings up to where they meet the turnout assembly and then filing and soldering the crossing frogs.  The chevron-shaped piece of rail that sits between the turnout frogs is slightly misaligned as it had not been glued down when I took this photo: