Somebody stop me!

Gary S.

Senior Member
Am I crazy? I am seriously considering ripping out all the Atlas turn-outs I have put in because I am just not content with them. My CF-7s and GP 35s seem to lose power as the wheelsets hit the frog, plus the locos and cars clunk as they go through (Intermountain metal wheelsets).

So am I nutz? I've got about 20 on the layout, glued down, and if I do decide to do this, I might as well rip up the whole thing and start again?

Somebody stop me.
 

MilesWestern

Active Member
Yeah, Many of My trains are having similar issues concerning those atlas switches, but I like Rodger's Idea about the feeder. As far as the clunking, alot of switches do that in real life.
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Of course i already have all these switches glued in place... I tried to put power to the frogs on a couple of them... tried to solder a wire onto the little tab with the hole. All I accomplished was making the frog come loose from the switch, I guess the heat affected the glue that holds the frog on. I had to rip those two switches out and go back with new.

I can probably use a brass screw and nut to attach to the frog, then solder a wire to that, but it won't be easy because they are already installed as I mentioned. I'll have to di the roadbed out from under the tab to get a screw and nut to it. Still, that may be the solution.
 

YmeBP

Member
i just had the bright idea of adding some vertical elements to my kids 4x8. The issue is i ,like you, have glued down the track :) hehehe i am really interested in how i can remove the track section i want to replace w/ a switch from the foam below it w/o disrupting the whole layout. I've glued it down w/ liquidnails.

I'm with you wholeheartedly on the ripping up the atlas switches i have snap switches in place and i cross my fingers and toes when my metal wheeled rolling stock roll over them. I bought a bunch of peco switches and am in the process of getting myself motivated to go rip them up :) and change them.


Gary S. said:
Of course i already have all these switches glued in place... I tried to put power to the frogs on a couple of them... tried to solder a wire onto the little tab with the hole. All I accomplished was making the frog come loose from the switch, I guess the heat affected the glue that holds the frog on. I had to rip those two switches out and go back with new.

I can probably use a brass screw and nut to attach to the frog, then solder a wire to that, but it won't be easy because they are already installed as I mentioned. I'll have to di the roadbed out from under the tab to get a screw and nut to it. Still, that may be the solution.
 

cidchase

Active Member
Gary S., I believe you could solder a solid wire to an 0-80 brass nut, then using the wire
as a handle, slide the nut under the tab and put a screw down through the tab to secure
it. Just solder sparingly so as not to get solder in the threads.
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Good idea. I was thinking about soldering the wire to the brass screw, then drilling a tiny hole down through the benchwork, then a larger hole from bottom up, then use the wire to feed the screw up and into the hole in the tab, and put the nut on top.
 

nhguy

New Member
Sounds like the points aren't making contact with the stock rail. Clean the back of the points and the area where the point contacts the stock rail. These are point fed turnouts. You can also solder a small wire from the point rail where it connects to the frog rail/ I have used motor winding wire. Adjust the 'throws' what ever they are too.

As far a s the frog problem, Atlas has never fixed the deep flange way in the plastic frog even after they redesigned the switches/turnouts. It is too deep. Glue a couple thin strips of .010 thick plastic strips in the bottom of the flange way of the frog. This will help the wheel flange go across the frog without falling in which is what's happening. I round the ends of the strips at the ends to make the transition smooth. That is why you get the bumps when the wheel 'falls' into the frog. The deep flange ways were for older deep flanges on the wheels that were common years ago. Not the RP-25 wheel profile standard adopted by most model manufacturers today. Hope this helps.
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
These are the ones with the metal frogs. It seems like the frogs are too high, not too deep. The cars seem to rise up a tad as they go over... locos too. And with the loco, it results in a semi-loss of power.
 
Gary, have you seen this video on the FastTracks site? http://www.handlaidtrack.com/nmra-online.php (Download the large version if you can, much easier to see.) It explains a lot.

Do your frogs have a filler between the rails? It's possible the flanges on your wheels are too deep and are riding up on that filler. Maybe you can use a thin blade (piece of a hack saw blade?) to remove some of the filler?

Regards,
...jim
 

brakie

Active Member
Gary,What Atlas switches are you using? I been using Atlas #4 C83 switches and haven't had any problems..
Just wondering.
 

YmeBP

Member
JimBrown said:
Gary, have you seen this video on the FastTracks site? http://www.handlaidtrack.com/nmra-online.php (Download the large version if you can, much easier to see.) It explains a lot.

Do your frogs have a filler between the rails? It's possible the flanges on your wheels are too deep and are riding up on that filler. Maybe you can use a thin blade (piece of a hack saw blade?) to remove some of the filler?

Regards,
...jim
I read that tip somewhere that you put epoxy or jbweld in the frog then reshape it w/ a dremel and a hack saw and that gives you a better channel for the flanges of the wheels to roll through. Do peco turnouts have the same channel issue?
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Gary S. said:
These are the ones with the metal frogs. It seems like the frogs are too high, not too deep. The cars seem to rise up a tad as they go over... locos too. And with the loco, it results in a semi-loss of power.

Gary, I had a similar problem every time my friend cn nutbar brought some of his brass locos over to run on my layout. Certain locos would stall on the turnouts, and it appeared as if the frog was lifting the rigid driver sets enough to lose contact. I used a large mill file to correct the problem. :D These same turnouts caused no problems for any of my own locos, unless some ditzle-headed operator forgot to line them correctly.:rolleyes:

Wayne
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
JimBrown said:
Gary, have you seen this video on the FastTracks site?

Do your frogs have a filler between the rails? It's possible the flanges on your wheels are too deep and are riding up on that filler. Maybe you can use a thin blade (piece of a hack saw blade?) to remove some of the filler?

Jim, I'll have to look at the video later this week, right now I am on dial-up. Your suggestion about filing the filler may be the ticket. I am using Intermountain wheelsets, I would assume they meet NMRA standards for the flanges.
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
brakie said:
Gary,What Atlas switches are you using? I been using Atlas #4 C83 switches and haven't had any problems..
Just wondering.

I'm using the same thing Larry. HO #4 Code 83 Custom-Line turn-outs. Don't get me wrong, the turn-outs work okay fro the most part, but all it takes is a few stalls, and a few times of the blinky lights problem, and I am not happy.
 
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