Atlas O Turnout Fix | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum

Steven MichaelOGR Forum Member

Hello everyone, this is Neal Schorr's son Steven. The other day when I took our Lionel Conrail SD40-2s off the shelves for a run, I found that they were consistantly derailing on our Atlas #6 and #8 turnouts. I figured out that this is caused by the pickup rollers dropping off the hot rail before coming into contact with the closure rail. This can be fixed by gluing ~1.5 inch long pieces of .010 x .188 styrene to the end of the hot rail, making sure the top edge of the styrene is flush with the top of the rail, then continuing it parallel to the closure rail. It is important to make sure the styrene rests atop the tie plates to achieve the correct height. The styrene will prevent the pickup rollers from dropping into the switch and causing a derailment.

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4/30/1511:18 AM

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David MinarikOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Steven,

Nice tip! Thanks,

Dave

4/30/1511:21 AM

wb47OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

thanks for the tip, wish I had thought of that solution.

4/30/1511:22 AM

rtr12OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I have one MTH SD-45 that has a similar problem on only one of my switches. Might give this a try and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.

Jim BergerOGR Forum Member

steven: your dad and you truely have a layout that you can be proud of.not many kids get the chance to grow up while sharing their dads hobby.-jim

Putnam DivisionOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Great idea, Steven!

Peter

G3750OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

Welcome!

Great to see you and Dad enjoying the layout together.

George

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