Some RCS/ Atlas O Turnout Questions

I have used Atlas"O" turnouts since inception. Once you wire all three legs, the electrical problems essentially disappear. Mechanically, I have had to do some minor rail grinding with a Dremel on the divergent center rail to increase clearances for wheels that apparently are too narrow or too far out(wide)of guage. I blame that on a lack of industry "standards" more than the Atlas"O" turnout.

Hi

 I have 54 atlas switches on my layout. I Found that on every one of my switches I  had to run jumper wires on most of them the wires.the jumper wires that atlas uses

are not great. If you run jumper before you use them thay have been great.

 most of my switches are using there orignal switch meachens.

I have been puting under mounts switch machens on some of them with tomar switch stands that light up and look  great.

 Over all I have been happy with there switches. my layout is not small 25 x50  

 

 

OK, thanks to everyone for the advice. 

 

I'm not an electrical person by any stretch - what exactly does it mean to "run jumper wires?"  And how would i do this?  What gets "jumpered?"

 

Also - I'd be thankful to anyone who could provide a "barney" diagram to show exactly what to do to properly wire these things - meaning the "jumpering" etc.  Again, I'm far from an electrical guy, so the simpler the better. 

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

Does anyone have experience with a double cross-over switch from either Atlas O or RCS?  Reliable?  Pain to wire?  Typical issues?  Etc.  Thanks for any inputs.   

 

Thinking about using one for the entry into my yard/yard lead.  Want to create a slight incline from yard entrance to exit, so trains "stretch" when exiting the yard.  The two feet saved by using this piece would bring my incline down to around 1%, which I think is ideal?

 

Peter 

Here is a previous topic that addresses the issue. Do a forum search for Atlas switches.

 

There were several examples of how to fix this a while back, too long ago for the archives. I saved some and will forward to you once I am home

 

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/2415514336828119

Thanks Sam! I'll look forward to it. Peter

I recently had to replace all my old track (Fastrack).  I looked/tested and reached the same conclusion you did for all the same reasons - so I've recently installed about 220 feet of Atlas O and have another 165 feet of so yet to go . . .

 

Where I will not depend on the switch to operate a lot I went with Atlas O switches for esthetic reasons. 

 

But I am sticking with Fastrack remote switches where I need them to operate a lot.  In particular I have four locations where a controls a reversing loop and I need dependable anti-derailing auto switching as the train comes back around the other direction.  I make the transition by going Atlas to tublular to Fastrack (ballast the Atlas and tubular and this doesn't look too bad). 

 

For more than five years I had an all Fastrack layout.  During that time, Fastrack switches automatically operatde on anti-derailing about 80,000 times without a single mis-operation and numerous times by remote control for me and never failed.  Without exaggeration, I think that Fastrack switches are not just the best product Lionel makes - they are best product anybody makes in the entire O gauge industry.

 

Atlas switches work very well and are quite reliable if you wire them properly.

 

It's very simple; just put a power drop on on 3 legs of the switch.   The power wires underneath the switch are intended to power the frog of the switch and NOT the trackage beyond the switch.   The mistake most people make is trying to power trackage beyond the switch threw the wires that are designed to power the frog.  

Peter,

 

My roughly 33’ x 38’ layout has about 1000’ of Atlas track, 45 Atlas turnouts, and 12 Ross curved turnouts. I used the 12 RCS because Atlas did not offer the curved turnouts I needed.

 

Of the 45 Atlas, when I took them out of the box, I had to snap back in place two of the small plastic linkages that move the points – not a big deal. I also had to replace the jumper wire mentioned above on six of the 45. After that, I have had no problems at all – the machines have worked reliably, and more importantly, I have had no derailments.

 

Of the 12 RCS, about half of them did not throw reliably with the DZ-1000 switch machines; they required sort of a breaking-in. I also had to play with the voltage to see what would work better; too low (12-14v) would not throw some of the turnouts all the way, too high (18v) and some would bounce back out of place! It took a little experimenting and now all but one work reliably. But I have had derailment problems with several of them, and there are three that still derail the tenders of most of my steam engines (MTH and Lionel) everytime I back up over the turnouts. I have not been able to fix this problem.

 

If I had to do it over, I would use all Atlas.

 

To be fair, though, note that all the RCS I have are curved, so this may not be a valid comparison. Also, a friend of mine gave me an older RCS (I purchased mine two years ago) and the workmanship on his was much better than on mine. Most notable was the inconsistence of the apparently hand-applied spikes that hold the rails on my turnouts. On the older turnout, all the spikes were very uniform. On mine, the spikes were all over the place, and some were sticking out enough that they would have caused a derailment from the get go. Also, many of the ties on my RCS were cracked or split.

 

I venture to say that regardless of which you use, be prepared to do a little tweaking now and then after you first install them.

 

Good luck!

 

Alex

Thanks everyone for all the input.  Basically, it sounds like the different offerings are imperfect, but wiring properly will alleviate most problems.  What exactly is "jumpering?'  Anyone? 

 

Sam - thanks for the link - very helpful.  And, I'm waiting on tethered hooks for the additional links! (thanks!!)

 

Also - does anyone have experience with either double slip switches (Atlas or RCS) or double cross-overs?  Using a double slip would increase yard length by over 2 feet, which would be ideal - if I don't sacrifice reliability.  Similarly, a double cross-over is a beautiful looking piece and would allow a much shorter cross-over distance for connecting my two main lines.  Thanks again!

 

 

Peter

Stick with Atlas. I too have problems with 096/072 RCS switches. All my steam engine tenders derail every time I back over them. As soon as Atlas expands it's offering to 096/072 curved I will make the change.

 

Bill H