Atlas and Peco are bidding on a contract to provide track for my railroad.
This weekend I’m going to pick up some flextrack and a turnout from each manufacturer, and mount them on a 4’x2’ piece of plywood to test them out. Maybe I’ll pick up a couple of tortoises and ground throws.
Anyone else ever do a try before buy like this?
Anyone got any advice for this project?
What scale, what code?
I use code 100 HO track. The track is Atlas fextrack. The turnouts are Peco. IMO the Atlas flex is hard to beat for value. It is decent quality at a good price. The Peco turnouts are far better IMO and since this is a critical part of the layout, I decided to spend the extra bucks on this part.
I’m such an idiot I always forget that, it’s going to be N Scale, code 55.
I never thought about using turnouts from one company and flex from the other.
There you go, split the contract!
i bought a piece of flextrack and a turnout from Atlas , Peco and Shinohara , all three brands sold by my LHS so could compare them (all HO) . i like the peco best with the shinohara second .
one thing to keep an eye on is the height of the ties . the rail should all be the same height (code 83 or whatever) but there is no spec for the ties and i do notice a difference between the atlas and the peco . not sure if it’s the same in N
Montag,
I think you’re really doing it the smart way! I did it your way — but way too late. After putting in 20 or 30 Atlas turnouts/switch machines, I decided to try one Tortoise just for kicks… now I’m wishing I had done the whole layout that way. (You may be seeing my Atlas switch machines on eBay one of these days[:D]).
I see so many posts like those above from Simon and Ereimer that I’ve been thinking about buying one Peco turnout to see the difference… but I’m almost afraid to do it because I suspect it will be the Tortoise scenario repeated.
So continue with your test track method, and keep us post about what you learn!
Jack and Montag
Just a note on the Peco’s. They have a spring in the point mechaism that snaps the points over center to either side. This means that they can be used without any switch machine or ground throw and used manually with no extra bits. Tortoise machines can not operate with this spring in place. There is a sheet that comes with each turnout that explains how to replace (theredfore remove) these springs. Its easy to do, but just be aware. I actually use all my turnouts manually, so really like this feature. At some point I will convert, but with the cost of the turnout motors and the static decoders for DCC it runs upwards of $25 per turnout to convert them, so I have not bothered just yet.
After installing a number of Atlas snap-switches, I decided that I really don’t like the twin-coil top-mounted switch machines because of their non-prototypical appearance. Instead, I’m now buying Peco turnouts and switch machines. If I had it to do again, I might go with Tortoises, but I’d just as likely use the Peco machines.
I’ve had no problems after a year with the Atlas turnouts, but I really don’t like the way the machines look. Live and learn, I guess.
Does that mean that one could use them like the phototype word use a spring switch? In other words, are the springs weak enough that one could run a train though them from the frog end even if the switch is set for the other track without derailing?
Have fun
No, the spring is too stiff. Normally you will get a derail.
Being lazy myself, I hand lay all my track. lol I would like to hear more about your experiment though. Sounds like …um…er fun. [:)]
Stephen
Any reason why you don’t like the Atlas under-table machines? I’m asking because I just bought a bunch at a great price to install on the new layout I’m building. It seemed like a good idea. I’m kinda new to this so I’ll defer to you guys who’ve been at it for a while.
Thanks
Barry