i am having trouble with my 83 Atlas switcher, the switch is not touching the rail causing all of these D rails, i opened it cleaned it out but just wont go over all the way! any help?!?!?![soapbox]
Yep, I’ve had the same problems on several of my Atlas 83 No. 6 switches.
IIRC, the cure was to check for any flashing on the ties or along the stock rail in the way of the point. If that didn’t solve it, then I would check to see how the point was sitting in the plastic throw bar. Sometimes, the little tab attached to the point rail with the hole in it for the throw bar is not bent correctly. See if you can gently bend the point rail away from the tab a touch, and that might do it (you are in effect moving the point towards the stock rail). Lastly, I would use a small pair of needle nose plies and ever so gently bend the end of the point rail towards the stock rail, but not too much or the transition will be too rough and cause derailments.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
First, calm down, these are common problems, and not just with Atlas:
(I’m assuming you’re talking about the switch points not throwing all the way)
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Did it throw properly before you installed it on the layout?
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If so, did the problem come up after installation?
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If “yes” to 1 & 2, check for the throwbar binding against something in or on the roadbed.
I usually don’t put a track nail in the hole closest to the switch points, I’ve had many binding problems caused by this.
On a few of mine I noticed the point rail will pop out of the plastic tab in the throwbar that is supposed to hold it. What I did to solve this was to glue a thin piece of styrene under the plastic webbing between the ties above the throwbar on each side to hold it down - the slip occurred when the throwbar was able to lift up. I wasn’t experiencing any derailments because of this, but it struck me as something that would come back to haunt me if I didn’t fix it up front.
–Randy
yes! i took your guys edvice and i got it running good THANX![bow]
MOST SWITCHES are a PAIN. They cause derailments.
It is difficult to maintain gage throughout a prefab switch. The tighter the tolerances, the more it will reject out-of-spec wheelsets, and incur the wrath of new buyers with sub standard equipment… Trucks that don’t swivel, wheels out of gage, cars that are too light, etc., and it’s the switches fault.’
Compromises are made - to roduce better yields, and get less returns. Flangeways are widened - to pass more wheels - and perhaps deepened - to allow European wheel flanges throught. Now we get more wheel bounce.
When spiking down a SWITCH KIT (not difficult) surpisingly most problems disappear. GAGE is maintained throughout, and wheels hardlly ‘click’ going through. It used to be that fibre tie-strips came with kits. Now you lay wooden ties down and spike to them.
Wooden ties are cheap. White glue holds them in place. Needle-nose pliars and an NMRA gage should be what everyone needs, anyhow.
Gone are 99% of derailments. PRICE of $20 keeps the 'square’s away while you’ve learned how easy it is to achieve near perfection. I say “near”. because there is always sombody that doesn’t hold the right end of a pair of pliars.
NOTE to spikers: New Micro-Engineering code 70 track has no holes to spike down. A small drill bit (60 - 50?) does the trick at each end and center.