I am getting materials together so my 11 year old son can start building a 4x8 layout. I want him to do as much of the work (learning by trial & error) as possible with guidance and some help from me. My question: Should I go with the Atlas Custom Line #4 turnouts or the Snap Switches which look to me to be number 4’s also. Any input/ideas is greatly appreciated.
Mark Schmidt
Greenville, SC
If you are going to use Tortise or other slow motion machines for switching the turnouts I would NOT go with the Snap Switches. The machines have difficulty completely closing the point rails when they are Snap Switches.
I have mostly snap switches on my layout and everything works fine. I’ve never had any trouble with them causing derailments. They work great for small layouts because they have an 18" radius with the 18" curves
For the purpose of your son learning, both turnouts would be the same difficulty to install and work with.
Be aware that the turnouts do NOT have the same geometry. Snap switches are closer to a #3 turnout, are much tighter (sharper curve), and depart at a greater angle (about 20 degrees ). An Atlas Custom Line #4 is really a #4.6 and departs at an angle of 12.5 degrees. If you have chosen a track plan out of one of the Atlas books the snap switches will NOT work, and have the plan come out as presented.
I have used the Custom Line #4 with almost every piece of equipment that you are likely to encounter and had no problems (except the infamous S-curve issue but that is not an turnout problem). I have often used the snap switches on children’s layouts because they usually have smaller/cheaper equipment. The Snap switches will bind up larger locomotives. Basically if the locomotive (or cars) requires a 22" curve the snap switches will not work.
BTW - Greenville huh? I went to BJU.
Actually the snap switch does the switching on the snap track turnouts. You can use the snap track turnouts with tortise machines but but you need to remove the snap switch first. I believe they can be bought without snap switches also.
If you want to use snap track turnouts they are #4’s. Custom Line also has #4 turnouts and can use either the same snap switch the snap track turnouts use or if you want to use the tortise. The Custom Line turnouts have a differrent geometry than the Snap Track turnouts so you cannot use one in place of the other.
One other thing. You cannot power the frog on the Snap Track turnouts because they are plastic.
You can power the frog on the Custom Line turnouts. It is black in color but is metal and can be powered.
Either can be operated by a tortise machine. Personally, I’d go with the Custom Line so if you need to power the turnout you can.
Bill
For an 11-year-old, I would recommend the snap-switches. The turnouts work pretty well, if not perfectly. They are entirely surface-mounted if you stick with the standard Atlas switch machines. This greatly simplifies installation. Snap switches may be purchased with either manual or remote (electric) switch machines.
The custom-line turnouts do not come with any kind of switch machine. That’s good if you don’t plan on using Atlas machines, but in either case, you will need to provide either a switch machine or a ground throw of some sort to move the points and hold them in place. That’s going to be an extra expense. Like the turnouts, the Atlas switch machines come in left-hand and right-hand models.
I have a number of snap-switches and they work fine. However, I don’t care for the appearance of the trackside switch machines, so I’ve switched over to Peco for my turnout purchases. For an 11-year-old, though, mounting and wiring below-grade switch machines is probably going to be a challenge.