Does anyone have experience with this? I have followed the Atlas instruction, but it does not snap into place and now there are stress fractures on the tiny snap ears. I am afraid to break them. I have many to do and this is a real stopper to my progress.
Thank you
It shouldn’t take much force to get them into place. First make sure it’s lined up correctly. The side of the turnout with the throwbar has two notches milled out of the ends of the ties. Those notches are where the tabs on the side of the switch machine go. Just line them up and gently wiggle the machine in. Try having the switch machine at a slight upwards angle as it first goes in, then flatten out once it starts going in.
This probably goes without saying but make sure you’re using the correct machine for the turnout… left or right should be printed on the bottom of the machine. A left diverging turnout needs a left switch machine, and same for right. And the switch machine toggle switch has to be oriented upwards.
Thank you. I appreciate your response. I have checked and double checked that I have the correct units to mate. I will try your angle suggestion, but I am sure I tried it myself already. But I must be doing something wrong for it to be this hard.
Very little force is required but exact alignment of the tabs with the dedicated slots in the ties is required.
Note the cross shape cast into the top of each tab. That’s the alignment part. The thicker dimension arms of the cross are locating tabs that fit between the ties and the thinner arms that run parallel to the rails are the locking tabs that clamp the motor onto the ties. It’s actually a clever design but there’s definitely a knack to aligning these tabs as they slide into place with a click.
Check carefully that you are inserting the tabs into the correct spaces in the ends of the ties. There’s only one spot where both tabs will insert. That puts the pin on the end of the actuating arm under the throwbar hole closest to the motor. Ignore that aspect of mounting the motor until the unit is clicked into the ties. The actuating arm is connected last.
You are kind of performing a magic trick that relies on the flexibility of the plastic to work. The tabs are tiny clamps you are fitting over the ends of the ties. The upper part of the tab gets slightly sprung as you rotate the tab into place and then snaps back to firmly clamp the motor to the ties. If these parts were not flexible you could not fit it in this way. The tabs get spread by the tie ends as you pivot the tabs over the ends of the ties. When all is complete there’s no clearance between the tabs and the ties. Should be impossible to do.
Start with the motor vertical and parallel to the rails at those dedicated slots. Slide the tabs in so that the thinner arms of the cross that will be parallel to the rails are above the ties. As you slide the tab in slowly lower the motor to horizontal as you go. At the end of this rotation the tabs will click into place. If they are at all difficult to click in then you are just doing it wrong. Very little force is required and as you have discovered pressing harder has no effect if you have not aligned the tabs as Atlas intended.
Thank you very much for your detailed reply. It gave me what I needed to go back and properly insert the machines onto the turnouts x18. I wish Atlas had provided a couple of diagrams along with their instructions to illustrate the alignment. Anyway, I got it now. Like riding a bike, I won’t forget. Seriously, I really appreciate your taking the time to reply. Now I need to do a diode matrix and add capacitor discharge to provide route selection from one button each route and I am done with staging turnouts. These discussion groups are a real resource to an individual hobbiest. Cheers to you.