It appears as though everyone is out-of-stock wrt Micro Engineering Code 55 turnouts. For how long has this been and is there any idea out there when they might be in-stock? What other alternatives are there for good DCC-friendly code 55 turnouts. I’m aware of FastTrax but I don’t think I’ll be building my own at this time.
Thanks,
Eric
Atlas code 55 turnouts are excellent. Very DCC friendly, readily available, and economical. I find them to be more durable than the ME design.
Lee
[#ditto]
When I was in there 2-3 weeks back, the Big Little Train Shop in Somerville, NJ had some. I don’t know if these are the older ones or the newer DCC friendly ones. Their phone number is 908-685-9982 and they are open on Sundays. Agreed they are like hen’s teeth but worth it when you are able to get them. You might also try asking over in the rec.models.trains newsgroup.
Beware the Atlas code 55’s; some rolling stock that runs okay on other manufacturer’s track and switches will have problems with the Atlas. And yes, I am talking code 55 versus code 55 here.
zero problems for me with atlas 55 no. 7 switches. microtrains and atlas cars, low profile wheels of course, lifelike, kato, microtrains, and atlas diesels run flawlessly thru them.
I have Atlas code 55 #5’s, #7’s, and #10’s, and all of my stuff runs on them perfectly. Lo-pro’s for me too, but then why go with anything else? They look better and operate fine.
There were some minor problems with the first release of #5 Atlas turnouts, but they were easily corrected with a few passes of a file through the frog. Mine have been installed for going on 4 years, with no problems electrically or mechanically.
I suggest you get a few and try them out. If you don’t like them, go back to ME.
Lee
Someone correct me if I am wrong but I thought I read that ME has redesigned their turnouts to be more DCC friendly and are going to be putting stock back out sometime this summer.
I will be curious how these compare to the Atlas offerings in price and quality. Currently I use peco but the price of them has me thinking to switch when I use up (or perhaps ebay) my current stockpile, about 10-11 med and curved turnouts.
Chris
Yeah, I forgot about that. Had to break out the dremel tool and carefully (so as not to heat them up and melt the plastic ties) deepen those frogs on my first ones too.
thats good to hear they have corrected the problems on no. 5s cause i need some. i dont get that little headlight flicker any more with the 55 like i did with the old 80. its funny how i had my wife to pick up 3 pieces of flex for me when she was out of town. i always had code 80 and had not ever seen any 55. they gave her code 55 atlas and i immediately changed to it when i saw how good it looked and it works great…