Old Atlas track

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey guys,

What code is the old brass Atlas track? Is there any way to tell what code it is? I have a mix match of old track: Atlas, Bachmann, Model Power flex (I suppose it is code 100), and some company from Germany that started with an F. I have to use what I have without buying too much new stuff since I am out of work and low on funds. I may have to buy one or two turnouts so I want to be able to have it match up well.

The Atlas and the German stuff is the best track in the bunch hopefully I can make it work for now.

2

It all should be code 100

I believe the “F” brand would be Fleischmann

3

Most likely what you have will all be code 100. It’s easy enough to measure with a caliper: .100"= code 100, .083"=code 83 etc.

4

In the early years the standard track was Atlas Code 100 and your Atlas brass track is indeed code 100.

5

How old is your Atlas brass flex? I still have a couple of lengths that are code 100 rail stapled to every other tie of flexible fiber tie strip.

Definitely Code 100, and the cross-section never changed when they went to Nickel Silver. Narrower-head rail came in when manufacturing was moved to China.

When mixing and matching track with wild abandon, all that’s needed is for the railheads to line up at the inside top corners. Tie-depth mismatch can be corrected with shim material - anything from typing paper or masking tape to thin wood or plastic. Gauge mismatch can be ‘adjusted’ with a file. As long as the inner corners line up, the width of the railhead is unimportant.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on a wide variety of track products)