I am in the process of changing some of my Atlas turnouts for Peco ones. I am using mostly Atlas flextrack with some Atlas Code 100 sectional track pieces. What type of Peco turnouts would work the best? I have already decided to use their Insulfrog type of switch…Any suggestions would be appreciated
Be careful with the rail joiners. The two manufacturers have different cross-sections to the rails, even though they’re the same height. I think the Peco ones are smaller, so you can’t join them to Atlas track. Instead, you’ll need to use Atlas rail joiners, and squeeze them down a bit.
If you have a curved section of Atlas flex-track joining up with the Peco turnout, you may have problems. My best advice is to use a piece of sectional track directly connecting to the Peco turnout, and then go on with flex from there. If you can’t do that, then try to assemble the flex track on your bench, and solder it together while you’ve got it straight. Otherwise, the mis-match at the rail joiner will give you problems.
“I am in the process of changing some of my Atlas turnouts for Peco”
I’m building my first layout and am using code 100 flex, snap track, and Peco turnouts. By coincidence I’ve used snap track leaving the curve of the turn outs as Mr B suggested. I didn’t get to try it out last weekend as I had a DCC defective black box and had to send it back for repairs. I did notice that some of my track connections seemed a little loose no doubt because of the different rail joiners as Me Measley said. As far as what Pecos to use you need the insulfrogs for DCC and their small radius is close to a #4, the medium radius is a #6 and the large radius a #8.
Let me know how you make out.
Bob
my club uses peco turnouts with atlas code 100 flex with no problems. the rail joiners fit ok if you cut off the flat tab at the end of the rail joiner that you side onto the peco rail so the joiner will slide on a little farther. the joiners are tight on the turnouts as well as the atlas flex track. there’s no reason to use a piece of snap track up to the peco switch. as for insulfrog switches they are somewhat tempermental on dcc systems. we have found that the wheels on certain locos, mostly steamers will bridge the insulation at the frogs causing a short circuit and stopping any other trains in the power district. this doesn’t happen on dc as the dc systems are not as sensitive as the dcc systems to shorts. i have this problem on my n scale home layout and am changing all my atlas and peco insulfrog switches over to electro frog switches. one thing i would do is leave some room on the flex track ajoining the switch so you can slide off the rail joiner to ease future replacement of the switch without having to tear up any other track.
Yes, the frogs on these turnouts do have a particularly narrow insulation gap that sometimes gets bridged by wide wheels. You might try some clear nail polish on the gap to cover up the metal surfaces if this is problem. That’s going to be a periodic maintenance chore, as the nail polish will eventually wear down. I don’t have this issue much myself, so I can’t tell you how long a treatment lasts.
Hello. I have done what you are thinking of doing. No problems. I used the Atlas joiners with no problem. Good luck.
ON MY LAYOUT I’VE DONE THE OPPOSITE AND HAVE FOUND NO PROBLEMS. WHAT I DO IS FILE THE END BASE OF RAIL SLIGHTLY AND THEY SLOT TOGETHER USING EITHER FISHPLATE NO PROB’S
YES you can mix them, *
however the ‘thickness’ of the rail may be slightly different. (Atlas code 83 also has a different heigth), so each companies rail joiners may be too tight or too loose to fit the other’s product - but that’s where your skills as a Model RR hobbyist come in.
* (IE:Minor adjustments) .