Atlas makes two styles of N-scale turnouts : Standard and Custom Line.
The Standard turnouts do have the large black machine attached to the side.
The Custom Line turnouts DO NOT have any machine of any kind.
In my earlier post, I was referring to the Custom Line turnouts.
Also, please remember that Jarrel was asking about N-scale products. Very often, comparing HO- and N-scale products, even when made by the same manufacturer, is like comparing apples to oranges. What may be true for one scale, may not be true for another.
has enyone made note of the cross section of the peco
how the rail has a hidden part made into the plastic
that gives it extra strenth
I also have been removing my atlas oldy moldy’s I have 5 or 6 peco and I also run metal wheels and never get shorts. the reson I have been switching the switches is that my J class skirts hit the old crappy atlas switch machines (verry low )
england thanks for the nice peco’s
First of all, Darrell, Atlas now makes turnouts without the machine on the side. You no longer have to have those unsightly black monsters along side your turnouts.
With the Atlas (undermounted) machine, you no longer have to worry about the points falling away from the stock rails since the machine will hold them tightly in place.
I fear you are confusing the two. It is the Peco machines that require an adaptor in order to power accessories (eg: panel lights, signal lights, etc). NOT the Atlas machines.
[quote]
QUOTE: Many modelers also think the Peco turnouts look better and are more prototypical. They do look good and they don’t have big, black machines hanging off the side of them. T
Hi all
Somebody commented on the Non US apearance of Peco track hardly surprising since it’s Engli***rack.
It is very good quality trackage a couple of things to watch with it are the fixing of the blades to the spreader bar make sure these are secure before laying the track and that your trains don’t have steam roller wheels.
if you have steam roller wheels you will get the shorting problem.
if however you have a reasonably scale wheel this is not an issuie.
Cannot coment on DCC don’t use it.
The set track range of Peco points is particularly good for industrial trackage which is sharp but that may not take the longer cars too well
Tried Atlas track which is reasonably compatable to Peco and would only use the Atlas set track flex track and square crossing as for the points did not like them and thought the quality just was not there.
regards John
I see no reason to remove gloves. [:(] Why are you removing gloves ??? [%-)][%-)][%-)]
Very true. However, in your earlier posts you seemed to know about only the Atlas Standard turnouts (the ones with the black machines); and it seemed that you were unaware of the other models. You talked only about big, ugly, black machines.
At my LHS, the Atlas Customline turnouts with the Atlas motor cost almost the same or just slightly more than that of a single Peco turnout (without the motor). A Peco turnout and motor together cost about $10-15 CAD more than an Atlas Customline with motor.
Nice response. My “take off the gloves” comment was just a joke. I really think we are talking along the same lines, the differences being more personal preference than anything else.
Jarrell’s original post asked questions about Peco and Atlas. You and I have probably confused Jarrell a little, but I think he will recover.
You know more about the Customline turnouts than I do. I have limited experience with them, so I defer to your statements. I did go to a few online sites to look at the turnouts and switch motors. I could not find an Atlas turnout that has an integral motor which includes the relay contacts. I did find the new under-table machine that has the relay contacts, but it is not included as part of the turnout; it is an extra-cost item. Atlas requires a turnout and separate motor, Peco requires a turnout, separate motor AND separate contacts. The only real difference is how much it the combinations cost.
In mounting the new under-table machine, it is simple to excavate a 2"x6"x1/2" hole in foam. In N scale, however, the machine would be as large or nearly as large as the turnout itself. Number 4 turnouts are about 5" long and #6 turnouts are about 6 1/2" long. That would leave a pretty big hole under the turnout! I think most modelers who use foam would prefer to have their switch machines under the foam, not in it, and the new under-table machine doesn’t have a long enough actuating pin to reach that far up from under the foam.
I am in N scale, and have not had any significant problems with Peco frogs and wide flangeways. But then, most of my equipment is older and have larger flanges. That may be the difference in my experiences with Peco. Newer equipment will probably have more trouble because the wheel flanges are smaller.
I poorly stated my comment about the hobby shop owner selling you what he has rather than what you want. I should have said that SOME hobby shops do that, and not implied tha
Over the years I have tried several different brands and I find the tried and true Atlas switch is still the Best money can buy…One more thing…Peco switches can be problematic…We had lots of failures with Peco switches at the club…So,we simply replace the Pecos with #6 Atlas switches.The problem was the Pecos switches simply would not stand up to constantly being thrown on our passing sidings during our twice a week 5 hour(or more) operations.
I told the hobby store I wanted to build an enjoyable, hassle free layout. They gave me the peco 83 turnouts insulated frog with tortoise switch machines. I hated mounting the tortoise machines but it is done and no derailments. I am truly amazed and I am a cluster****!
I have many many atlas switches probably close to 50 in my yard alone. I have probably 8 peco switches elsewhere. I have purchased my last atlas they are beginning to fail the peco just keep going. I am haveing to solder thin wires to the rails with switch points to get power to them. This is a pain in the _ _ _ . Also I have used atlas machines with peco, just clip the spring. I use only under the bench type machines attaced with velcro easy to adjust and replace. Also use capacitor to power as I sometimes have 2 wired together. I prefer atlas machines as the make a snap noise which tells me it is operating if i can’t see it.
Ah, ok. I wasn’t sure. Without a smiley or winky emoticon, it was not easy to tell if you were joking.
I have only had experience with the Atlas turnouts with those ugly black machines along side. The information I offered was what I learned from discussions with both LHS owners, and from examining the Atlas and Peco turnouts and motors. The Atlas site doesn’t offer very much information about their products.
Exactly my point. Atlas costs less than Peco. As for quality, the difference is not as great as some people profess.
[quote]
QUOTE: In mounting the new under-table machine, it is simple to excavate a 2"x6"x1/2" hole in foam. In N scale, however, the machine would be as large or nearly as large as the turnout itself. Number 4 turnouts are about 5" long and #6 turnouts are about 6 1/2" long. That would leave a pretty big hole under the turnout! I think most modelers who use foam would prefer to have their switch machines under the foam, not in it, and the new under-table machine doesn’t have a long enough actuating pin to reach that far u
Ok… I searched and can’t find what I’m looking for and this seems like a good place to put this…
I have 1 ugly Atlas N scale standard turnout on my layout, the rest are customline with tortoises… I NEED a light telling me which way the turnout is going, it’s always the wrong way and the switch is never a good indicator on which way it’s going… I also would like to run it on DC and use either a momentary push button or better yet a momentary toggle… Is there a way to do all of this??? I can’t put a tortoise where this switch is because of space under the layout… It’s over another track…
I already looked at that route and I just don’t have the space… I contemplated putting the tortoise on the outside of the layout and making a remote ground throw…
Hi- i have just started subscribing to MR so i am a bit of a newbie. Although i have been a garden railway modeller for some time (Marklin gauge 1 radio control-german practise)I have recently started construction of an N scale railroad based on the union pacific to fill my time indoors through the cold Swedish winters. Having laid a considerable amount of peco code 80 track with insulfrog points (DCC is a must and insulfrog points are no problem for slow moving diesels) and tested with kato and atlas locos and passenger cars and intermountain wagons with no problems i now find that my con-cor UP passenger cars are unable to negotiate the curved turnouts which is a pain since i have 12 on the layout and i really like the con-cor vehicles and they are cheap compared to kato!!!. Has anybody else come across this problem or does anybody know if i can convert the wheels or trucks (bogies as we call them in the UK) on my con-cor vehicles to a finer scale like kato. Hope you can help -will post some pics when i get a bit further with the railroad. best regards timitthelimit
What do you mean by “unable to negotiate” the turnouts?
When dealing with passenger cars (or other long cars like autoracks) the problem is usually the length of the car and how that interacts with the next car. If you are using body-mounted couplers and long cars, you’re going to have trouble with curves regardless of which trucks you use.
Try running two cars together over the turnout where you have a problem. Do the first or last trucks derail, or only the center pair? Does one of the trucks “climb” up the rail just as the cars are swinging into the tight part of the curve? Or, do the wheels “pick” the turnout at the points and derail there?
Do you have other cars as long as the con-cors that work OK? Try putting one of them with one of the con-cors, and running that combination over the turnout. Are the trucks on the con-cors free to rotate as much as they have to, or do they hit some obstruction so they can’t rotate far enough for the turnout?
what i mean by failing to negotiate the points (turnout) is that the cars seem to stick or jam when crossing the turnout-enough to stop the locomotive pulling them or in some cases to derail the passenger car. Its hard to tell in this scale what is happening ie climbing the rail. It does not affect all the cars equally but the problem is there more or less with every car. The kato cars are considerably longer than the con-cor cars and they are fine and the turnouts are brand new and laid on a perfectly flat surface-there is no evidence of bodies rubbing since these turnouts are a large radius (peco code 80 curved turnouts) and this problem occurs when i push single coaches across the turnouts. The problem i think is with the trucks and and i can see by eye that the con-cor truck wheels are much coarser in scale than the kato-so what i am really asking is if i can change the trucks or the wheels on the con-cor coaches otherwise i will sell them on and stick with kato (which will definately hurt my wallet since i usually have to order them from the US).Both the con-cor and kato couplers are mounted to the trucks whwereas all my wagons have body mounted couplers which are no problem with these points. I know the peco points are Ok because like the kato wagons, german and austrian wagons have no problem on these ponts.
I use and really like Atlas switches. They are much cheaper than the Peco and that is a big plus for me. I like the clickity clack sound anyway. Its more realistic.