switch repair

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

OK, working in HO. Layed out the track, ran train, stayed on track. Attached track to cork with caulk, kept it away from switches. 4 axle diesels ran fine. Finally introduced a 2-6-0 to the layout. OOps, front truck hops off one switch (Atlas snap, probably purchased used) every time. NMRA guage says track is out of guage, too wide. Searched fourms for “switch repair” and “turnout repair.” “Repair” seemed to dominate and there are a whole bunch of threads repairing all sorts of things, but didn’t see one on switch repair in the pages I looked at. Does anyone know of a thread that will tell me how to repair this or can someone discribe a process that has worked for them.

This is what I think I need to do.

  1. Chisel off inner tabs holding the rail.

  2. Push rail in and “spike” at correct width. (Is there a guage that will hold it there or do I use the NMRA guage and a couple of pins?)

  3. Use a CA glue to hold the rail in its new location.

Of course there is always “replace it,” which wouldn’t be terribly hard as it is only attached on the straight through track. The siding has not been attached yet.

Thanks for the help,

2

you have just about aced your own solution

cheers

3

Atlas Snap Switches are notorious for being out of gauge. Purchase a better quality turnout, replace it, and be done with it. Atlas Custom Line or Peco are much better choices.

4

Most of the 3 point gauges will hold the rail in place as well the two point rolling ones. As long as they aren’t under a lot of sideways stress. But your solution with pins should work just as well, maybe better. If you don’t particularly need the 18" curve through the diverging leg, I would replace it with a regular turnout.

Enjoy

Paul