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Question about Atlas #4 and #6 turnouts
Thread starterjason412
Start date
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Hello all,
If you havent read my thread over in the layout design and construction thread I am currently building a layout. I thought I would post this seperately.
Anyways, I am having a little trouble with some of the turnouts and wondering if there is a way to fix them. Sometimes when anything with metal wheels goes across the turnout it will short just for a second like the wheels are hitting the other track in the frog. I thought these were insulated though? So I guess what I am asking is if I power routed the frog like www.wiringfordcc.com says would that fix that problem and if so they say I can screw a brass screw into the turnout but I have looked on the bottom of these turnouts and dont see anywhere to screw into to solder on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jason
**edit** Im pretty sure they are all Atlas code 100 and it doesnt happen all the time maybe once every 5-10 run arounds but Im hoping to fix it now before I glue down the track.
As far as I know(mine) all Atlas turnouts are not power routed & the frog is insulated. It sounds to me like you have a wire crossed on a track off the switch. There's a neg. & a positive for track power. Check to make sure the wires are on the same rail on both tracks going in & out of switch & another thing make sure you are not in a reverse loop.
Hi Jason. well I have all Atlas turnouts and all have insulated frogs. However some of mine (not all) have tabs with little tapped holes for powering the frogs. These mostly are all #6 turnouts with metal frogs.
Just looked at the Atlas site, NS rail code 148, turnouts #5 and 7.5. What happened to code 100 and the smaller rails?
Ya I dont have any reverse loops and all the polarities are correct. Ya Its really funny after watching where the problem I have is it seems as if the frog is just slightly too deep or something and sometimes the wheel will drift a little bit causing a short. I really wish I had a glass benchtop so I can see from the under side haha. Ya mine all look like they have an insulated frog too so Ive been kinda puzzled about it. I was googling atlas turnouts and read a little about filing down frogs and that some atlas frogs are too deep but didnt get any info about how to go about it and Im not really into just grabbing a turnout and filing it and ruining it. I just thought maybe if the power routing might help but it seems like that isnt the problem. Could it be that maybe the turnout is dirty and is somehow allowing for current flow across the insulation when a wheel gets close enough? I guess I could always give it a good cleaning just for good measure to rule that one out. Maybe the turnout I have has faulty insulation around the frog? I dunno its just seems kinda nittpicky. So Im not sure but Im gonna keep experimenting.
Jason
Jason I have insulated switches of all brands on my layout and there's not one that I didn't have to paint the frog to prevent shorts from occurring. It's just a fact that some of the wide metal wheels will touch both tracks at the same time when going over the frog. I think it's just how the wheel is wobbling at the time. I paint them but like Jeff said in one of the threads it's better to use nail polish. You want to expand the area of insulation a little.
Well that fixed it lol I cant believe nail polish of all things.....Makes sense though. Now I have to make up a nifty excuse as to why my woman doesnt havent any clear nail polish left... Thanks again everyone for the help with troubleshooting and especially George for the nail polish advice. Im off to bed for the night....Nite folks!
Man....all you model railroader gurus got all these little tricks and secrets. I got sooooo much to learn lol Think Ima get me a secrets and tips to MRR notebook and write them all down so I remember them all haha. I just made a trip to Walmart earlier today and bought 4 bottles of nail polish since I got quite a few turnouts to do and I wanted to replace the bottle that I finished off last night. Im pretty sure the guy at the cash register was wondering what I need 4 bottles of nailpolish for haha.
Jason
Thanks again everyone for the help with troubleshooting and especially George for the nail polish advice. Im off to bed for the night....Nite folks! 
