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Hi,
I'm using a 25* Atlas crossover track (Code 100) as part of my double crossover layout. Here's a picture.
The problem, as far as I can tell, is that when a loco rolls over the crossover track, the wheel flanges touch the plastic under the rails and lift the wheels off the track. I lose contact and the loco stops. I have two longer engines that seem to be able to bridge the gap and run fine, but my shorter engines, a 4 wheel switching diesel and a 2-6-0 steam engine always stall on the crossover.
I have a small file that fits between the rails and the plastic wheel guides. Should I go ahead and file down the crossover so the wheel flanges don't bottom out? This is a real pain. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Doug
I think it has more to do with the flanges on the locomotives, and less to do with the track work. However, it might be tough to replace the wheels on the units, so, your best bet might be to trim the trackwork a bit. Not sure how to go about that however.
Yes, you can use a small flat file and remove some of the plastic from the frogs and giude rils. However, be sure that what you think is really happening. A more common problem is that the flangeways are actually too deep and the wheel drops into the flange way and causes the derailment. You have to observe the locomotive at really slow speed to see this happen. If that's the case, the solution ist to take some .010 styrene, cut it to size, and glue it to the bottom of the flangeway.
The new crosses that Atlas is selling will not work w/any deep flange diesels.
What I did to make my 19 degree crosses work. I took my Dremel tool w/a metal cutter & cut away the plastic to a depth of about 1/16th of an inch inside of the rails. I tried a few other things before I did this & it didn't work.
Since I cut a groove next to the rails I haven't had one bit of trouble. My diesels were derailing everytime before I cut the grooves.
I also had problems w/Atlas rerailers, because of a small piece of plastic sticking out just before the flange on the loco hit. I've also had some problems w/plastic burrs on switches from Atlas.
This has only been happening in the last 3 years. Before that, no problems.
Oh yeah, a hack saw blade would be perfrect. Unfortunately, my x-over is already soldered in place. I'd rather not pull it apart. I do have a mini file that fits in the flangeway. It's slow going, but I'll keep at it.
When is Atlas going to check their quality control? I can't imagine they've been making the x-overs like this for 2-3 years and not getting a ton of complaints. What gives?
What locomotives/rolling stock are you all running through that crossover? Are we talking about the really new stuff (from the past 4-5 years), or we talking about the locos with the Pizza Cutter flanges?
Up until very recently (Sunday) I have only been running old locos over the x-over. The short ones get stuck, the longer ones span the x-over and have enough inertia to get through.
Rolling stock has not been an issue.
I was thinking it could be a problem with my old equipment... Until Sunday. My Dad suprised me with a new ModelPower 2-6-0 steamer/tender. It got stuck too.
I'll take a file to the x-over tonight and see what I can do.
When I bought my first couple of IHC steam locos back in '01/'02, everybody said that they had pizza cutter flanges and would never work on Code 83. But, I ran them anyway, and they worked fine. Somewhere along the line, either Code 83 grew, or IHC fixed the problem.
Which was a surprise, because I thought I was buying older stock. They were on clearance/sale/etc. But, they worked.
Back in the 80's when I was using Atlas track I found out very quickly that my old (70's vintage) locos couldn't cross the turnouts without the wheel flanges hitting the bottom of the flangeways. I think that's the same problem the original poster is having. They worked fine with my old brass Bachmann turnouts but not with the Atlas ones. I finally carefully cut a groove in the bottom of the flangeways so the pizza cutters could go through.
A qualified maybe. The problem is that Atlas has been having some real quality control problems with the plastic frogs and flangeways, with some of them being too shallow and others too deep. The vast majority are just fine. The fix about adding some styrene to the bottom of a too deep flangeway and using a Dremel tool, hacksaw blade or a miniature flat file (my choice) will solve either problem and the switch will then work as it's supposed to. Just makes sure you know which is the real probem before you start adding or removing plastic.
The problem is that Atlas has been having some real quality control problems with the plastic frogs and flangeways, with some of them being too shallow and others too deep. The vast majority are just fine. The fix about adding some styrene to the bottom of a too deep flangeway and using a Dremel tool, hacksaw blade or a miniature flat file (my choice) will solve either problem and the switch will then work as it's supposed to. Just makes sure you know which is the real probem before you start adding or removing plastic.