Atlas O Switch Problem

[Anonymous]

My apologies if someone has posted something similar. Here's my problem:
I have an oval layout, with one switch. Even though the switch is thrown to have the train go around the oval, if something is on the dead end spur, it still gets power as well. All track is Atlas O 3 rail, and the switch is Atlas as well. Does anyone have any ideas? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[willpick]

Tim, the spur will have power unless you isolate the center rail. You will have to remove the center rail joiner(the black one),from the section of track right after the switch and insulate the gap between the two center rails with a plastic rail joiner. Atlas O makes them for it's track, and they should be available at your local train store. If you can't get the plastic joiners, you can use electrical tape to fill the gap.
To provide power to the now isolated spur, you will have to connect the power from your transformer to the spurs' center rail, using an on/off switch to turn the power on or off.

Hope this helps! post back if you have more questions--

[Anonymous]

Thanks, that does help. For some reason I assumed the Atlas switch would have worked like some of the old Lionel switches I had a while back.