comments on atlas switches please

[Anonymous]

I operate "super O" and am planing to expand my layout a bit. I have a pair of super O switches lined up but will have to sell out 85.00 for them. I understand that "Atlas makes switches with the same O-36 radius as super O. Does anyone out there use atlas??? How good are they??? thanks a bunch. Easter

[eZAK]

I hate them!
Although alot of people like them.

They look great, But the mechanics and continuity issues bring it down.

As for a replacement 036 you may want to try K-line.

Also Ross makes a 031 & a 042 http://catalog.rossswitches.com/viewProduct.cfm?item_id=82575

And Gargraves has a good 042 http://gargraves.com/switches.php

[wrmcclellan]

easter,

It depends on how you are going to use them. If the layout is permanent and you will not be moving them a lot, then they may be fine. If you are doing a floor layout or layout where you will be changing the track plan a lot, then you will have some problems.

Atlas O switches have small molded-in wires that provide continuity through the switch (whereever the rails break) and these wires are merely pressed into the bottoms of the rails. With time and handling, the wires come loose and then you have to solder jumpers from center rail to center rail acorss the frog. I would guess at this time that 20% of the Atlas O switches on our club layout have failed over the past 3 years.

There are also several spots where rails are riveted together and these tend to fail also.

These issues show up more on a layout where you have a lot of electrical blocks and thus power and common feed to the rails may not hit both sides of the switch. On a layout with a lot of power feeds (like to each side of a switch - every 6 feet or so), if a connection in the switch breaks it is not so noticeable.

Here is a link to a drawing I made of the Atlas O switch switch internals (made when I disected a bad one to understand the failures we were having):.

http://home.comcast.net/~roy.mcclellan/Photos/Atlas_Switch_Electrical_Diagram.htm

BTW - I think you would have some difficulty lining up the solid rail Atlas switch with the tubular rail.

Good luck,
Roy

[Anonymous]

thanks for the input guys. goodness,I dn't have any of these problems with the lionel stuff. roy, I don't think I would have had too much of a problem lining them up if i was to buy them. The SuperO isn't tubular,it's more "T" rail & the same height as O27 track. think I'll stay away from atlas it seems to have more problems that I feel I'd want to mess with. Easter