AtlasO Track

[Swipesy]

I need help in understanding the use of Atlas O 3-Rail Nickle Silver Track. Having always used Lionel track I am confused as to the role, if any, that Rail Joiners play in assembling the Atlas O track. Do I need to use the rail joiners and if so do all three rails need to be joined or just the center rail or what?

Any help in clearing this up for me will be appreciated.

John

[willpick]

The rail joiners of Atlas O track perform the same function as the pins in Lionel track. they connect the AC power from section to section. All 3 rails need the joiners.

[wrmcclellan]

The joiners keep the rails aligned in addition to providing electrical continuity.

If you want isolated rail sections you need to use the insulated joiners. For example: a siding where you wi***o switch the power off would need an insulated joiner for the center rail and a toggle switch to allow you to turn the power on and off.

Regards,
Roy

[mickey4479]

I believe they have improved the joiners so that they fit more snuggly on the ends of the rails. Has anyone ever tried to solder the joiners as well? After running for sometime on my layout I found a few joiners that were not snug and I had to press them so get better conduction. Overall, I am very pleased with Atlas track.

[jefelectric]

I have read on a post somewhere that some O gaugers solder every joint. Sounds like an awfully lot of work if it isn't necessary. My layout addition using Atlas has only been up and running for a little over a month, but no problem so far. Time will tell. I do have feeders pretty often.

By the way if you haven't checked out the track, the rail joiners come with each section. Don't need to buy them unless you are making cuts.

John

[mickey4479]

jef... Right about the joiners that come with the track. I used more than a little bit of the flex track and had to buy additional joiners because I spliced in some sections and made wider curves in some sections. I have feeders about every 9 or 10 feet.

[Anonymous]

Atlas redesigned their rail joiners a short time after the O gauge track was released. The newer joiners have a small dimple to help them provide more reliable contact with the bottom of the rail. I have had no problems with either the original joiners or the newer joiners, although now virtually all the track I have is fitted with the newer joiners.

I always keep an extra pack or two of both the regular and the insulated joiners around so I never run short and/or have some replacements available in case I accidently damage a joiner.

I see no real need to solder rail joints with Atlas O--especially if the track is mounted on a platform or held in place with glued ballast. I suppose thaere's always a chance that a joiner could work itself loose over time, but I've been using Atlas track for some five years now and have never had a problem in that regard. But, if soldering makes you feel more comfortable, by all means have at it! Just don't melt the ties!

[mickey4479]

Allan. I have not ballasted my track on my layout, and probably will not do so in the future. I have had good results as well with my Atlas track as is and do not intend to solder. But I do have a dumb question. Have you seen these "cool" soldering tools advertized? Do they work? Wouldn't that also melt the ties? I am not a practiced solderer. [?] But I may have to do some soldering sometime and was just wondering.

[lionelsoni]

I have heard that they are useful only for very small solder joints. I think you would need a conventional iron for rail.

I solder my joints. It makes it possible to remove individual pieces of track or switches without ripping up a large area to get the sections disconnected. The reliably low-resistance connections are a bonus.

[mroman]

what is the distance between two tracks on a curve using atlas O? the radii are 63 and 72.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mroman

what is the distance between two tracks on a curve using atlas O? the radii are 63 and 72.

Actually, 063 has a diameter of 63" and a radius of 31.5" while 072 has a diameter of 72" and a radius of 36". The track to track spacing is the difference in diameters divided by 2 (72-63)/2 = 4.5 or the difference in radii (36-31.5) = 4.5.

Daniel Lang

[mroman]

Thanks, that answers the question for me.

[Anonymous]

In the future, if I do any additional soldering of track joints (aside from in Z or other small scales), I will either borrow (preferable) or buy (quite costly) a resistance soldering unit to do the job. I used one several years ago to solder track on a friend's Large Scale garden railroad, and it was great! No worries about melted ties and such. The unit I used belonged to our garden railroad club, and any member could borrow it to work on their layout.

Frankly, though, I've found little or no need to solder track I've even used on an indoor layout in any scale, including Large Scale. But admittedly, I've never had the good fortune of having a very large indoor layout.