Has anyone had experience with the Atlas Under Table Switch Machines? If so, please tell me good or bad. I see they have two types, one a DELUX and the other non-delux. Wondering what's the difference and what thickness of table will they work through.
As always, thank you.
Charlie
Reddahc Has anyone had experience with the Atlas Under Table Switch Machines? If so, please tell me good or bad. I see they have two types, one a DELUX and the other non-delux. Wondering what's the difference and what thickness of table will they work through. As always, thank you. Charlie
Yep, and my advice is to avoid them like the plague.
Others will differ, but I gotta tell you, when I first got into HO scale 8 years ago, I bought a dozen and nearly quit the hobby. They were awful. Impossible to operate them properly. Took forever to get one working halfway decently. I never finished installing them and I sold them on eBay.
Buy and install Tortoises instead. You will never regret it. Some will tell you that Tortoises can be expensive. Phooey. Nothing is worth the grief of trying to work with Atlas Under Table Switch Machines.
Rich
Alton Junction
Agreed. And there is more than just the expense of the machine. When you have 50 -100 turnouts on a layout you do not want to spend too much time ditzing with them. And Wire is expensive too. I only need one wire to run my tortoise machines. (Their is a common ground under the layout for all of the other legs.)
And that one wire can also control your panel indicators, your wayside signals, and any ancillary relays you may wish to use for track or signal logic out on the layout. And the tortoise by itself can route all of the power that you need to route saving you on more relays and switches.
With the Tortoise, you can if you like line all of your toggle switches up in a row like a line of levers in the tower, and then you can see at a glance what switches are normal and which ones are reversed. (The down position on each switch is the normal route for the turnout. Put all of the switches down and your main line is green. Try that with buttons.
The turtles are also much easier to mount. Use glue and not screws and you will not have to stand on your head, swinging by your tail, to twist tiny screws into place, assuming that you fount the right place in the first place.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I agree with Rich.
However, I do have one Atlas under table switch machine. I used it on the turnout on my Walthers Ore Dock. I did modify it. I cut the plastic pin off and put in a metal one. If I had used a Tortoise in that location, it would have shown rather badly. A servo would have worked there, but I didn't know about them at the time.
As you can see in the next photo, it is well hidden.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Nice Workmanship.
They are really designed for a layout which is 1/4 inches of roadbed on top of 3/4 inches of plywood. The vertical bar on the unit is set up for that 1-inch spacing. You could cut it shorter, but there's no practical way to make it longer. The linkage is plastic.
The "deluxe" machine has contacts on it to control panel lights or signals or to power frogs. That's the difference.
I have 1 of these. I glued it to the bottom of the turnout, and hollowed out the roadbed and subroadbed to accommodate it. It's one of many experiments in the art of hiding Atlas switch machines. It has been working fine for 4-5 years on a little-used pair of sidings. If it ever fails, I would have to rip the whole thing up.
On the newer part of my layout, I switched to Tortoises for the turnouts in front, near the viewer. I don't plan to go back.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi!
The Atlas machines are what they are - an inexpensive alternative to the Tortoises and the like.
On my last layout, which lasted 14 years, I had 6 of the undertable Atlas machines on my lower level staging yards. They got quite a workout, and they all lasted - without adjustment - for the 14 years.
The above table Atlas machines are identical mechanisms, and I had similar luck with the 30 plus ones I had on the same layout. Yes, they certainly aren't realistic looking, but with some flat black/brown paint and CAREFULLY applied groundcover, they almost disappear.
My point is, they are what they are - a reliable, less expensive alternative to the Tortoises.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Assuming all of the above is being used in HO scale, how about N??
I had 38 of the original style Atlas under table machines that were a 'bear' to position to say the least.Cheap yes, troublesome (after mounted) no.
It's just trying to position them and secure them to the plywood. I used screws, something I would never do again. This was in N scale.
If money is a problem, I devised a way to use the Atlas top side motors. They work fine for me but you must use a capacitor discharge system to activate them just as it protects them if used on top of the table. There are old postings I made about this system although I don't seem to get any converts. I type slow so my posts are short.If you are anyone is interested I would post a more complete explanation.
Lee
[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
That is the same sort of mechanism I was trying to describe in the other thread - you can use that exact same thing with a Tortoise on its side, and there is no requirement for whatever switch motor is used to be parallel witht he track. It can be perpendicular or at any angle that fits and it will work equally as well, it's all in the direction you bend that bottom loop.
I had to do that where ONE throwbar came out too close to a cross brace to mount even a small servo. The bottom of the J just goes tot he servo horn though, because as the servo turns back and forth, it actually twists the wire as well as rocks it back and forth - and the twist is plenty of throw to move the points of an Atlas turnout. I figured that out because when I intially mounted the servos under each turnout, before I got to cutting the wire off flush witht he throwbar, I put little flags of blie painter's tape on each one so I wouldn't lean over and poke myself on an hard to see wire. I didn;t want to cut any off until I wired up the controlelr and verified they didn't need to come down and be repositioned. As I tested one, i noticed the flag didn't just wave back and forth, it spun. Thus my one problem turnout was solved.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I have a couple that I used where a Tortoise wouldn't fit.
If I had it to do over I would use the remote Tortoise mount.
They do work. They are under 1/2 inch plywood and WS foam roadbed.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Vet I have a couple that I used where a Tortoise wouldn't fit. If I had it to do over I would use the remote Tortoise mount. They do work. They are under 1/2 inch plywood and WS foam roadbed.
The thing I like about my system is that the sleeve and crank can be what ever the table thickness dictates and the motor can be mounted in any direction needed as long as it and the actuator point toward the vertical shaft.
Enjoy the hobby