Atlas crossing advice

[tstage]

I just purchased an ATLAS Code 83, 90-degree crossing. My 2-8-2 traverses it fine but is rather noisy in doing so. I noticed that if I run my finger along the top of the crossing, I can feel the plastic insulation (that isolates the rails from one another) projecting above it slightly. Is it possible to file down the plastic insulation so that it is flush with the top of the rail? Or would this compromise the crossing in any way?

Thanks for the help! [^]

[cacole]

Filing the plastic flush with the rail should not create any problem, and may stop the noise you're getting. It sounds like the locomotive wheels are being lifted up as they go through the crossover. A shorter wheel based locomotive, such as an 0-4-0, would probably stall on that crossover.