Have to poke through the posts here to see what those all were. Local friend who just experienced it has all Atlas track on his layout excpet for a few hand laiid to fit and his layout is huge - triple deck semi mushroom in a dedicated building on his property. And just that ONE was bad.
So it is very rare - like the injection molding machine gets it right 99.99% of the time so they don't bother testing or checking, or just do a small sampling. Or maybe it's only the very last one made before the hopper of plastic pellets runs out. Whatever the cause - it's rare.
I don't think this is something that can linger and then pop up - they seem to be bad right out of the package. It's possible this has ALWAYS been a problem, and without an internet to post about it, it didn't get around, and when the turnouts were far cheaper than they are today, the bad one either got returned to the store or just tossed aside and a new one used.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker I hope you are not yet another victim of the Atlas Myster Short - there have been several people here and just the past week, a local friend had the same issue on his layout, a short for no obvious reason. Tracked down to the same issue that some people here have posted about, an internal short in an Atlas turnout.
I hope you are not yet another victim of the Atlas Myster Short - there have been several people here and just the past week, a local friend had the same issue on his layout, a short for no obvious reason. Tracked down to the same issue that some people here have posted about, an internal short in an Atlas turnout.
Randy, are you finding that the shorts are only occurring in Atlas Code 100 Mark IV turnouts? Or are Atlas Custom Line turnouts also vulnerable?
Rich
Alton Junction
So, suggest checking a turnout before installing, both for short (this case) as well as lack of continuity where it should exist. In my case, I could have installed a perfect turnout, instead of having a fault to find and cure.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
starman I’m not sure where the switch is shorted. I’ve looked at it and it looks like all the other switches. I’ve poked around with my VOM but everywhere I touch seems to be a short. It would be interesting to discover the problem. Perhaps I could fix the problem. Jack
If it's like what others have reported - the way Atlas turnouts are made, since they are non-power routing and have insulate frogs, at the frog there are actually 3 layers of metal with plastic in between. The top one is the frog itself, metal but not connected to anything. Then there is a thin strip of the one closure rail crossing under the frog, and finally a thin strip that is the other closure rail passing under the frog and the other strip. If the molding machine fails to inject enough plastic between the two strips, or if they are already touching when the plastic is injected, it's a short. And you'll never see it because there is yet another layer of plastic undeneath the bottom strip. If a close inspection, perhaps with a magnifier, doesn't reveal any other obvious places where one rail is touching the other, this is probably what happened.
peahrens rrinker Lesson learned - test as you go, that way if it was fine until you just installed the next 4 turnouts and now there is a short, the problem MUST be within those 4 turnouts. Randy, good advice. I would include doing at least some minimal loco / rolling stock running. That would add the ability to notice running issues such as kinks, derailments at turnouts (not flat, etc.) which one would rather correct as soon as practical to ease the corrective steps.
rrinker Lesson learned - test as you go, that way if it was fine until you just installed the next 4 turnouts and now there is a short, the problem MUST be within those 4 turnouts.
Randy, good advice. I would include doing at least some minimal loco / rolling stock running. That would add the ability to notice running issues such as kinks, derailments at turnouts (not flat, etc.) which one would rather correct as soon as practical to ease the corrective steps.
Yes - by "test as you go" I mean wire things as you go along, and actually run trains - to check both electrical AND mechanical operation. This is how I've always gone about building layouts, and I see no reason to change for my new one.
FYI The switch with the short was #20.
rrinkerLesson learned - test as you go, that way if it was fine until you just installed the next 4 turnouts and now there is a short, the problem MUST be within those 4 turnouts.
Great news, Jack!!!
Cid (Memphis, Tennessee)
Great. Where was the short within the switch?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I found the short!!
I isolated sections of the Lamberts Point Yard, one at a time. Of course, the last section I isolated had the short. I then started isolating subsections and finally found a switch that had a short. I purchased all switches new, and assumed they worked. Bad assumption on my part. All of this frustration was caused by one bad switch. I will be checking each section, very carefully, after replacing the switch and reconnecting the sections.
Thanks to all who offered their help. Without your advice, especially to look specifically at each switch, I am not sure how I would have solved the problem.
Jack
Do like what Randy says and you will find it the last place you test LOL
I have well over a hundred switches and so far all have worked fine And mine are a mix of different brands and age some of them probably 40 yrs or more But all it takes is one to mess you up
Divide and conquer. Make 2 halves, one half should be fine, the other half will show a short. Take the shorting half, divide that in two, and repeat until you narrow it down.
Considering the number of turnouts they sell and the number of times someone has had an issue, I'd say it's probably a fairly rare issue where one gets by QC now and then, not some sort of widespread issue. And only with newer manufactured turnouts. Maybe not coincidently since production moved to China.
Bunner about the Atlas switches perhaps having a problem. I have not heard this before. I’ll try isolating half of the yard and continue with that plan until I have a winner. I hope it is not more than one. I don’t have any feeder wires connected to my BLUE track so I know that is not the problem. I only have 33 switches in the Lamberts Point Yard, so it should be a piece of cake, right??
Jack, hope it's going OK... I think you are proceeding correctly, try to isolate just half of the suspected area, as you have been, and test again. A couple of iterations and you should be down to the problem. (In theory)
DO you have a bus and feeders for the blue loop? Even if it's not connected to the bus for the red loop? You may have one or more feeders ont eh blue side wrong, that would cause a short even if all the required tracks are isolated.
Otherwise - I hope you are not yet another victim of the Atlas Myster Short - there have been several people here and just the past week, a local friend had the same issue on his layout, a short for no obvious reason. Tracked down to the same issue that some people here have posted about, an internal short in an Atlas turnout. The only way you are going to find that is to isolate each turnout, and if your track is already fastened down,m this is not going to be an easy task.
Lesson learned - test as you go, that way if it was fine until you just installed the next 4 turnouts and now there is a short, the problem MUST be within those 4 turnouts.
Frustrating, I know. Try disconnecting the track and bus at W. Maybe it will narrow down the problem area to either north yard or south yard.
Is track NN continuous through the coal dumper? If so, the tail track forms a wye with turnout 43, so you need to insulate the point end of 43 to isolate the kickback.
Jack! You did remember to gap at 24-46, right? (and no feed to that section) Other than that, try isolating the turntable. And delete all cookies if you can't log in. :D
Since it's electricity, it could be magic, but my money is on the feeders.
starmanI have connected one set of feeder wires going from the buss wires to my RED track, which is NOT physically connected to my BLUE Track, and everything is fine (no shorts, as expected). However, even before I connect any feeder wires to my BLUE Track, I have continuity between rails A and B and every other rail in all of my yards.
The other possilbity it that there are feeders that really do go to the blue track