Problem with curved code 55 turnout

[mighalpern]

auto correct, didn't catch that

[peteski]

lol, we all want the best bugs for our wiring

Ed

That was a good chuckle (and as expected, passed the spell checker).    Fixed!

[Puddington]

My head hurts......

[robert3985]

Here ya go...an easy solution.

First, clean your closure points and adjacent stock rails at the closure point toes.

Then, test your turnout again.  If the engine stops at the same place, then it's your righthand diverging route closure rail that's dead...from the closure point heel hinge to the frog gap.

Easy solution is to solder a solid 22 ga. copper wire between the adjacent stock rail and the right-hand diverging route closure rail.

This simple solution should solve your problem without having to rip up your turnout and only having to solder TWO (2) joints.

Here's an illustration of the solution:


If you aren't comfortable with soldering, get one of your friends who knows how to solder to do it for you, but this is NOT a complicated problem, and ony involves soldering a little jumper between two rails...easy!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Puddington]

Thanks Bob - do I solder the wire and run it direct to the other rail or do I run the wire under the roadbed and back up?

Mike "soldering doofis" Puddington

[davefoxx]

Puddy,

Either way will work fine.  If you have more matching ballast, you can just dig out enough to run from one rail to the other and then conceal most of the wire under the replacement ballast.

DFF

[robert3985]

Puddy,

Either way will work fine.  If you have more matching ballast, you can just dig out enough to run from one rail to the other and then conceal most of the wire under the replacement ballast.

DFF

Yup...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[SD452XR]

I fixed all my Atlas code 55 switches by selling them. I make my own using fast track jigs. These are, by far, the best switches.
Steve

[ednadolski]

Either way will work fine.

Agreed, it's just a matter of neatness,  & preference.

If you are really unsure about soldering,  first try making a few practice joints on a couple of pieces of scrap track to build your confidence.

Ed

[nickelplate759]

Yep.  My tutorial photo doesn't show it, but after having to drill down next to the frog, or through it, to delicately solder a replacement feeder a time or two, I said "Heck with that" and started soldering my own direct feed wire to the frog from underneath.
It is also cast and plated, and not easy to solder to, just like the point rails.  So I drill into the bottom of it with a pin vise until
I hit some nicer metal inside.  Then I tin the little hole I just drilled, tin a piece of wire, and then heat and stuff it in.

In general, you can't trust any of the bronze strip connector thingies under those turnouts.

Max - I love your idea of drilling into the part before soldering. I never thought of that, but I'll certainly do it now!
George

[peteski]

It is also cast and plated, and not easy to solder to, just like the point rails.  So I drill into the bottom of it with a pin vise until
I hit some nicer metal inside.  Then I tin the little hole I just drilled, tin a piece of wire, and then heat and stuff it in.

In general, you can't trust any of the bronze strip connector thingies under those turnouts.

It makes sense to add a better feeder for the frog.

But I have doubts about your soldering method.  Like you mentioned the cast metal parts of Atlas turnouts are plated (I don't know what metal - might be Nickel), then under the top plating there is a layer of copper plating (which shows up once the top plating wears out). Then the actual part is cast from some unknown metal (looks like some sort of white metal or Zamak).  White metal is not easy to solder.  If you drill a hole deep enough to go to the metal the part is made of and then solder the wire to it are you sure that it is a good solder joint or maybe you just have a mechanical connection inside the drilled hole (the solder did not wet the part's metal).   Or maybe the proper solder joint is made to the thin layer of the copper plating?

I have a broken Atlas C55 turnout. I might investigate that metal myself to satisfy my curiosity.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

And... I just realized I forgot to solder these jumpers to all the switches I just installed. Dammit.

[Dave V]

And... I just realized I forgot to solder these jumpers to all the switches I just installed. Dammit.

FWIW, on my Midland layout everything #7 and longer gets a powered frog, but I'm not wasting time with #5s since the frogs are much shorter than the wheelbase of the steam locomotives I'm using.  The curved turnout though...that frog is loooonnnnnnggggg.

[Puddington]

So, I took a half hour and completely cleaned the turn out - nothin..... then by accident I leaned on the ground throw and the loco roared past me.... appears the ground throw bar had been knocked and the points were riding to high..... problem appears to have been solved...

Thanks for all the sage advise..... you guys are great!

[mmagliaro]

It makes sense to add a better feeder for the frog.

But I have doubts about your soldering method.  Like you mentioned the cast metal parts of Atlas turnouts are plated (I don't know what metal - might be Nickel), then under the top plating there is a layer of copper plating (which shows up once the top plating wears out). Then the actual part is cast from some unknown metal (looks like some sort of white metal or Zamak).  White metal is not easy to solder.  If you drill a hole deep enough to go to the metal the part is made of and then solder the wire to it are you sure that it is a good solder joint or maybe you just have a mechanical connection inside the drilled hole (the solder did not wet the part's metal).   Or maybe the proper solder joint is made to the thin layer of the copper plating?

I have a broken Atlas C55 turnout. I might investigate that metal myself to satisfy my curiosity.

I'm not sure what I end up soldering to.  I do know that once I solder the wire in there, I can wiggle it around a lot and it doesn't break loose or pull out, so I'm pretty sure it's a solder joint, not just a mechanical hold (i.e. not just "stuffed tight in the hole").