Atlas ? Looking for Code 55 #10's Still?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I didn't think they took advanced reservations or preorders.

They don't, I'm holding my order until they have the switches in stock.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Thanks for the update Paul!

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Hey Paul,

Any update on the #10's Still waiting Hope they are here soon so i can get some work done this winter!!!

Thanks

[robert3985]

It ain't rocket science...build your own turnouts and never (NEVER) not have the turnouts you need again...ever...

Since Atlas starting having China problems, I've made several dozen turnouts, continued laying my code 55 and code 40 track (Railcraft, ME & handlaid PCB) and just continued on like normal, workin' on my layout.

Frankly, the only reason I even know that Atlas has China problems is because I read it here. I don't have a need for commercial turnouts, so it's irrelevant to my experience of the hobby.

I'm not gloating, and reading the frustration in this thread and in others compels me to offer a viable solution...a "cure" if you will, which is "Roll your own".

Bob Gilmore

[Atlas Paul]

Hey Paul,

Any update on the #10's Still waiting Hope they are here soon so i can get some work done this winter!!!

Thanks

I checked with the factory - they had to remake a piece of tooling since we didn't approve the prior samples, and they are currently in production.  The should be in the container that ships to us in October.

[mcjaco]

It ain't rocket science...build your own turnouts and never (NEVER) not have the turnouts you need again...ever...

Since Atlas starting having China problems, I've made several dozen turnouts, continued laying my code 55 and code 40 track (Railcraft, ME & handlaid PCB) and just continued on like normal, workin' on my layout.

Frankly, the only reason I even know that Atlas has China problems is because I read it here. I don't have a need for commercial turnouts, so it's irrelevant to my experience of the hobby.

I'm not gloating, and reading the frustration in this thread and in others compels me to offer a viable solution...a "cure" if you will, which is "Roll your own".

Bob Gilmore

Everyone has different skill sets.  Hand laying isn't everyone's cup of tea.  It certainly isn't mine.  And I like doing track work. 

[robert3985]

Everyone has different skill sets.  Hand laying isn't everyone's cup of tea.  It certainly isn't mine.  And I like doing track work.

You're entirely correct...sort of...

I certainly am not proposing that hand laying turnouts is for everybody, but it certainly IS for more people than actively do it.

Since I don't have anything else to do right now, I'll take my time and explain...

I started hand laying code 55 turnouts when Railcraft C55 flex was available, but there were zero C55 turnouts being made..by anybody, anywhere.  I would have preferred to have purchased my C55 turnouts, but after I taught myself how to make them (because that was the only way I was going to get them)...after four throw-away attempts that didn't work properly and looked like trash...I started to see the advantages to being able to make turnouts that simply were not available in ANY rail code in N-scale...plus, my turnouts looked better, functioned better and were more reliable than any manufactured turnouts...and I could make 'em for around $1.75 ea., in an hour.

My only guide was Gordy Odegaards MR article about how he hand laid his C40 Pliobond N-scale turnouts on wooden ties...and a centerfold in an old N-scale magazine showing various prototype turnouts as my guide for their proportions and tie placement.  No Fast Tracks jigs, fixtures or specialized tools.

I did it because of product unavailability 30 years ago.  Relating that to this post and the past couple of years,  a two year absence of N-scale C55 track products is also "unavailability".  If you're content to wait for some unspecified period until the China factories get it right before you lay track and run trains again, that's fine.  BUT, if you want to start laying track and running trains in a couple of weeks, then learn how to roll your own turnouts...without the expensive Fast Tracks products to (1) find out if you've got the capability, (2) find out if you like doing it and (3) are willing to sacrifice about an hour per turnout to get trains going on your layout.  There are plenty of resources online to show you how to do it.

If Atlas starts stocking dealers soon, then BUY what you need, but, your newfound turnout building skills will really come in handy when you need a couple of #12 curved turnouts on that curved yard throat lead, or if you need a pair of #9 wyes for that center siding...or an offset three-way for the engine facilities...then you can make 'em...turnouts that are probably NEVER going to be commercially produced.

I think it gives the model railroader much more freedom to make his layout the way HE wants to do it, rather than be subservient to what any manufacturer decides is best for him, or continue to be subject to the economic/political uncertainties and contortions of China.

Just sayin'...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

You're entirely correct...sort of...

I certainly am not proposing that hand laying turnouts is for everybody, but it certainly IS for more people than actively do it.

Since I don't have anything else to do right now, I'll take my time and explain...

I started hand laying code 55 turnouts when Railcraft C55 flex was available, but there were zero C55 turnouts being made..by anybody, anywhere.  I would have preferred to have purchased my C55 turnouts, but after I taught myself how to make them (because that was the only way I was going to get them)...after four throw-away attempts that didn't work properly and looked like trash...I started to see the advantages to being able to make turnouts that simply were not available in ANY rail code in N-scale...plus, my turnouts looked better, functioned better and were more reliable than any manufactured turnouts...and I could make 'em for around $1.75 ea., in an hour.

My only guide was Gordy Odegaards MR article about how he hand laid his C40 Pliobond N-scale turnouts on wooden ties...and a centerfold in an old N-scale magazine showing various prototype turnouts as my guide for their proportions and tie placement.  No Fast Tracks jigs, fixtures or specialized tools.

I did it because of product unavailability 30 years ago.  Relating that to this post and the past couple of years,  a two year absence of N-scale C55 track products is also "unavailability".  If you're content to wait for some unspecified period until the China factories get it right before you lay track and run trains again, that's fine.  BUT, if you want to start laying track and running trains in a couple of weeks, then learn how to roll your own turnouts...without the expensive Fast Tracks products to (1) find out if you've got the capability, (2) find out if you like doing it and (3) are willing to sacrifice about an hour per turnout to get trains going on your layout.  There are plenty of resources online to show you how to do it.

If Atlas starts stocking dealers soon, then BUY what you need, but, your newfound turnout building skills will really come in handy when you need a couple of #12 curved turnouts on that curved yard throat lead, or if you need a pair of #9 wyes for that center siding...or an offset three-way for the engine facilities...then you can make 'em...turnouts that are probably NEVER going to be commercially produced.

I think it gives the model railroader much more freedom to make his layout the way HE wants to do it, rather than be subservient to what any manufacturer decides is best for him, or continue to be subject to the economic/political uncertainties and contortions of China.

Just sayin'...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

I see what you are saying Bob But that same turnout that you made would work out to $101.75 for me. An hour of my time is worth $100 as that is what i could be making teach a golf lesson. For the time being i am using #7 for my mainline crossovers and will just change them out when i get the #10's. I am still working out other parts of my layout so it isn't that big of a problem. Once i get the #10's the #7's will be repurposed to my staging yard so i still have no extra turnouts.

Thanks again for the update Paul. Keep up the good work.

Jeff

[ednadolski]

An hour of my time is worth $100 as that is what i could be making teach a golf lesson.

I'm not sure that I agree with equating hobby time with time spent earning money.  If they are generally equivalent, then every hour of modeling time costs you $100 in lost revenue --- regardless of whether you use that hour to scratchbuild a turnout, or install commercial track, or run trains, etc.  At that rate, who could afford a hobby?

OTOH if you spent all your hobby time teaching golf lessons you could pay someone else $50 an hour to model for you, and still come out ahead (even after taxes).

I guess it's a question of priorities: how many hours per week one wishes to spend earing revenue, vs. doing hobby stuff; and which tasks one wishes to spend hobby hours on.

Ed

[C855B]

I'm not sure that I agree with equating hobby time with time spent earning money. ...

I concur. They're not the same. FWIW I read an interview last week (...forget where...) with a very smart indie rocker who said so much, that by doing something artistic you enjoy, the enjoyment had to be the main compensation because the rest of the world doesn't value it as you do and you're not going to get paid (a lot) unless you sell out.

Being "in the autumn of my years", time is increasingly precious. Bob's concept of spending an hour or more per turnout doesn't wash when the track plan calls for four to five hundred turnouts. Also, in 99% of situations on the layout that might benefit from a custom configuration, slight rejiggerings of the track plan can make RTR work, which is a credit to especially Atlas with their fine selection of C55 components. 1:1 works that way because custom turnouts are very costly for them, so why shouldn't we? No, I'm not completely happy with Atlas' schedule slippages, either, but I appreciate knowing Paul & Co. is paying attention to quality.

The other issue with DIY on a large layout is consistency. Switch #273 is going to look and perform completely differently from Switch #17, as skills and techniques evolve. Enlist friends and relatives (or hire someone) to build turnouts, and there's yet more variabilty in appearance and quality.

So, no - hand-built is not everyone's cup of tea, nor is all the drum-beating in the world going to change that. But those who enjoy it, more power to you. The rest of us may have to dance around the supply chain issues a little, but in the long run we have an operable solution with reasonable modeling detail in the Atlas (and ME) off-the-shelf solutions.

[GaryHinshaw]

Agreed.  That said, be sure to check the point hinges on your Atlas turnouts before you install them.  I've had cases where the retaining grommet falls out and then there is nothing holding the point rail down.  If that happens after you install it, you're pretty much forced to remove the tunout to repair or replace.  It's easy enough to check: just try to gently pry the grommet off with tweezers - it will easily pop off if it's failure prone.  I hope the new turnouts don't have this potential flaw.

[Scottl]

So that is what happened to one of mine...  I guess I need to remove it 

[Chris333]

Agreed.  That said, be sure to check the point hinges on your Atlas turnouts before you install them.  I've had cases where the retaining grommet falls out and then there is nothing holding the point rail down.  If that happens after you install it, you're pretty much forced to remove the tunout to repair or replace.  It's easy enough to check: just try to gently pry the grommet off with tweezers - it will easily pop off if it's failure prone.  I hope the new turnouts don't have this potential flaw.

Back when I used those turnouts I put a smear of silicone on those ring clips so they couldn't fall out. Because... had it happen to me too.

[ednadolski]

Being "in the autumn of my years", time is increasingly precious. Bob's concept of spending an hour or more per turnout doesn't wash when the track plan calls for four to five hundred turnouts.

To be frank, 400-500 turnouts sounds awfully ambitious for an "autumn years" endeavor (and I ain't exactly no spring chicken myself).  Think of all the time needed to install, wire, validate, maintain, clean, and fix issues (understanding that commercial turnouts are hardly trouble-free).  That sounds like a recipe for frustration, especially if you are approaching it with a ticking-clock mindset.

Ed


EDIT: At say $15 apiece, those 500 turnouts come to $7500, rather more than the $875 total (at $1.75 apiece) for hand-built.

[Doug G.]

Back when I used those turnouts I put a smear of silicone on those ring clips so they couldn't fall out. Because... had it happen to me too.

I do the same thing automatically without even checking to see if they're loose. I use an adhesive made by 3M but the results are the same. They will never fall off.

Doug