Atlas Code 55 deliveries

[wazzou]

I'll be interested to see the MSRP once these arrive to compare to the last time I made a large purchase.

[Chris333]

I'm more interested in if these are newly tooled turnout, or at least improved over the old ones. 

[kalbert]

I'm more interested in if these are newly tooled turnout, or at least improved over the old ones. 

They will be the same units everybody loves to hate for some reason or other

[wcfn100]

They will be the same units everybody loves to hate for some reason or other

The issues some have with Atlas turnouts are well-founded and documented.  Atlas has said they are going to look at what can can be done once the line is up again.

Jason

[robert3985]

+1   

The plusses and minuses of Peco Code 55 have been discussed a million times.  It's bullet proof,  looks great when properly
used and it's easy to find.

I beg to differ with you...it always looks unprototypical.  I suppose if you totally buried the ties in a yard or industrial scenario it'd look okay, but if anything but the rails show...

...I've been sitting here for five minutes attempting to think of a word or two that isn't inflammatory or redundant about how Peco track looks...everything I am able to think of will probably offend somebody...so the least inflammatory word that comes to mind which I haven't used already is the word "bad".

Yeah...it looks "bad".

And, I'm not going to encourage anybody who would rather use Atlas 55 to use it, because you'll always regret using it instead of waiting. 

[robert3985]

Thanks for the link.

August I can cope with for the flex. November may be a challenge. (as he reaches for the Fast Tracks web site).

You really don't need expensive Fast Track jigs and fixtures...at all.  However, the free printable templates at Fast Tracks are invaluable, as are the free printable templates at Proto87 Stores.

[bdennis]

Bob,
Thanks for that. I have a friend that I think already has the jigs, so that makes the whole thing more economical..

Time to look into that I think.

Rgds
Brendan

[JSL]

What Bob said!

[sirenwerks]

As much as I feel compelled to grumble about the ever-changing target dates, this will work to my favor.  I won't be set up to start anything in the new place until about the time these switches will hit the street (praying they aren't moved into 2014).  The question is what to do - door or LDE module???

[basementcalling]

The delivery schedule shows priorities, so I guess the snap track N scale market is still a bigger share of Atlas' market than the more advanced N scaler.

That puts me in position to wonder if it wouldn't be financially and chronologically expedient to invest in a Fast Tracks set up. However, with a track plan that uses several different sizes of turnout, I certainly am NOT spending Fast Tracks $$$ amounts for jigs for #5, #7, #10 and #3.5 wye turnouts. Lucky for me, I did find a dealer with curved turnouts in stock and took advantage of that.

Now that the bug has hit again, if I wait till November to get the turnouts I need who knows where my motivation might go by then. Frustrating, but nothing to be done, and I am sure Atlas and other companies would much rather not have been through the China Syndrome situation.

I agree with Robert about Peco track. It's often a dead give away that the modeling is N scale. The track may be bullet proof when properly installed, but it doesn't look anything like what I see in real life in the USA.

[mark dance]

I beg to differ with you...it always looks unprototypical.  I suppose if you totally buried the ties in a yard or industrial scenario it'd look okay, but if anything but the rails show...

...I've been sitting here for five minutes attempting to think of a word or two that isn't inflammatory or redundant about how Peco track looks...everything I am able to think of will probably offend somebody...so the least inflammatory word that comes to mind which I haven't used already is the word "bad".

Yeah...it looks "bad".

And, I'm not going to encourage anybody who would rather use Atlas 55 to use it, because you'll
always regret using it instead of waiting. !!

I am happy I didn't wait.  That hopefully holds true for the many operators I have hosted in the last 5 years as well.

I had to make a decision 7 years ago when I placed a bulk order and I have been extremely happy with that decision ever since. 

md

[Rossford Yard]

I always used Peco and agree they are bulletproof but always looked off.  And, after you go to Atlas C55, they look like HO track to my eyes.  My visible level is C55 and bottom is C80 with Peco turnouts.  They really look horrible when you can see them side by side.

As to well documented problems with the Atlas TO's, I only recall the first batch of No. 5's had a flaw, which has since been corrected, nothing else.  Yeah, they are by necessity more delicate but they are hardly brittle.

[GaryHinshaw]

I am happy I didn't wait.  That hopefully holds true for the many operators I have hosted in the last 5 years as well.

md

Yes!

When I read Robert's post, I had thought to myself: Mark has no regrets whatsoever.  Speaking as someone who hand-lays myself, I appreciate where Robert is coming from, of course; it's just a question of priorities.  On Mark's pike, when you're standing in front of Nelson yard making up a train on the clock, you're just glad the turnouts work - and work well.  (You're also glad to have the car tabs that tell you - at a glance - which cars you need to make up your train.)  The C&W is one big magnificent machine, and the Peco turnouts are just a small - but important - component.  Their looks aren't stellar for sure, but the aesthetics of the the layout are dominated by its dramatic scenery and fine trains, which completely draws your attention -- when you do have time to stop and look. 

-gfh

[robert3985]

For my own personal tastes, even ME track isn't good enough, much less Atlas 55.  Of course if I were running the modern age and concrete ties, ME would be IT, but I'm stuck in the early 50's.  Although when I write about what I use, I use the term "ME flex", but the reality of it is that I use Railcraft Flex on stuff that I'll be photographing the hell out of, and ME 55 and 40 on my transition modules that go to the show and mate up with my train buddy Gregg's modules.

Railcraft Flex was having problems when I purchased my last bundle several decades ago with excessive flash, and a few deformed ties, but it could be cleaned up easily...then, one day sometime after they turned into Micro Engineering, the spikeheads got about twice as big, a lot more regular and the ties got lighter, on all their N-scale track (70, 55 and 40).

I bought one bundle of it without looking at it closely, then used it on a module I was building and noticed that it didn't match the rail I was running it up against in the adjacent module.  Good thing I hadn't done any soldering or gluing down, 'cause it got ripped up and was then relegated to areas it couldn't be seen, like on the insides of tunnels and staging yards.

All the guys in the Utah-N-Railers used ME and Railcraft track since it was our standard.  We had a choice between hand-laying our turnouts or using ME's #6's, and the split was about 50/50.  Frankly, the ones who used just the #6's didn't complain much about 'em, and they do look nice, especially after they're painted, ballasted and weathered.  The cast NS frog is a nice touch (although too big IMO), and the over-center spring on the point is handy too as that makes the switch fully functional the moment it's laid and soldered in.

Some of the members needed specialty turnouts, and so us hand-layers made those turnouts for them or made hybrids out of ME #6's, such as #6 Wye's.

I am fully aware that there are plenty of N-gaugers who buy and use code 80 and Peco 55 and are happy with it.  However, it's their "choice" and preference, which is much different than those who really want and need Atlas 55, but who decide to "settle" for Peco 55 because Atlas 55 isn't available.  Even then, I'm sure there will be some who don't regret their choice, but those modelers I know, and whose layouts I work on are constantly expressing their regret in choosing code 80 or Peco 55 over ME...and (surprise) without any coaching from me!!

On the subject of Fast Track jigs and fixtures.  If you feel like you gotta do it and you've got friends who will chip in so you can amortize the expense between a number of builders, THAT'S the way to do it!  Just two builders cuts your expense in half, so it doesn't take long for the jigs and fixtures for four or five different numbers of turnouts to not be a major expense especially if you can find another couple of interested model railroaders.  That's very creative thinking and frankly, the only thing I don't like about Fast Track jigs and fixtures is that they're so damned expensive!  However, I also realize they have to be individually machined, and even with CNC machines, that's an expensive proposition.

One thing I'll emphasize is that there is no mystique about laying your own turnouts.  It's just a matter of following a few mechanical rules to get them to be reliable and smooth...and remember...it takes building two to four turnouts before you'll be satisfied, so be patient and don't hesitate to ask questions.

Yeah, I know some of you just don't have any interest whatsoever in building your own turnouts and I'm not talking to you.  I'm talking to the modeler who's intimidated by the prospect of building turnouts because he/she doesn't understand how they work, or how to solder, or where to go to buy materials.  On a model building difficulty scale of 1 to 10, they're about a 3...and less once you get going.
 
Two things.  (1) Micro Engineering should take some of their profits made from the lack-o-Atlas-let's-buy-ME and funnel it into another turnout...a real #8 or #10, with the associated Wye.  I hope they do that, then maybe they'd generate more brand loyalty when Atlas comes back online. (2) Peco should also invest in an N-scale version of their HO Code 83 USA prototype track.  The rumor has been floating around since at least 2005 that they're working on it.  It'd be a big seller.

'Nuff said...

[mmagliaro]

I will need some flex in a month or two, but I'm not about to bash Atlas, or anybody else, for the shortage.
They had a very expected supply issue in China, and I am sure they are recovering as fast as they can.  I am
sure they want to sell the track as badly as everybody wants to buy it.

As for the code 55 turnout issues, they are not ancient history, they are not uncommon, and I can document them.
See below.  This problem exists with very nearly every single #7 turnout I have ever bought, and I have bought groups
of them over the past 4 years, from completely different shops in different states all over the country.  Unless by
incredibly bad luck, they all got all their turnouts at the same time from one bad batch and sent them to me
over a 4 year period, this is not a "rare" problem.   Long steam (like a 4-8-4) cannot make it through these point
rails without riding up and out unless your wheels are deliberately set too narrow on the NMRA gauge, and if you do that,
they will start jumping the frog or picking the open point rail.  I have to carefully file and hand-dress almost every one to
correct this.  Every once in a while, one has come right out of the package with all the rail clearances in gauge, but it is
very rare.