EZ track turnout problems, fixes

[Hellhound]

I have six standard turnouts that have never worked correctly. They are rough and cause derailments anytime a train heads into the points. Went to the hardware store and got a fine flat file with one edge smooth. I put the smooth edge of the file down on the cross ties and filed away on the points. It took a lot if filing but I got four of them to work smoothly. The two that still don't work have weak springs that won't hold the point against the rail which allows a wheel to slip between the point and the rail. Bending the spring to get one point to set against that rail just caused a problem on the oposite side. Bachmann needs to use stiffer springs to keep the points set against the rail. Is there any good way to stiffen the spring without destroying the plastic part that holds it? The spring looks like a very thin steel wire. I had thought about soldering a wire to the spring for about half it's length to reduce it's flexibility. Doesn't look like an easy soldering job but I may experiment since these two turnouts are of no use as they are now.

[daxdog]

I feel your pain.  I have a right turnout which causes all sorts of derailments.  I have filed the one point until it is razor sharp.  Still, some cars do not like it. 

I had several other turnouts which caused derailments, but with just a little filing they are working fine.  If you find a solution to the spring issue, post it so we can get our turnouts working better.

[daxdog]

Okay Hound,

I had an idea and the testing worked.  I just hope a better modeller jumps in and tells me how to do this right.

I cut off a piece of a plastic toothpick and filed it down smooth.  I then glued the end of the toothpick next to where the spring is attached to the geared mechanism.  This in effect increased the length of the arc and stiffened up the spring.  I ran several tests and never had a derailment.  When I took the switch back apart to take a pic, I touched the toothpick and it fell out.  I will just have to figure a better way of doing this, but the principle worked.

I may try adding a similar length toothpick to the other side and glue them together with the spring in the middle, but I can't work on it right now.

[daxdog]

I could not get the toothpick to stay in place.  Here is what I ended up doing.  I adjusted where the gear was in relation to the teeth on the thingamajig that goes back and forth.  Everything is all good now.  No cars derail at that turnout at any speed.  I have a couple of other turnouts to adjust before I permanently affix the track to the table.  Good to learn this little trick for the more difficult turnouts.

[Hellhound]

I finally fixed both turnouts. ...I wrapped 22 gauge stranded hookup wire around one of the springs and held the spring with needle nose pliers next to the plastic to act as a heat sink. I soldered it with silver solder. That stiffened up the spring. I could feel the difference when pulling the point against the spring with my finger. ...But there was still a problem, the point didn't seat properly every time. I got out a magnifying glass and did more failure analysis. I saw the point hit the base of the rail and bind. The point was too low. I could push it over the base of the rail with a small screwdriver and it snapped into place. The points are attached to a bar that slides in a slot in the roadbed. Both turnouts had the same problem. The mechanism that moves the points had a lot of play in it, they are very sloppy which allows the points to be out of position and not seat properly against the rail. I took them apart and bent the spring so that it would push the points up away from the roadbed and clear the bottom of the rail. that fixed one of them. The other one still hit the bottom of the rail. The spring couldn't push it up far enough to clear it every time. I put a shim under the bar that is attached to the points to raise them high enough to clear the base of the rail. I took the track off the roadbed and cut an end off of a Kadee coupler box cover and glued it into the slot on the side where the point was too low. After the plastic cement dried I then test fit the track and adjusted the thicknes of the plastic shim with a file until the points were at the right height to clear the bottom of the rail and moved freely. I tested it by pushing a freight car truck through the points with my finger. I then put both turnouts on a test track and shoved railcars backwards into the points as fast as the FT-A locomotive could push them. No derailments going into the siding or on the main line. I also ran the train through the turnout running in the wrong direction (forward) with the points set for the siding. I wanted to test the turnout with the stronger spring to see if it would allow the train to pass through the switch with the points set in the wrong direction without a derailment.. The train rolled through the turnout without a problem. I then reversed direction and backed into the siding. ...So all six of the turnouts are now working the way they should.

[Doneldon]

HH-

You can also file just the tiniest bit off of where the points touch the railheads. This will allow a knife thin edge to nestle flush with the railhead and eliminate any point picking in the future. The trick is to have exceedingly thin points to begin with and then remove a mere whisker of the stock rail. If you can see what you removed from more than a foot or so you took too much.

                                                                                    -- D

[Hellhound]

HH-

You can also file just the tiniest bit off of where the points touch the railheads. This will allow a knife thin edge to nestle flush with the railhead and eliminate any point picking in the future. The trick is to have exceedingly thin points to begin with and then remove a mere whisker of the stock rail. If you can see what you removed from more than a foot or so you took too much.

                                                                                    -- D

Atlas builds their turnouts like that and they work flawlessly right out of the box. I have an Atlas turnout like that without the roadbed form the old days when I used sectional track. I got an oval of EZ track with an ON30 train set a couple years ago and liked the convenience of it so I kept adding more track. Everything was good until I added the turnouts. BTW the Atlas turnout will not fit the Bachmann roadbed.

[jward]

hellhound, i like your analytical approach to the problem. anybody who has problems with these should refer to your post for guidance.....

that said, i have years of experience building and modifying my own switches. what i have found is that the trick is to hide the point. in the case of the ones i build myself, i do what atlas does, file a recess in the rail for them to fit into. sometimes it helps to carefully put a kink in the rail just before the point, to force the wheels over away fro the point. in the case of bachmann's i would have tried to find a way to file away the base of the rail, where the points were hanging up. that would have entailed removing the switch from the roadbed and some very careful work with a jewelers file or dremel tool. you have obviously found a better way.......

i would like to add recessed points to the list of things i wish bachmann would adopt, others on the list would be dcoders that support v-mid and v-max settings, and ez track straights and curves that match the length and curvature of the #5 and #6 switches......

[Jhanecker2]

To  Hellhound :  Do you have Code 100 or Code 83 Atlas turnouts ?  You will have to use the correct rail joiners . Somebody does make joiners to connect different Code track.   J2

[jward]

i think he means the tie spacing is off or the geometry is slightly different. the mismatch in rail height between different codes of rail is a minor problem that can be easily worked around.

[jonjdurkin]

I have the same problem with both standard turnouts and 5's. Many of my steam locos pilot trucks derail on both types of turnout. I have filed bown the points but I still have the problem. Switchers (0-8-0, 0-60) have no prblems because no pilot trucks are involved. Needless to say diesels have no problem either, just multi-wheeld steamers. Is this a conspiracy on Bachmann's part to force us to buy switchers and diesels or am I just being paranoid.? The darn turnouts are not precise enough.

[srevac]

I'm just getting into HO and I read this thread about trouble with E-Z switches.  I have been considering buying some used E-Z  nickel, gray track and switches.  Should I stay away from this brand?  What's the best way to go.  Thanks.  Rich

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I'm just getting into HO and I read this thread about trouble with E-Z switches.  I have been considering buying some used E-Z  nickel, gray track and switches.  Should I stay away from this brand?  What's the best way to go.  Thanks.  Rich

I've been perfectly happy with nickel-silver EZ-Track for running trains on temporary layouts--with no turnouts. Personally I would stay away from used track altogether, especially used switches.

Atlas builds their turnouts like that and they work flawlessly right out of the box.

Despite what I just said about being happy with EZ-Track, this is precisely why I'm currently experimenting with Atlas's Tru-Track (code 83 rail, roadbed). I never had a problem with good old Atlas snap-switches.

I had some derailing problems with EZ-Track turnouts, but the main thing that concerned me was that if the EZ-Track switch motor burns out, or something else goes wrong with it, it appears to me that you're on the hook for entirely new turnout; you can't just replace the switch motor like you can with good old Atlas. Plus, with one turnout, right out of the package I had to do some wire splicing--I forget exactly why but I seem to remember it had something to do with those little plug thingies.

Anyway, the jury is kind of still out on the Tru-Track vs. EZ-Track. I'm liking the lower profile and brown ties of the Tru-Track, and perhaps most importantly I'm finding it to make just as sturdy a base for a temporary layout as EZ-Track. I haven't yet tried adding any Tru-Track turnouts. On the other hand, I have space constraints where the largest radius curve I can use is 18 inches. If I want to lay a second loop of track, it has to be an inner loop with a smaller radius. As far as I can determine, Atlas doesn't make Tru-Track in 15-inch radius curves, but Bachmann does, and I've never had a problem running small steam engines on 15-inch-radius EZ-Track.