Bachmann vs Atlas turnouts?

[wobblinwheel]

There's a little "Ma and Pa" hobby shop in town that sells Bachmann trains and accessories. A lot of his stuff, while new, seems like older stuff that he's "collected" over the years. I've got two Atlas turnouts (standard "snap switches") that have become troublesome on my layout. This guy in town has two Bachmann remote switches, but they are not the "EZ-Track" ones that have the plastic roadbed attached. They seem identical in dimension to the Atlas ones. Does anyone have an opinion, from experience, as to whether these will make a dependable replacement for my Atlas turnouts? They look decent enough, and maybe a little simpler in design. Any ideas?

[James in FL]

Hi wobblinwheel,

I can't offer comment as to Bachmann turnout's pre-EZ Track. I have never owned any, and anything I have read I consider hearsay and therefore discounted for the most part.
Can you describe "troublesome"? What exactly is the issue(s) with them?
Could it be maybe they need cleaning and tuning, or possibly repaired?

FWIW I'm using Peco

[Riptrack]

Hi Wobblewheel,
      The older style of Bachmann track is similar to Atlas's code 80 and are interchangable. As far as reliability goes their about the same. Are you experiencing dead spots with the non-movable rails near the frog? Simple fix is to cut the plastic out at the back of the turnouts and carefully soldier jumpers from the outside rails. This helps out greatly when the movable rails become intermittent. You may also want to try as a quick fix using alcohol and clean the sides of the rails that touch when you route your trains. Any build here will prevent the electricity from flowing through out the turnout.

[wobblinwheel]

Riptrack, You're exactly right. I've got three turnouts that started losing current thru the rails. Started as intermittent, but has become constant. Locos just STOP in the turnout. Tried cleaning the points, as you said, but didn't solve the problem. Started soldering jumpers on the outside to solve the problems, but it looks like crap. Didn't initially want to pull up the track to get under them. Now I wish I had! Also, the plastic frogs are getting worn, and getting rather "bumpy" with the steamers I'm running. Two of my steamers (4-8-4) are rather long wheel base, and I think have accelerated the wear on the turnouts. The Bachmanns do seem to be exact fit, as far as dimension, just don't care for the plug-in wiring.

[Riptrack]

You might want to try using a jeweler's file and file a little on the plastic frog to cure the bumps in the road. It's been a while since I saw those older style B mann turnouts. Did they have plug in jacks that plugged into the turnout selector?

[wobblinwheel]

I think so about the plugs, although I havent seen them outside of the package. At least two bundles of wires with plugs in the pack.