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Post by Joe Massung on Apr 22, 2018 22:29:23 GMT -5
I have began Z scale on March 2 2018. After many years of N scale. I purchased 6 microtrains #6 turnouts. They are defective in their design. The wire that controls the switch is to thin to hold the moving swith piece snugly against the inner rails. This makes these things unusable. I need to come up with a way to use a stiffer piece of wire that will HOLD this moving part tight against the inner rails. Has anyone encountered this issue?
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Post by Commodore on Apr 23, 2018 19:37:00 GMT -5
Hi Joe,Thanks for sharing and welcome to Z scale. Trainboard may be a better venue for your question. Folks around here seem to mostly collect and hoard AZL. Just kidding....
Joe with MTL is on Trainboard quite a bit. I personally am waiting on Atlas for #6 switches. So I am no help. Anyone else?
BTW: Best of Luck!
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Post by markm on Apr 23, 2018 21:24:13 GMT -5
Joe, Welcome to Z scale and welcome to the forum. As I understand your question, you're having problems with the switch points staying in position to the rails. MTL doesn't use a wire to hold the points in position, they use a magnet. If you check out the bottom of your turnouts, they should look something like the image below. The magnet slides back and forth (green arrow) inside a steel plate, pulling to the right or left. If that magnetic is missing, the turnouts do work, just as you describe. If the magnet is there, you can test it with a flat head steel screw. You should be able to lift the turnout through magnetic attraction. The disadvantage of this design is that the mechanics are exposed and you can pick up dirt and scenery materials in the area indicated. Also, the exposed magnet can drag on rough or uneven roadbed causing incomplete closure. BTW: All the current turnouts in Z are not really #6. They are based on 490mm radius curve and depending how you want to define a turnout number, about #4.5 to #5. You'll have to wait for the Atlas turnouts to get a true #6. Hope this helps, Mark  |
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