Used instead of a plastic frog, a powered frog conducts electricity and prevents stalling of a locomotive as it passes over the frog. Powered frogs are especially welcome to light locomotives and small wheelbase locomotives with fewer wheels to pick up power.
Me too... For such a long time... Thank you so much, Atlas, this kind of turnout (ie, power routing, no plastic roadbed and above all no f¥£&in' side mechanism) was really missing for Z scale. Dom
I'm in the middle of building my first layout ever. I bought MTL turnouts. I've since learned I may have wasted my money on these. Can someone tell me if these will suffice for a beginner, or should I wait until Atlas releases these next year and hook them up with MP1 motors. Just wanting to get my trains running as soon as I can!
Josh, I've been using the MTL turnouts for years without problems. However the tolerances are tight and some turnouts can have problems. There are various threads here that describe the adjustments that can be needed. I'd suggest that you assembled them in a test track and run a locomotive and a couple of cars through them a few times in both positions. I suggest testing all turnouts before installing them regardless of the manufacturer. Mark
When a loco runs through the turnout (switch), it needs continuous power. Because there are 2 routes, the Frog provides the crossing function. But, if you study the polarity of the rails, when the cross at the Frog, they would short. (see the below the red box on the right: 'Newbie notes: Types of Frogs'). So, you either go plastic (which creates one truck that doesn't have power) or, there is 'continuous' rail. Since the rails can't cross, because there would be derail and short, the solution comes in two choices: some selective rail bending and gaps or completely solid (like the Atlas or a Fastracks hand made). The selective rails is difficult and only mastered by märklin! The solid 'Electrofrog' is easy to switch polarity, like MTL and Rokuhan. The Atlas is essentially the same, except you control the frog power through and external control, like the Atlas 200 'Snap' switch machine, Cobalt or Tortoise (overkill). These solutions require wiring and soldering skills.
Thanks, Mark. I haven't checked all of the turnouts yet (work has been crazy), but I noticed over Thanksgiving one of them was Hi Mark, What do you mean by "tolerance?" Also, I can't seem to find any of those threads. I keep searching for how to adjust MTL turnouts and nothing relevant is coming up. Then again, I am blind when it comes to this sort of thing. My main problem is the actual moving part of one of my turnouts isn't flush with the rest of the rails. Do I have to open up the casing underneath and adjust it from there? Thanks, Josh
Josh, Regarding tolerance, you could say "wiggle-room" or the amount of variation allowable in the production of the turnout and still have it work right. A useful place for you to start might be: http://www.trainboard.com/highball/...itch-causing-stalls-w-azl-locomotives.102303/ Mark
