Some of the initial reports I have seen so far indicate a problem with the new Code 55 track from Atlas. Wheel flanges on some MT cars hit the tops of the rail spikes. Apparently low profile wheels do fine but regular MT wheelset flanges do not. No problems reported for Atlas cars. Also reports of the pilot and rear truck on the Kato Mikado doing same thing.
Good thing I have completed trackwork (and used Peco code 55) It is about time Microtrains reduced the flange sizes a bit, anyway, or made the low-profile ones standard, with the large flanges optional.
um Inkaneer is this from people you know testing the track , or is there a place where atlas is posting this info, I'm in the planning stages of my first layout , and from what I heard so far ,Im starting this at a good time . I would like to keep an eye on this my initail planning was to use the new code 55 track ? [ 27 January 2002, 15:02: Message edited by: Wolv_Cub ]
I'm in the same boat as you as I delayed installing track waiting to use the Atlas code 55. The information I received is not official. I posted a question on the Atlas forum hoping to get Paul Graf to look into it. I'm hoping it is all okay but the reports I saw were all from the internet. None of the stores in my area have received code 55 track yet. So my post was merely precautionary. I expect we will hear from Paul Graf at Atlas on this.
Inkaneer if you find out more, or find some intersting things about it let me know. the code 55 is not available around me as of yet , but i havent checked and pittsburgh shops yet . hope to stop and see my next daylight trip to the burgh. my email is wolv_cub@yahoo.com or my MSN messanger is wolv_cub@hotmail.com i normally leave it on all the time so if dont respond just leave a message as soon as i get back to the keyboard ill answer it
What Inkaneer is mentioning I can corroborate, from the Yahoo! Groups N Scale forum. There are reports there from modelers who have the same problems Inkaneer is seeing- that is, the deep flanges on the MT wheelsets hitting the spikes on the code 55 track. My local hobby shop sells Intermountain wheelsets, so I'm wondering if that would be a solution.....that and MT ditching the deep flanges.
I do believe MT now sells a bulk pack of rust colored low profile wheelsets. I'm waiting til it shows up in the hobby shop, so I can convert my entire fleet of MT cars.
Apparently the MT wheelsets are not the only ones having a problem. One post on the Yahoo groups board said that the front and rear trucks of a Kato Mikado did the same. Apparently they are saying the railspike heads are too high. I had hoped to incorporate the new code 55 into a series of Ntrak modules but for now I am holding off. If there is a problem I hope Atlas fixes it like they did with the original GP7/9 release with the wrong trucks.
If these problems are a fact, it is amazing that the track progressed to the production phase. Everyone must have a large proportion of vehicles fitted with Microtrains standard wheelsets. How could Atlas overlook this? At least Peco thought about out-of-scale flanges when designing their code 55 track. This could have a serious effect on the sales of this track, unless people are prepared to spend the money on replacing all MT standard wheelsets with low-profile ones (which should be standard, anyway).
Alan Alan you are so right. I'm hoping all this is not true but I admit I do not have a good feeling about it. To make things worse none of the stores in my area have it and I can't buy a piece to do my own test. Somehow I can not imagine this product going this far without someone testing MT wheelsets on it. After all they are the defacto standard in the hobby. A lot of people have been waiting on this track. If indeed there is a problem and it is isolated to only the flex track it might be more easily resolved. But if it involves the #5 switches and others parts in the product line then the problem escalates. I expect Paul Graf to review it on Monday and possibly post an answer on Tuesday if his schedule permits.
I suppose my Arnold S2 has about a snowballs chance on a hot engine block of running on that track then.
No problem whatever with Peco track, due to the clever design. The rail has an extension which is firmly embedded in the base molding, so does not rely on the rail fixings for strength, so can leave a large clearance for flanges. Peco code 55 track is actually stronger than their code 80!
Peco 55 works fine with loco designs going back into the 70's, including early Bachmann's, Con-Cor's, and an Austrian-built Atlas 0-8-0. Nor have I had any problems with 30-40 year old cars I received in a "junk box" from an estate sale. Has there been any speculation (or rumors) about any manufacturer reducing flange depth and tire width? With the delivery of much more precise pre-built integrated trackage and roadbed, e.g. Kato, Bachmann, Atlas(?), one would think that the manufacturers could reduce wheel dimensions and still have reliable operation .... ? Just hoping
Paul Graf posted on Yahoo groups this morning that he just got back from China and the No. 7 turnouts are due out this quarter. I take it he has not seen the reports on the problem yet and therefore will have to investigate it before he comments. If his job is like mine he probably has a pile of work already waitng so I am not expecting an answer very quickly. I did send him a direct E mail to alert him to the problem so he can investigate. Others probably did the same.
I just received a response from Paul Graf to my earlier E mail. It is as follows: "I was out of the office last week so I am trying to catch up. I have seen the posts about the track and MT wheels. The track is designed to NMRA standards - minimum flange clearance is 0.022", ours has a minimum of 0.030", well above standards. Conversely, the maximum flange depth is also stated as 0.022", but I measure an MT wheel at 0.033". Even the flanges on our wheel sets exceed the NMRA standard by a few thousandths (ours are about 0.025-0.026"). Paul Graf, Vice President Product Development Atlas Model Railroad Company 378 Florence Avenue" I checked my Micro Trains book on their wheel dimensions. Both the low profile wheel and the regular wheel have a tread diameter of .205 inches.( .205 X 160 = 32.8 or about a 33 inch diameter wheel.) the diameters including the flanges are LP .241 vs reg of .272 thus the flange on the regular MT wheel extends .0335 beyond the tread. (.272- .205= .o675 divided by 2 = .0335 need to divide by 2 becuse by using the diameter the flange is measuresd on both sides of the tread. Thus the MT regular wheel flange exceeds the distance from railspike to the top of the rail by .035 inches and results in the bumpy ride. Using the low profile MT wheelsets the flange depth is only .018 inches and does not therefore foul the railspikes. Now we can all convert over to MT low profile wheelsets. That is not a problem but This goes beyond the MT wheels as the same problem exists with the Kato Mikado front and rear trucks. Now MT does not make replacement wheels for these and I am not going to convert my Mikado to a 0-8-0 just to run on Atlas code 55. So unles Atlas chooses to change their product I will do with code 80 or Peco 55 or ME code 55. I suspect others will do the same. This could doom the Atlas code 55, especially future track component releases if it does not sell well.
I hope either Kato finds a way to fix their wheelsets or Atlas is able to cheaply adjust its production. Inexpensive, readily availble Code 55 track componets would be a boon to N scale!! Think of the additional numbers of HO scalers for whom the availability of good looking, scale, inexpensive track will be the last straw and finally push them over the fence into the green pastures of N scale modelling. I'm grateful the no 7's are due next quarter as I might be able to use about six of them. Daryl www.tbcnet.com/~dpkruse
I have been waiting for Atlas 55 track patiently, but this new problem with MT wheel flanges hitting the A55 spikes is too much for me. It means another thing - replacing wheels ($) - would hold up production of the layout, with trains running. I do hope Atlas fixes the problem as it is nice to have an alternative to drive the market price down of track, but for me - Peco 55 rules.
