Howdy. I am new to n scale railroading and have been lurking on this forum. I tried using the search function but didn’t have any luck. (Search functions and I usually don’t get along well). I have a couple of questions; 1. I see that Atlas sells switch motors separately. Can a Atlas manual turnout (#4) be converted to remote simply by installing a switch motor? 2. On another post the advice is to install a piece of straight track before a turnout. I have a Atlas 19" radius curve leading to a staging yard. What is the shortest piece of straight track I can use on the turnout that connects to the curve? Thank you for helping a newbie.
The reason for this is having your trains twisting back and forth through adjacent curved tracks is a way to have derailment problems. I don't know how much space you have available, but I'd sure try to have three or four inches at a minimum.
The answer to converting a manual to a powered is yes, and they can be also used to replace a turnout motor if one gets accidentally fried. And the same answer as Boxcab unless you are doing something like a waterfront scene as far as having some straight before a turnout. The Atlas track assortment has a some sections long enough to probably give you what you need without having to resort to cutting. But Atlas and some others have curved turnouts that could possibly be installed that don't need the straight track. Designed to give you a turnout on a curve.
