I bought seven of these from several sources to relieve some of the pressure on trying to source Atlas C55 turnouts and I planned on using them in low traffic areas where I can easily reach them to flick the points over with my fingers. Of the seven, I have had problems with three of them. On one, the wire crossing from the stock to the closure rail came unsoldered, killing a section of the turnout, so I had to pull it up, solder the little bitty wire back into place, and re-lay it. On the other two, the little V shaped spring came unstuck so that the points only stay against one side. I pulled the bottom plate off the turnouts to try and fix them, no way that was happening, and the without the spring, the points, which are basically just stuck in the end of a rail joiner on the closure rails, want to fall off, so I can't even use them with a ground throw. I have five of ME turnouts in place and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they are going to hold together, but I won't be buying any more of them. As a point of fact, so far I've laid 27 Atlas turnouts without any being defective in any way that I can tell. Anyone else had issues with these?
I just took delivery of two, brand new ME turnouts. I installed one last night and the turnout, after one cycle by my finger, will not stay thrown in one direction. Irksome.
I have Qty. 24 of these installed and operational in my switching yard. They are certainly challenging. However, I went in with the approach that ME had the most prototypical appearance out there and I wanted that. Also, I would work with them to make that they worked on my high-speed layout, I like running at 100 scale mph. The springs are not very reliable. However, I have them all installed with Tortoise switch machines, as I want the frogs powered. I have some installed with the spring but my preferred method is to remove the spring. I also have some of the older version with the metal throwbar. Overall, I prefer the newer DCC version with the plastic throwbar, the spring removed and powered by a Tortoise. Also, because rail nails are delicate, I use the Atlas, code 55, metal rail joiners because the loose fit minimizes stress on the the turnout. However, I use the ME metal joiners for the short frog rails to eliminate two other solder points. For solid and adjustable mounting, I mount the switches on 3/4 inch ply wood with 1/4 inch basswood as the sub roadbed, so that i can fix
Here are some edits to last post: I have Qty. 24 of these installed and operational in my switching yard. They are certainly challenging. However, I went in with the approach that ME had the most prototypical appearance of any N-Scale manufactured switch out there and that is what I wanted. Also, I would work with them to make sure that they worked on my high-speed layout, I like running at 100+ scale mph. The springs are not very reliable. However, I have all the ME switches, installed with Tortoise switch machines, as I want the frogs powered. I have some installed with the spring but my preferred method is to remove the spring and push the tie behind the throwbar, snug with the throwbar, so that the switch rails do not fall out. I also have some of the older version with the metal throwbar. Overall, I prefer the newer DCC version with the plastic throwbar, the spring removed and powered by a Tortoise. Also, because the prototypical plastic rail spikes are delicate, I use the Atlas, code 55, metal rail joiners because the loose fit minimizes stress on the the turnout. However, I use the ME metal joiners for the short frog rails to eliminate two other solder points. I may solder these later. For solid and adjustable mounting, I mount the switches on 3/4 inch ply wood with 1/4 inch basswood as the sub roadbed, so that i can fix and adjust the switches with the small ME spikes. Lastly, I built the switching layout with the plywood removed from the layout, so that I could do the complex soldering, wiring and switch machine alignment, outside with good lighting and accessibility from both the top and underside of the plywood. I have had them working for about three months but still need to do painting and ballasting. One final point, I wanted the ME switches because the rail spikes allow me to use my reliable MT pizza-cutter wheels. However, the the NMRA flangeways mean that I need to adjust the Back-Back spacing to NMRA for my Kato and Atlas locomotives. The rest of my layout has used Peco Code 55 for 20-years, this is much easier to use but does not have the superior appearance of the ME code 55.
+1 on most of this for me.I toss the springs,use ground throws or Humpyard levers.Instead of the Atlas C55 joiners,I use Atlas C80,but I'm using ME C70 track,the 55's don't fit.They do require a bit of work,but I won't use anything else from now on.Once ironed out,I think they'll long outlive Atlas turnouts,there's not much to go wrong once they're tuned up,and being able to easily remove the moveable rails on an installed switch is a REALLY big plus to me....Mine didn't come with wires on the frogs??
I solder a wire to the underside of the frog and the two outside stock rails. The closure rails have prewired jumpers to the stock rails. I use the Tortoise internal switches, to switch the power to the frog. I am using DC. But, if you use DCC there is a device (Juicer) that will switch multiple frogs electronically without needing a switch machine. The Juicer can also be used for the ATLAS Code 55 Turnout frogs.
I think the overall message is: ME turnouts are not for beginners. I'm no fan of the Atlas C55s, tho.
My point above was that I had a similar experience with the OP. I have used ME turnouts for 20+ years. There seemed to be a difference in the new ones I just bought. I've never had any drift before and a 50 percent "failure" rate on a my small sample of 2 was ... well, irksome. Fiddling and correcting I am used to. It's N scale. But this is the first time for ME turnouts. ME flex on the other hand. Ha! There's some fiddling!
