Hello All,

I am woprking on a 48" x 48" folded dog-bone style layout with my Atlas track. The track is very smooth except for the road/road crossings. Does anyone have any experience with this track who can give some advice as to how I can smooth out these sections?

Thanks!!
Fred

OK, I took a picture... This is just a test setup. It is a sweet little two laner, with a lot of action in a very small place.

Fred

No clue on the Atlas piece, but I like the track. nd :thumbsup:

If you are planning on running the track in one direction only this would probably work. On the entrance side of the 4 way, narrow the slot equally on both sides. This would center the car's pin in the slot so when it passes the opening, the pin of the car would be in the middle of the slot. I am assuming that every once in a while the car's pin hits the other lane and pops up and off the track. My cars did that with the Aurora intersection. I used pieces of electrical tape to narrow my slots approaching the intersection and it worked pretty well. I would probably use bondo or wood filler now instead of the tape. Might try the tape first to see it that helps and go from there. TomH

Thanks Tom!!

I have been studying the cars as they go through the 4-way intersection, and there are three issues I can see:

1) As Tom mentioned, some cars catch on the actual slot crossing. This however appears to be a secondary issue at this point, and it usually affects the few Magnatraction cars I have tested, and not the T-jets.

2) The pick up shoes drop into the area where the rails are cut out, then jump up when they strike the rail where it starts again. Rail height may be an issue here.... Some cars are more affected than others.

3) The front tires jump when they cross the rails of the lane perpendicular to the direction of travel. Rail height may also be part of the problem here. Again, some care are more sensitive than others to this issue.

Can anyone advise what the rail height should optimally be, and how I should go about adjusting the rail height. These road/road crossovers ain't cheap, and I would hate to ruin one with any hamfisted botch-job.


Fred

I realize this is an old post but, as I was searching for a potential solution to my intersection problem, I came across this item. The problems I am encountering are exactly the same as mentioned by sltrod65 in the 01-08-2008 post.

I could not find if anyone tried to answer this at that time. This was the last entry in the thread. Anyway, if anyone has any solutions, it surely would be appreciated.

Intersections really help with adding flexibility to a track layout with minimal space without using a bridge or elevating part of the track. I need to keep my track screwed down to the board so I can easily lean it up against the wall when not in use.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave.

I have intersections in my track, but it is in a section that is only accessed when the junctions are opened. I only run T-jets on this section.

I have not tried to alter the track. You must make sure that the track piece before the intersection is straight in line with the intersection. If there is any kink, the car will push to one side and most likely catch the perpendicular slot in the intersection.

Cars with BSRT pickups do not run well through this section since the bend at the front of the pickup is not as curved as stock T-jet pick ups.

I also find pushing the pin slightly forward will help keep in the slot as bounces through the intersection.

I don't suggest adjusting rail height due to the potential of "Hamfisted" botch job!

Jim

This reminds me that I still want to build a 4 lane figure 8 racetrack using Atlas track & intersections.
But if I made a custom 4 lane intersection without rails the cars would not jump out of the slot when crossing the X.:freak:
Of course the cars would have to carry enough speed to cross the X without stopping.:devil:
So I would need a 6" x 6" square with grooves cut for the slots.
And holes drilled in the ends to line up with the track sections.
And jumper wires across the X.
Oh, this is Evil....
Pure Evil. (Muh, ha, ha, ha,ha....)
Bomber division racing anyone? A class for all those Tjets that are too slow for other racing!
I need to put this on my list of things to do......

Scott

Ok, I'll throw my 2 cents into this one, but the botch job potential is going to be high. I made a 4 lane /2 lane Aurora crossing last year and found the same results, but only for the two lane. If you look at an aurora crossing, you should notice the power rails drop down in one direction, but not the other. If you were to duplicate that affect, most of the crossing problems should disappear. And yes, I contemplated a 4 lane /4 lane crossing, but never had the need for it or the extra crossings. I was so disapointed with the function of the crossing I threw it in with this 4 lane custom aurora crossing I made for my table on ebay last summer... The reason I sold the 4 lane single track was I made this two track crossing. Slight careful grinding of the pickup rails where your tires go across the cross traffic portions should relieve most of your problems. Or, have a wild tyco US1 demo derby!!! That's all I had in my stable that could handle the crossings!! Hope this helps!! Joe