# Bachmann Turnouts



## wsboyette (Jan 25, 2014)

Does anyone reading this forum have experience with Bachmann E-Z Track turnouts ? Do they operate smoothly and reliably with no derailing ?


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## wnewbury (Dec 2, 2013)

I asked the same question about Bachmann N gauge turnouts a month or 2 ago and got one response. The guy said to work on them with a small file. So I looked in old magazines to see what to do with the file. Haven't done it yet, though.

Bachmann N turnouts work half decent when you go from the 2 track side to the one track side but when you go the other way, 1 to 2, not so good. My Bachmann F7 derails every time. My Katos derail maybe one third of the time.

I cannot recommend Bachmann N turnouts. "They" say Atlas, Kato and Peco work better. I am happily running my Lionel O27.


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## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

wnewbury said:


> I asked the same question about Bachmann N gauge turnouts a month or 2 ago and got one response. The guy said to work on them with a small file. So I looked in old magazines to see what to do with the file. Haven't done it yet, though.
> 
> Bachmann N turnouts work half decent when you go from the 2 track side to the one track side but when you go the other way, 1 to 2, not so good. My Bachmann F7 derails every time. My Katos derail maybe one third of the time.
> 
> I cannot recommend Bachmann N turnouts. "They" say Atlas, Kato and Peco work better. I am happily running my Lionel O27.


It also depends on how old they are. I picked up some new ones, the numbered ones, and they work considerably better. 

As to the older turnouts, I was having frustration bordering on psychopathy at one point. I had gotten a bunch cheap and for employment reasons could not replace them, I was stuck with what I had. 

Ypu have to watch them closely to see where they pick the points. However the main issue is they do not always lie flat against the rail on the feeder side. You have to very carefully file the points, sometimes on the rail side to get them to go flat, sometimes on the inside edge to get rid of a burr. But honestly it does work. I had some really horrible ones that seem to have been tamed.

Also, mechanism issues. It's been a while since I've been in one but the older were not always manufactured well in that the mechanism didn't set properly, the points didn't always throw correctly or all the way until you reset the (I want to say gears here, but I'm not sure if that's the correct term). Usually, once you got them settled in properly they behaved. I did notice a difference between manually throwing them and using the relay switch. In my opinion it is (or was) to easy to get them out of alignment when setting them with the Mark 1 finger. I think you can easily and unknowingly apply to much pressure and jump the gears, necessitating a tear down and realignment. But the internal mechanism pulls on it laterally (if you can picture what I'm saying) and with in theory the right amount of pressure. 

The real problem is you get invested in the EZ Track, realize it can be wonky but you've got a sizeable investment. I have several hundred dollars worth (I didn't buy all of it, I had a good deal of it donated by a frustrated former user. So I can try and sell it and buy new or try and make it work. Well when the cash spigot turned on again, I wanted to try the Atlas roadbed track. I will tell you after looing for it in 2 states in person and on the web since I heard of it, I have not seen it in any kind of reliable quantity in person until about a month ago.

So, the other issue with the old 11.25 radius switches is the radius itself. Almost as a last gasp I waited until the larger radii curves came out. Anything from the 12" and up actually worked well. The manufacturing quality seems better but the larger radii are the answer. I have at least one loop of each size up to 19". Then I went and bought some of the numbered switches. HUGE improvement. Only bad thing is the damn turnouts aren't power routing anymore. BUT I had numerous issues with the power routing when the mechanisms misaligned so maybe it's not a bad thing. And if you're running DCC it doesn't matter. And that may be why they ditched it.

Good luck!
Frank


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## wnewbury (Dec 2, 2013)

to ftauss: thanks for the Great information!


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## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

wnewbury said:


> to ftauss: thanks for the Great information!


Glad to help. And I do feel your pain on that, I also do O and the Fastrack switches are marvelous.


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## wsboyette (Jan 25, 2014)

Yes, thanks a lot for the info, ftauss ! I will check all my switches for defects/burrs.


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