To D&H65, Matt Kirsch, Jim Berger, NH Joe, rtr12, bluelinec4, and others:
Thanks so much, guys, for your helpful responses. OK, of 7 responses, 6 really like Atlas, one says the connectivity is indeed terrible on their subway system! Yes, my track will be totally screwed down to Homasote on top of half- or three-quarter ply.
I heard it is expensive, so any advice on discounts? Oh, as you can't order directly from Atlas, how would I go about getting just a full 0-27 sectional circle, as some stores have said they can only get a case delivered? And what about this: Lionel tubular 0-27 is indeed 27 inches from the OUTSIDE of the ties. But I hear that Atlas 0-27 is actually 30-1/2, as the radius is measured from the CENTER of the track, not from the outside. True?
I liked Ingeniero NO 1 advice from five years ago about actually screwing feeder wires to the rails (thanks rtr12). A friend has said that it's hard to solder to the rails because they are coated in some way, and first you have to grind off the coating with a Dremel. Have people found this?
For this upper level dog bone, it's just a long loop with no switches, so I think I'll be avoiding the Atlas vs. Ross switch discussion.
Any other thoughts, and thanks a lot again.
ron