MCD4x4 posted:Ben you soldered all the rails on all four lines?
I didnt do it personally Hector did most of it Yes all four subterranean lines have soldered track joints BUT and its a big but. We were learning as we went. The irons we used in the beginning werent good enough to make a proper solder connection We kept experimenting with bigger and hotter soldering irons None of them were good enough causing many cold solder connections The rails need to get hot for the solder to stick properly It wasnt until we purchased the American Beauty Resistance solder station that it was done properly. Worth its weight in gold. Only half the track was done right
Another problem with the Atlas switches was also connectivity. With the amount of track and the high current draw of most of the subways the Atlas switches didnt hold up. They had a fine wire under the rails to make the connection though the switch The wire melted causing many dead spots around the switches. We had more jumpers through the switches than anything Hence we have removed ALL Atlas switches with the exception of 5 wyes. The Ross switches are great. The only problem is that we are using the DZ1000 switch motors. Some of the premier sets have a third rail shoe that sticks out pretty far and hit the switch motor. A little filing of the shoe is necessary. Using a different switch motor would be preferable though.
