Code 83 or code 100
Question
Hi everybody, I recently started building my Empire and I have all Atlas code 83 Flex track and I just had a guy tell me I should have went with code 100 because I would have less derails than with code 83 this is all new to me I never heard this can anybody tell me is it true, thank you for any replies.
Answers ( 2 )
Many years ago, a lot of older locomotives (and possibly rolling stock to) had larger wheel flanges, which ran fine on code 100 track, but, on lower profile code track, the larger flanges made contact with the sleepers, causing the loco to move up and down, and make a lot of noise. Newer locos and rolling stock have smaller flanges, and run fine on most of the track codes. I prefer the look of code 83, 75 and 70 compared to code 100.
I’m on my third layout. the first was all Atlas code 100. the second was a mix of code 100 and code 83, and the third is primarily Atlas code 83 with an area of Micro Engineering code 70. Most of my derailments can be attributed to specific issues with either the track, the rolling stock or both. The biggest problem tends to be poorly laid track followed by track not well suited to the rolling stock. I have a number of larger steam locomotives and they will quickly identify bad track. On my last layout the transitions from code 100 to code 83 occurred on curves and my Sante Fe 2-10-4 Texas loved to drop the leading driver outside the rail at the transition point. My current layout has the most problems with the Atlas curved turnouts, some of which appears to be track gage and some appears to be trucks under the cars. I have started staggering the rail joiners on curves, which appears to have prevented the previous issues with the Texas. The truck issues I’ve seen are caused by loose axles that can drop below the center point and inadequate weight on the cars. The trucks are older Pocher and Riverossi old time passenger cars and several of the trucks are quite loose. I would say go ahead and use code 83 and plan on testing each section with cars and locomotives extensively before anchoring everything. Good Luck, Ray.