Atlas Curved turnouts?

[hunter_alexander]

Has the issues been resolved with the curved turnouts?

Since I have to mail order everything, I dont have the luxury to looking before I buy.

Thanks

Craig

[wm3798]

It seems that everyone has an individual take on these things.  I've got three of them in stalled, two on Tortoises, one manual.  One needed some minor fiddling, but all work fine insofar as they don't create anymore operational problems than I do....

I'd order one in, inspect it, search the threads here and elsewhere about them, see if your sample meets your needs, then order more if you like them, or at least can figure out how to live with them.  For a mass produced curved turnout that's reasonably available at a reasonable price, you're not going to find much else on the market.

Lee

[nscalemike]

I agree.  I think I have 7 or 8 of them on my layout and only have my slide switches installed on two of them so far.  The very first one I put in I was having problems with, I filed the points as much as I could, still had problems, then it finally dawned on me to check the wheel gauge.  Fixed the wheel gauge and fixed the problems.  As said elsewhere, CHECK THE WHEEL GAUGE FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!   You may need to file slightly, I usually do you to ensure the points sit next to the stock rail nicely, but I haven't had much else wrong with them.   If your looking for good looking track at a reasonable price and don't want to scratchbuild, I think they are your best bet.   

Mike

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Was just about to ask a question about these, and saw this thread from 5 years ago in the search.

Anyone have any more recent feedback on these?

[SP-Wolf]

Was just about to ask a question about these, and saw this thread from 5 years ago in the search.

Anyone have any more recent feedback on these?

I have these installed on my layout. I have experienced pretty much the same as the above posters. I have very little to no issues with Atlas C55 turnouts. Yes, I have fiddled a bit with them. And - checked my wheel gauges. All must work in sync with each other. Oh - if it makes a difference - all of mine are powered by Tortoise machines. (60 some odd turnouts - only 1 curved, by the way)

Regards,
Wolf

[mmagliaro]

I have one (curved).   It needed massive tweaking.  The point rails were far too narrow and needed to be filed
out on the insides to keep engines from climbing up and out of them (like nearly every Atlas turnout I have).

Point rail tips needed to be filed/shaped to fit in against the main rails so flanges wouldn't pick them.

Bypass all the bronze jumper bars underneath with soldered wires (because so many of those go bad).
Ditto on the bar to the frog.

Point rail tips sagged because of the flimsy throwbar.  I shimmed up the throwbar so the point rails would stay level as they
slid back and forth.

Bear in mind, I run a lot of steam, so I may be more demanding on turnouts than a lot of people.  4-axle diesels
go through these turnouts just fine.  But anything with a long wheelbase that can't just rock and roll through a switch
simply cannot make it through point rails that are too narrow.

One final thing.  Filing the point rails out on the insides to fix the narrow gauge is not just some little task.
It is a major pain in the neck.  Those rails are often garishly over-thick and worse, unevenly thick. 
It takes a while, sometimes a couple of hours, to file out, and then smooth and polish with grades of sandpaper,
to really correct those point rails.

[davefoxx]

My experience about six years ago was terrible.  But, I haven't even held an Atlas curved turnout since then, so I hope they fixed the problems, which were many.  I'm curious to hear from someone who has the most recently offered turnouts.

DFF

[Puddington]

I have two in a row and after some hours of tweeking they work fine; had to work on the points and had to avoid any (and I mean any) incline entering the turnout.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

I have 60 Code 55 turnouts installed all from the new molds. I have had no problems with them and have been using most for over a year. I have shimmed some with styrene but have not had to file any. I do not have any curved but i have #5, #7 and #10 that just came in and all work well. I use side switches to operate the turnout and to power the frog. 

[mmagliaro]

I have 60 Code 55 turnouts installed all from the new molds. I have had no problems with them and have been using most for over a year. I have shimmed some with styrene but have not had to file any. I do not have any curved but i have #5, #7 and #10 that just came in and all work well. I use side switches to operate the turnout and to power the frog.

Jeff, I would be grateful if you could indulge my curiosity here.  Would you mind putting the NMRA Gauge notches on some
of your turnouts, all along the point rails, to see if there are any narrow spots where the gauge can't fit between the rails?
I have mostly #7's so that's what would interest me personally, but I welcome tests on any or all you are will to do.

I am asking because I am curious if these work for you because you may not happen run long steam, or if
you really got a big batch of turnouts that were all in gauge through the points (while all 25 or so of mine were not!)

Mine mostly looked like this (note how the notches cannot fit between the rails on this brand new out-of-the-package
#7.

[railnerd]

The AmericaN guys in Germany have a set of recommendations for the Atlas switches.  Hopefully google translate link works:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fremo-net.eu%2Fmodulsysteme%2Fbaugroesse-n%2Famerican%2Famerican-tipps%2Fatlas-code-55-weichen-optimieren

Here is the original German URL:

https://www.fremo-net.eu/modulsysteme/baugroesse-n/american/american-tipps/atlas-code-55-weichen-optimieren/

[mmagliaro]

Well, maybe they have had some success with the method shown in that forum post, but I have not.
It is very hard to bend them so that they are really in gauge all the way through without still having a
narrow spot somewhere.  And over time, they seem to migrate back to their original shape.

One other thing.  In that post, they show the rails too narrow in the NMRA gauge.  After their fix, they show
a new photo, but they are checking with the flangeway tangs, not the width tangs.   So it hasn't shown that the
rails are really in gauge afterward.

[Chris333]

Plus the parts are cast and easy to break while bending.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Jeff, I would be grateful if you could indulge my curiosity here.  Would you mind putting the NMRA Gauge notches on some
of your turnouts, all along the point rails, to see if there are any narrow spots where the gauge can't fit between the rails?
I have mostly #7's so that's what would interest me personally, but I welcome tests on any or all you are will to do.

I am asking because I am curious if these work for you because you may not happen run long steam, or if
you really got a big batch of turnouts that were all in gauge through the points (while all 25 or so of mine were not!)

Mine mostly looked like this (note how the notches cannot fit between the rails on this brand new out-of-the-package
#7.

I ran the Gage over all of them again and they are all fine.

[Mike C]

 Is there a difference between the Mark lV and the Mark lVb gauge ? I notice that you used both .