Question about Atlas code 55 #5 turnout

[vt_railroad_guy]

I am using 4 #5 turnouts on my main line and noticed that the stright leg actualy has a slight curve toward the diverging route.  I am using two of them in the middle of curves and I don't like the way the train turns in against said curve.  Everything operates great, but the appearance is bothering me.  Is this normal and what can I do to correct it?  Do #7's do the same thing?

VTRG

[John]

No, it shouldn't be normal, but every Atlas #5 I have ever seen has this bow .. you have to take a hobby knife and slice some of the tie spacers at the bottom of the track so you can move it back .. but that also requires fixing the turnout with adhesive

[Rossford Yard]

Funny, but the Peco turnouts sometimes have this, too.  Always had to double check if it was curved or a crooked straight......they all do have some built in flex for (I suppose) "fitting in" assistance, which I have used.  Maybe something in that flex causes it to bend to the middle?

[vt_railroad_guy]

Do the Atlas #7s have this same "characteristic"?  i don't mind it for the yard, but not on my Main Track.

[nscaleSPF2]

This probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I carefully bent the turnouts laterally (by hand) to remove the unwanted curvature.  Then I glued them to the roadbed.  Seem to work fine, so far.

Jim Hale

[Chris333]

I always use a straight edge when laying track work.

[vt_railroad_guy]

Does anyone know if the #7's are straight or do they have the same bend?

[MichaelWinicki]

I have #5's, #7's and #10's with the slight "bow" in the straight rail. 

In most instances I don't notice it, unless I'm looking down the track from the ends of the benchwork.

I can see where it would be more noticable in if you have the turnout in the middle of a curve.

I wouldn't fix mine for a couple of reasons, the first being the turnouts works great for me and I don't want to risk ruining them.

Secondly I grew up with the Penn Central and early Conrail where turnouts were far from "smooth". 

[mmagliaro]

I've never seen that bend on any of my #7's.  I have some new ones out of the package right now.
I can put a steel straight edge along the straight (non-diverging) route rails, and they look dead straight to me.

Funny this topic about the "bent" #5's came up.  I have only 3 #5's in my whole plan, to fan out into a roundhouse,
and ironically, that slight bend helped!  It's like a very slight "Y".

(I'm not endorsing this defect.  I'm just saying I got lucky in that it helped out in my case!)

[vt_railroad_guy]

Mine work well too, that's why I really don't want to mess with them.  Sounds like it may be luck of the draw if I order some #7's to replace those bent 5's.