Question about Central valley turnouts

[Chesticus]

Thought I would through this at you guys.

I am bulding a layout and, after seeing the product at the Nat. Train Show, I decided that I really liked the product Central Valley trains puts out. They are a little bit of work, but the results look really good. However, cost and time wise, I have decided to stick with Atlas flex track and use only the turn outs.

So now I come to the problem, there is a slight height difference. Atlas is approx. .015 taller.

I know that is not a great amount, but it is there. Should I shim the turnouts, or ignore it? Will it cause any trouble?

Just thought I would ask you guys.

Chesticus

Thanks

 

[60103]

Is the difference in the rail or rail + tie?
If it's rail+tie, then you should shim the lower one.
If it's rail (code 85 vs code 100) it'll take a bit more effort.

 

[Chesticus]

Sorry about that. It is the tie height. CVT is .015 lower than the Atlas cd.83.

CHesticus

 

[Russ Bellinis]

Cut a piece of .015 styrene to match the shape of the Central Valley turnout and glue it to the bottom of the Central valley turnout's tie strip. Be careful not to get any glue near the throw rod. You don't need to glue all of the ties, just a couple at each end to locate the shim in place under the turnout. Paint the styrene approximately the same color as your ballast and clean off the area directly under the ties that you put the glue on. The styrene will shim the turnout to the same height as the Atlas track, and then you just ballast the turnout like you would any other turnout.