Hi All, I just started laying track on my layout. It's very exciting, but just as nerve-wracking and frustrating at the same time. (The perfect time suck to get my mind off work! ) I love the natural-looking lines flex track is giving me as opposed to the MTL snap track, but there are a few places the rails don't meet perfectly - both in terms of distance (which I know I can fix by snipping more off the opposite rail) and in terms of radius (see picture). I ran a hopper over these sections as fast as I could push it without derailment and it seemed to glide just fine. However, how much of an issue is this in terms of conductivity? I plan on soldering every joint once I finish dry-fitting everything together. Please note when looking at the picture: I just read a thread concerning track nails vs. glue and am just using the nails (seen in the picture) to hold the track in place while I dry fit. Thanks in advance for your advice, Josh
Josh, A couple of thoughts for laying flex track. Try to form and place multiple sections as one long piece, in particular when you'll have a joint in the middle of a curve. Lay all the track loosely until the layout is complete. Use push pins between the ties to temporarily hold the form and placement of the track. Workout all the issues with lengths and angles. Maybe do some soldering of rails. Then fasten the track to the roadbed. As far as the situation above, it's hard to know how much of a problem it is. The single hopper is probably not the best test. Consider running a locomotive through both fast and slow and see what happens. Also you may have problems with cars uncoupling going through the junction. I've found it easier to make the track as perfect as possible in the beginning to avoid problems later. I noticed some unfinished risers in your image on the left. I like to at least plaster and base paint scenery near the track. It's hard to clean up the rails and ties from splashed plaster or paint. Also allows you to take care of any clearance issues. I'm also not a big fan of soldering all the rail joints. I found I had issues with track twisting due to expansion/contraction. For the electrical connection, I like to solder a fine tinned wire (like wire wrap) between the rails and across the rail joiner on the outside. Allows for rail movement and looks a bit like to conduction bars the prototypes put across their rail joints. Hope this helps, Mark
Brilliant. Now to break out my cursing dictionary as I try and maneuver code 55 rail through tiny ties. (In all seriousness, this makes perfect sense and is brilliant. Thank you.)
Helps a great deal. Thanks, Mark. Yes, I plan on plastering before fixing the rails in place. Just dry fitting to get a sense of space and see where I can start carving into the foam board for my river. Is it not recommended to plaster even if I cover the tracks with masking tape?
When I say "plaster" I generally mean a paper maché product like Celluclay. It's light and easy to use. I save the plasters for rock face castings. As for when you plaster, it's a matter of preference. Yes you can mask off the track, but I find I spend a lot of time making a good mask and removing and cleaning up afterwards and no matter how hard I try I leave a masking line somewhere. A recent article I read defends both methods: landscape first on a mainline. Install the track first on secondary lines so you can feather out landscaping rom the ties better. Take your pick. If you haven't looked at it already you might want to check out the NMRA site for side clearances: https://nmra.org/index-nmra-standards-and-recommended-practices the RP-7 series. Mark
This method is genius. So simple, yet so effective. It looks so much better. Thought you'd like the update:
Staggering joints helps (but you end up with many ties that no loner constrain the rail). Tight rail joiners help. When bending the rail, you can often create enough semi-permanent arc, except for the very last inch or so. This, I cut off. Michael's (and most jewelry shops) have large pliers that have soft curved jaws, covering about an inch of rail. You can soft-crimp it until you can notice the 'stay' in the rail. The last image with the red pin will roll *much* better than your first one with that definite derailing dip.
in your picture, under and each side of the rail joiners, there are no black 'spikes'. This is what MTL does with their flex. I cut at least 2 of the spike-less ties off, each end. I cut MTL's 'tongue' on their joiners to let them go on farther. Also, with or without that 'tongue', it technically will not slip under the last 2 ties (closest) to the ties with the spikes). This forces the spike-less ties 'down' which makes for a hump in the track. With the Atlas flex, you will have to Xacto knife the top of the ties.
So, basically you have to account for the thickness of the bottom of the rail joiner by shaving down the ties where the rail joiners are.
