OK, after reaching the end of my patience with Atlas' 2-rail flex-track I am finally convinced I need to do this O scale track thing the old-fashioned way: hand laying. "All" I need now is some advice about the how / what / whom. The simpler and more straightforward the better, but I'm willing to consider all the options. Thanks!
Before you pitch your Atlas track, take a dowel or 3/8th square stick and use the Atlas track to mark the dowel for gauge. Make 5 or 6. I made mine rubbing the rail and then cutting a shallow slot in the dowel/stick. I used that to hold the rail in gauge while I spiked on either side of it. There is a triangle track gage offered that can be used on curves, but I don't recall who made it and if it still is available. If you want to cut your own ties, paint stirring sticks make good stock for ripping the ties from. Other wise there are a couple of suppliers of pre cut ties on the market. For all the work cutting my own ties, it wasn't worth it, time wise and mess. It depends on how many feet of track you plan on laying. A simple jig to hold the ties can be made. Then you use masking tape to take the string of ties from the jig to lay on the sub road bed to glue down. Then use the wooden dowels to hole the rails in gauge while you spike. Sorry to hear about your flex-track problems, a friend of mine used it exclusively on his layout. Oh, use the rail from the flex track, just slide it out and respike on the wood ties, at least some of the cost of the flex can be recouped. Greg
Now there is a good, concise answer to the question! Not unheard of here on TB, but... Thanks, Greg. I had no idea how to help riverotter1948 with this issue. IMHO, hand laid track will be better and look better; a point of pride in construction, too.
I can picture in my mind, that track gauge Greg noted. But cannot think of it's manufacturer. I certainly agree it would be a very good tool to have at hand. Boxcab E50
Fast Tracks has all the supplies that you need. They also make jigs for building turnouts. Here's their O scale page: http://modeltraintrackjig.fast-tracks.net/o.php Best!
There's noting simpler than Atlas flextrack! What kind of problems are you having with it? ......dave
The ties get bunched up in the middle (frequently as a result of shipping), exposing the rails at the ends and making it difficult to mate the 'snap-lock' ends of the sections without ending up with ties askew from trying to spread them out. Also, the ties at the ends of the sections seem 'fragile', i.e., easily bent/broken. I have other objections to this track, but suffice it to say that based on my experience, if HO flextrack was as comparably fragile, it would break just by being picked up. When I think about O scale anything, the word "sturdy" comes to mind in terms of my expectations, and Atlas flextrack doesn't seem to meet that criteria. I don't think I'm being too ham-fisted with this stuff -- I have successfully used HO flextrack for years.
I don't know what snap-lock is? Flextrack uses rail joiners suitable for the size of rail. The atlas flextrack I've used needs code 148 size joiners, they slip on with little problems. To re-use flextrack I sometimes cut off a few of the plastic ties and replace them with wooden ties so I can spike the joined area. That approach might eliminate your problem with fragility? You'd end up with handlaid joints with flextrack between. I wouldn't throw away atlas track and replace it with all handlaid without trying to work with it, handlaid track would be a lot of work and it has gauge problems if not done carefully. If you wanna get tired of model railroading very fast then handlaying might be the way to go :>) Before making a decision buy a bag of wooden ties and some rail and spikes and then spike up a few yards of track and see how you like it? If you can spike up about 10% of your layout without getting burned out then you can probably do the other 90% eventually!!....dave
