Cutting Fastrack width

[Anonymous]

I picked up an MTH Steel Arch bridge yesterday but I'm using Fastrack, which is wider than RealTrax.  The guy at the LHS told me many several people had trimmed the width of the Fastrack to make it slide thru. 

What is the best method of trimming the width of a 30" section of track?  (Or should I use 3 10" sections?)

Thanks in advance!

Lisa

 

[Anonymous]

Lisa,
A hobby table saw, or Dremel tool would be best.  The nice thing about the hobby table saw is you can set the width and cut a straight line very easily (would be best for 30" straights)... or better, get some O-Gauge transition pieces and use tubular through the bridge... that would look more realistic, IMHO.

Brent

[ChiefEagles]

Lisa, I cut some Realtrax the other day and I used a board on each end of an aluminum bar, clamped all with C clamps.  Used the edge of the bar to guide my Dremel tool.  Any thing like that to give you a steady straight edge.

[jimhaleyscomet]

Lisa,
A hobby table saw, or Dremel tool would be best.  The nice thing about the hobby table saw is you can set the width and cut a straight line very easily (would be best for 30" straights)... or better, get some O-Gauge transition pieces and use tubular through the bridge... that would look more realistic, IMHO.

Brent

I vote for the tubular transition - tubular on the bridge.  Looks better and cheaper too.

Jim H 

[underworld]

Using the tubular track does sound like a good idea.

 

underworld

[wrmcclellan]

Fastrack plastic base melts when going through a high speed blade, causing it to gall and in some cases to destroy what you are cutting. So if you use a table saw or band saw please be very careful. Some cutting oil or WD 40 wiped on the blade can help the blade to cast off chips vs them sticking to the blade (but this can be very messy unfortunately).  Above all keep the work moving quickly or the plastic will stick to the blade with possibly harmful (to you) results.

The best way I found to trim Fastrack is to use a table mounted disk sander. I also use the belt sander depending on what I am doing to the track. For example - I use the belt sander when I need to reduce the height of the Fastrack ballast and I use the disk when I need to narrow the width.

To make Fastrack go over traditional Lionel plate girder bridges - I use the disk to narrow the width and the belt to reduce the height so the track stays level when transitioning from the tabletop to the girder bridge and back.

Here is a belt/disk sander example: http://www.tylertool.com/del314beland.html

When cutting or sanding this stuff - it casts off a lot of shards (and dust with the sander) so make sure you have eye protection and possibly a breathing filter.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I gave the track to my husband and told him to make it fit the bridge.  So, off he went to his workshop and returned later with an almost perfect fit.  A few licks of a file and Voila!  Finally asked him what he used - an air grinder tool he has.  Anyway, it worked and the track is installed. 

Liked the idea of the tubular track but I had plenty of the fastrack and where the bridge is located, the track won't be seen that much anyway.

Thanks again!

Lisa