Reversing Loop Layout - Flex Track / Bending Help

[Anonymous]

I used the llagas bender, and made my hand held electric screwdriver run it. Helped a lot, since I started with H&R stainless, the stiffest rail around. Took several passes for each rail! The plus side is that it's harder to overbend!

I bent the rail by myself, so rigged up shelves on each side to support the rail.

Greg

[Anonymous]

Dear John;

Oh how i hate to write, etc.

You have come to the right place for information on using flexitrack or similar.
I have about 65 m or 200' of track down, just about all done with our local club rail which is a similar product. Have alook at my topic, regarding camber in the general section. I am a bit confused how N scale is involved but i will ignore it at this time. The track I use does not come assembled, so there is no neeed to pull it apart. What I got was 20 X 3.69 m or 12 ' lengths of rail, sufficient joiners and sleepers (ties) to suit. This will make up about 37 m or 120' of track.

In this pasttime there is no wrong or right way to do anything. so I will just relate what has worked for me, I have had a number of problems along the way and they were just about all to do with my own mistakes and general sloppyness.

1/ Get an assistant, the lengths involved are so long, they will bend and become damaged unless it is supported over its entire length. If this person has a different outlook to you (wife or friend with other views) all the better. To this end be careful about getting rail out of its packing.

2/ View the situation and decide where you wish your rails to go, ie where to start and where to finish and what route you are going to take to achieve this. Draw a line in the dirt roughly (as exactly as possible) where you have decided where one of the rails is to go (any one, you only have two to pick from).

3/ Measure the length of the line you have drawn in the dirt, if its straight this is easy, if curved borrow you wifes dress making soft flexible measuring tape and work out how long that rail will have to be (the one you have chosen) and write it down. If you are going to make a curve, make a template out of an old coat hanger or similar using a premanufactured curve as the original, this is to ensure that your curve will not be too tight for your equipment. I use an LGB R1 curve as my worst case and an R3 as optimum.

4/ Now you have to make a decision, you need to make this rail a bit longer than you need in case of error. Do you cut the rail at this time or do you use the entire length for your first rail? Its up to you, I have done both in different circumstances.

5/ I have a Black and Decker Workmate (invaluable) move this to your layout. I bolted a vice to this, that can be rotated in a full circle (as cheap as chips from your hardware), into this clamp your rail bender. As you go you will need all aspects of this setup. Incidentally this area is subject to monsoonal down pours, I spray the whole thing with WD40 and leave it in situ with an inverted plastic bucket over the bender etc.

6/ Using your rail bender, bend your first rail to suit your line in the dirt, using a relatively fine felt pen to mark where you wi***o make the bends and as you go; where you wi***o modify them. Be pretty careful that you get it right, when you are happy and your alter ego is happy, get your felt pen and mark the ends of the rail you are happy with. Lay it out on as flat a surface as you have and smile at it with satisfaction. The reason for marking the original, is so that during the process of matching the second rail to the first; you will not err and make the first suit the second and end up in a mess, as you go they get very similar.

7/ Now get your second piece of rail and lay it near your first one, measure the first one as to where the bends are using your soft tape if you must. Mark out your second piece of rail to suit the first and bend it so that it matches the first one pretty well exactly. Positioning and shaping of bends is critical or you will get my camber problem. Lay the second one against the first one on both sides ie as the both the inner and outer rail. If you can, then even put one on top of the other. Your decision wether to cut or not to cut the rail will be the same as for the first one.

8/ Now with your assistant you put the sleepers (ties) on both rails from both ends at once untill they are pretty well all in. Now lay the assembly down on a flat surface and determine that it is itself flat and true,if it is not determine if you can live with it. If not pull it aprt and check your "sameness" of your rails and if necessary rebend the second rail.

9/ When you are happy with its trueness, place your assembly in position at your predetermined or at the most convenient staring point. Be sure that both rails butt up against your rails that are already in position, use a pair of offset longnose pliers to draw each rail into its dead set position. Now stand back and make sure that where the two sets off rails, join your new set of rail that you have made are running in the same direction as the original ie one appears to be a continuation of the other; if not bend one of them to suit the other preferrably your new one, check that your alter ego agrees with you. Now check the other end is it where you intended it to be? if not there is some flexibilty in your assembly, move it too suit, making sure you are not introducing a warp into your assembly.If it is warping go back to section eight.

10/ Attache your starting end temporarily and again be happy with the relationship and continuity of the two sets of rails to each other. Now at your finish end, lay it very carefully exactly where you want it to be and mark both rails to length carefully and then get a set square and be sure the two cuts will be square across the rails. (squareness is next to godliness) using your vice or workmate hold assembly in position and carefully cut one rail, clean off end with a spark plug file and again see how it fits, making sure the start end is in position and square. Then making sure its length is ok, cut the other one and clean off burrs as well, all should fit well, like a hand in a glove.

11/ I solder all my mid rail joins using a jewellers blowtorch and use Hillman clamps when attaching a rail to a set of points (switches)

This all sounds hard but once you get into it, it is not its most rewarding and here in Australia less thanhalf the price of discreet sections and more flexible with tight or complex rail layouts.

If you have any trouble at all, my email address is [e-mail], Im sure we can solve any problem you may have.

Ian; Kawana Island Tropical Railway.
Sunshine Coast' Qld. Australia.

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone!

Awesome! This is MUCH different than N scale! Thanks for the excellent advice and recommendations!

You're the best!
John

[RhB_HJ]

Hi,

Flextrack: Aristo 11005 (rail) and 30102 (ties) 8ft length
Bender: Aristo 11920

Flextrack: LGB 10005 (rail) and 10003 (ties) 5ft length

Bender:http://www.svrronline.com/catalog.html

Bender: http://www.llagastrack.com/pricelist.html
in Tools, Accessories

Bender: make one
http://www.geocities.com/trackworker.geo/bndrtext.HTM
http://www.comnett.net/~jryells/machinepics2.htm

[Anonymous]

Hi johnvoitel
Cannot help with a suplier of flex track.
Don't Aristocraft make any ?? when you do find the flex track you will need a rail bender
this is a tool with three rollers on it one of which is adjustable if it is a good one it will also be marked for radiuses.
I cannot remember who makes them have seen them advertised in Garden Railways mag make sure you get the right one for your rail.
To use it remove the rails both of them from the sleeper strip set the roller feed the rail through to bend it then put it back in to the sleeper stip lay the track it will stay bent..
If you manage to bend the radius by hand unlikely though it is it will keep trying to straighten out with all the problems it will bring
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I'm laying out my first G scale layout for my yard. Sorry gang, I use N scale inside! I'm using AristoCraft track and turnouts for this layout, and I'm struggling with closing the reversing loops.

I need a 5' diameter (minimum) for my locomotives and I bought 10' turnouts. I layed out the loops in RR Track 4.0 using 5' track. I just can't close the loop and I think I need flex track to complete my layout.

Does anyone have a recommendation for 332 flex track, and if there are any suggestions for how best to form it?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate any suggestions and advice you might have to get me off the ground and running! Take care now!
John