Uneven rail joints

[kcoyle]

Hi,

I have my track ballasted down and I see that some of the joints are uneven. Can they be filed even or is there a better way? I am using Code 100 NS.

Thanks,

Kevin

[ARTHILL]

Why are they uneven? Different track or a joiner that is out of line? You can file to fit, but that will not solve the cause. To have several out of line seems strange unless you mixed track brands or codes or something. It is too late to wonder why you didn't discover this before you put down the ballest.

[Leon Silverman]

You did not specify, but I suspect you used flex track rather than sectional. prefabbed track. If so, the sectional track usually has recesses in the ties to make room for the rail joiners. Flex track does not have these recesses. Consequently, the ties that will wind up under the track joiners have to be shaved down to make a clearance for the thickness of the rail joiners. The easiest method is to remove these ties, shave them down, assemble the track, and then slide the shaved ties under the joints.

[Anonymous]

If this is not the case, and you put the rail in the joiner wrong or something, your best bet is probably to just pull up that part of the track and re-join it. If you glue is water-soluble, this shouldn't be that hard to do; just douse it in water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. If you're not sure if your glue is soluble or not, I'd try it anyway.

[kcoyle]

Hi,

Thank you for the information. I better get to work, I wil be more careful the next time.



Kevin