Pre curving flex track

[selector]

Well, you got me there, Timothy, although it would probably work in the cork on which he places his track.  I guess it depends on how things are stuck in Bruce's world, but it would certainly be a problem if the track is on cork that is not well fixed.  Also, I can see that trying to force the ties over headless nails in cork will probably only force the nails deeper, so my second approach would be the fallback.  He would have to cover the cork with some white caulking so that he could see the nail holes to press the track sections into their positions on the centreline.

I hope I can remember to do all this next time, although I use MDF.

Thanks, Timothy.

-Crandell

[chateauricher]

Crandell,

An interesting and, perhaps, effective way to lay track; but it won't help Blind Bruce (and others) who use foam instead of wood as a subroadbed.  The foam just won't hold the nails.

 

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Bruce,

Are these "kinks" happening at joints ?  Are you using rail-joiners to form the joints or are you soldering them ? 

The best option is to avoid having any track joints on curves; but that's not always practical.  So the next best option is to use rail-joiners to hold the pieces of flextrack aligned together while you solder the tracks together.  You should solder flextrack joints before forming the curve.

No matter how careful you are, rail-joiners alone just can't hold the flextrack in alignment well enough to avoid kinks.  If you're worried about rail expansion, then don't solder joints on the tangents (straight sections of track) and only solder joints on curves.

 

[selector]

This might be a bit tedious, Bruce, but I just thought of a way that may help you.  I presume you have your centreline drawn on your curves, and that they are fairly smooth and accurately drawn?  If so, join your flex section to the previous one before the curve, and then mark where the ties fall along the centrline that have the hole punched into them for track nails.  Remove the flex section, and drive nails into those marked locations.  Cut off the heads, and then relay the flex, forcing the ties down onto the headless track nails that now define your centreline.  I'll bet this gets you most of the way home free.

If making the tie holed cover the nails seems to difficult in the way of alignment, then remove the previous he nails first, without bothering to take their heads off beforehand...it will be unecessary this way... and when you relay the section, put the nails partway through the ties first, and then find their matching holes...press the nails into place, and you are same-same.

-Crandell

[bogp40]

Atlas is actually the easiest to flex. Laying out your easements and swinging the arc centerline should have been done to lay the roadbed. As mentioned the use of "T" pins really helps especially with the Atlas having a tendency to spring back to near straight. I will pre bend only to find the number of ties needed to be removed (and trim the rail if needed. Rail joiners should be soldered for any joints first before bending to your radius. This will prevent any possible kinks at the joints.

[BigG]

  You mentioned an 'invisible kink' somewhere in the track. I have a couple of thoughts on it:  the first being that some wheels on older locos have deep flanges that can hit plastic railjoiners.. this is less of a problem in C-100 than in C-83 rail.  The other is a concern over out-of-spec rail. I bend flextrack before laying just by making it bend to a tighter curve than it will be going to become on the layout, and letting it spring back for a test-fit. It is OK to have some tension on the track after laying it; the nails/glue will hold it. Map pins or T-headed ones are great things! How sharp are your curves? I've found that staggering the joints on curves by several ties give the rail with the joiner some support laterally from the other, solid one. This cuts down on the kinks I used to get on curves, but means you need to thread the solid rail into the waiting ties.. sometimes a fun job! You can often spot a kink by sighting along the track with the help of your ladyfriend's vanity mirror; it effectively gives you 2X the distance for viewing.

  It's all detective work, and part of the hobby. For Code-83 rail, you will need smaller joiners than used in C-100. After the install of the rail, be sure to check it with your NMRA track gauge and be certain of the rail spread. Some track likes to lean inward when bent.

    Have fun... George   

 

[ajmott]

I ran into that problem in a couple of places on my layout. I knew what the radius was supposed to be, and not being very good and plotting our arcs, I went and got the proper Ribbon Rail radius gauges. Very, VERY useful. I'd use the gauge to arc the track properly and then used quilters pins to tack down the track (you can get them at Wal-Mart or a fabric store much cheaper the the WS "Foam Nails"). Once I had the piece in place, I'd cut to length, file the ends, lay down the caulk and then regauge the piece. Having those radius gauges made laying track extremely easy.

[Anonymous]

None of the flex track really holds a bend all that well. ME is supposed to some, and I have flexed it in the store and it seems to be better, still not great. You might use a fixed curve piece, cut the ties and bend it or just use pins and bend the flex to the shape you want. I use Super Glue to glue mine down after pinning. Holds great. The Woodland Scenic pins are a godsend if you don't have them, at least on foam, dont know about plywood. When I get in a tight spot I use fixed radius track. Careful not to use too tight a radius.

[Blind Bruce]

I have layed and relayed my Atlas code 83 flextrack. To some, less of a perfectionist than I, it is "OK". The constant radius portions are not really constant, to the extent that my 4-4-0 binds on some invisible kink. My next attempt will be to use pre-curved sections to connect the two Shinohara curved turnouts on one end of my layout. This is my runaround or passing siding. But, there still might be an area where I need to insert a 4-6" section of curved flex for the final connections.

How does one pre bend short sections with out kinking them? I have cork roadbed over 2" foam.