Do you use plastic railjointers or do yuo just leave spaces? Any pics? I'm plannin on atlas code 83 flex ane walthers switches.
Thanks again gueys
ray
ramoutandabout wrote: Do you use plastic railjointers or do yuo just leave spaces? Any pics? I'm plannin on atlas code 83 flex ane walthers switches. Thanks again gueys ray
You can do it either way. The insulated rail joiners will help hold rail alignment if you feel that the rails may not keep in position (curves etc). The plastic joiners are a bit more difficult to hide w/ painting and weathering the track. Cutting the gaps and inserting thin styrene glued in place work well. The styrene then can be shaped to the rail profile. If your roadbed will hold spikes, you can also spike the rails to assure good alignment. If you feel that you need the gap for any benchwork expansion, they can be left open.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I just cut gaps where I need them.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
If you want to be true to modern UP practice, find some of those ugly orange rail joiners Atlas used to sell, and DON'T hide them! I found the prototype on newly-laid track in North Las Vegas, NV. (I understand that the same company also sells them in Rock Island blue.)
Since I have a layout where rail creep is altogether too probable, thanks to 100 degree annual temperature range and 50-60 degree daily swings, I use plastic joiners wherever I want a gap.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with clear plastic joiners)
Several answers above have glossed over this, but the choice to use a simple gap cut in the rail or insert a insulated spacer depends on the climate control in your train room. Mine is in the basement and the temperature will vary at least 40 degrees F over the course of the year, and humidity, I don't monitor, so there is noticible expansion and contraction going on. Under these circumstances, you need to insert an insulated spacer in the gaps. I use the insulated railjoiners, and the ones I've bought recently are the almost clear plastic with the tab in the middle to space the rails. I think they're made by Atlas, but I'm sure other manufacturers have similar ones.
One other thing, if you decide to cut the gaps into the rail, don't do this at a joint. Cut the gap above the point where the tie strip is connected from one tie to the next under the rail. This will help hold the rail ends in alignment.
gandydancer19 wrote:"Leave spaces" implies that you are going to put two sections of track together without ANY rail joiners. This is a no-no. You either use insulated rail joiners and be done with it, -or- use metal rail joiners and then cut gaps where you need them. A Dremel tool with a cut-off disk is best. What you don't want to do is put a gap where the tracks are under stress, such as on a curve when using flextrack.
gandydancer19 wrote:"Leave spaces" implies that you are going to put two sections of track together without ANY rail joiners. This is a no-no. You either use insulated rail joiners and be done with it, -or- use metal rail joiners and then cut gaps where you need them. A Dremel tool with a cut-off disk is best. What you don't want to do is put a gap where the tracks are under stress, such as on a curve when using flextrack. There are ways to do that, but they take time to learn and get right. If it is snaptrack and the curve has been put in it by the company that made it, you may be able to get a way with either an insulated joiner or cutting a gap.
At the risk of being kicked off the forums for heresy, let me just state for the record that you can successfully lay and wire track without using a single rail joiner. I have, and I'll do it again. Can you use "standard" techniques and no rail joiners? Probably not.
1st difference is to use a roadbed that will hold the track in place when spiked or glued. Cork ain't it - at least not for me. Homasote, door skin, luaun plywood, pine, Upson board, and splines all work, and there are reports of success with Vinyl-bed.
2nd difference is that rails cannot be left under "spring" stress indefinitely unless joints are soldered with rail joiners helping strengthen the solder joint. Unsoldered rail joiners fail at holding "springy" rail for the long term along with most other methods. The right answer is to pre-bend the curves in my track so that the joints and roadbed are not stressed from the beginning until they shift/give under the load. Atlas flex track is difficult to pre-bend (I found it has to be bent to about half it's intended radius to hold the curve), so I avoid it. Sectional track curves are already pre-bent.
3rd difference is that I must provide an electrical path for every piece of rail. Either feeders or jumpers at the joints. Both are much more reliable conductors than rail joiners over time.
But back to the topic: I do agree that gluing a piece of styrene into a cut electrical gap, and filing and painting to match the rail saves future electrical problems when humidity swings move things enough to close gaps. The styrene also helps hide the gaps, and reduces the clatter of wheels over the gap. Finally, the filed and painted styrene looks a whole lot prettier than an insulated rail joiner.
By the way, a true jeweler's saw cuts a thinner and nicer gap than a Dremel with a cut-off disk, but takes more time.
because track is a model, too
Fred W