I am currently laying HO atlas code 83 flex track in which one rail is fixed to the ties and the other rail slides along the ties. Question... is it better to have the fixed rail on the inside or outside of the curves or does it even matter? My curves are all 36" or larger with easements and I plan on soldering all rail joiners within the curves.
John
I think you will find the standard way is to have fixed rail on outside of curve. Sliding rail on inside. Thats the way I did mine, think I read it in the forum some time back.
I really makes no difference. When I first used it, I was told to lay it with the loose rail to the outside. That way the gauge would 'widen' for the curve - sorta made sense. I have done it both ways and it seems to make little difference.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Outside is the recommended way. That way your ties spread out on the outside rather than compressing and bunching up on the inside.
If you are laying full, uncut lengths of flex, putting the fixed rail on the outside eliminates the nuisance of cutting off odd numbers of ties - and losing the track nail hole in the next-to-last tie in the process.
It's also a good idea to slide the loose rail a few inches to get the joints out of line with each other. Having both joints in the same place is an invitation for a kink to form, and kinks are bad news.
As I lay flex around a curve, I let the inside rail slide and just cut away the minimum number of factory spikes and tie plates to clear the rail joiners. Then I cut the 'flying' rail once tracklaying has returned to tangent track. That means only one cut rail, and a leftover length long enough to use for scenery or hand-laying. The only thing little 1-2 inch lengths are good for is trash can filler.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on Atlas flex and hand-laid specialwork)
You know, I don't really suppose that I've given two seconds thought to this issue in all of the years I have been laying down flex-track although, as I think about it, I probably have layed most of my track with the fixed track on the inside of curves.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
If you put the fixed rail on the inside, the outer rail becomes too short and you have to remove crossties. If you put the fixed rail on the outside, there will be some extra inner rail that can just be cut off.
I put the fixed rail on the outside. My experience with Atlas code 100 flex track is that the track is much less "springy" that way, and holds the proper curve better. Take a piece of flex track and hold it with one hand on each end, fixed rail towards you, and bend it a bit. Then hold it the other way. You'll notice the difference. It just seems more "in control" when the fixed rail is on the outside.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My personal system is to put the fixed rail on the outside. That makes the sliding rail too long. I slide that extra length into the next piece, displacing the sliding rail on that one. That way, as others have mentioned, the joiners are not side by side, and kinks don't form. 1:1 scale rails use the same system of joints not being side by side.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow