JTGIs it imperative that connecting tracks be perpendicular with the edge of the table? Or is it possible to occasionally have a track running at an angle to the edge?
I'm planning on using 6" pieces of removable track to connect sections. Anyone successful with having those connecting tracks running at an angle?
I have what I consider to be frangible sections and it is secured by a thin layer of wood. Woodland scenics foam helps blend in the tracks and provide a continous scenery base. Otherwise you see Kato track crossing large plates with gaps between.
I have two four foot long modules that form an eight foot long sectional depicting a coal mine and small company town. I have 6 tracks that connect between the modules, the two mainline are perpendicular the other 4 are at various angles. I use six inch connectors on the main line and 4 inch ones on the others. By ballasting and weathering the connectors they don't stand out. In the pic below the seam is under the first hopper behind the switcher.
My layout is 100% sectional with 3-inch segments of track bridging the joints of the layout sections. Should be okay when taking it apart and then putting it back together. Haven't actually tried that yet since I don't plan on moving for a while.
Kevin
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I currently have two removable yard throats in service, one a lift-out and one a drop-down, with a total of sixteen tracks that cross the gaps between the removable sections and adjacent structure. Eleven are on curves, and none of them are square to the joint. One of the five tangent tracks also crosses the joint at an angle. The older (lift out) has been in service for two years and has had zero derailment problems, even though the layout space is a non-climate-controlled garage in the Dessicated Desert.
I run trains over all of those rail joints on a near-daily basis. Other than having been very careful with my tracklaying, I didn't do anything unusual at the joints except install rail joiners with the sides spread open on the rail ends The joiners are fixed to the rail that drops away.
The key to the whole business is careful tracklaying. As long as there is no kink at the gap, even long-wheelbase four wheel wagons can be backed across on less than 24 inch radius.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks for the quick replies, folks. I'm reassured by your responses.
At the last train show I attended, there was a modular layout on which the connecting tracks were not perpendicular to the edge. If the people with whom you are connecting are ok with it, it shouldn't be a problem. It's probably a real bear to get the angles just right, though.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
We do it all the time with NTRAK modules. I have a couple of modules with tracks running at other than a 90 degree angle to the edge. We use 5 inch joiner tracks. teh ties are cut back on one end so that the rail joiners will slide all the way on. slip one end into the joiners then slide the rail joiners out onto the next section.
Curves are the tough ones to make. You need a way to lock the rails in place on each fixed section. They will try to straighten themselves if you don't. We've used fixed radius sectional track at each end and I did one using pieces of circuit board at the ands. Solder the rails to it, cut a gap in the copper between the rails. The sectional track is simpler but it's limited to available radii.
Martin Myers
I'm in the track planning stages for my first foray into building a sectional layout, and I have one important question for those of you who have worked with sectionals:
Is it imperative that connecting tracks be perpendicular with the edge of the table? Or is it possible to occasionally have a track running at an angle to the edge?
I'm planning on using 6" pieces of removable track to connect sections.
Anyone successful with having those connecting tracks running at an angle?