Looking for any hints and tips on straightening a length of flex track that is no longer quite straight.
Richard
Do you have a yardstick? Put one edge of the yardstick down between the rails, and press the rail against it.
It's not going to stay straight until it is fixed to a surface with nails or glue. I prefer to use Atlas track nails and lay it straight by putting the nails on a centerline I drew with a pencil and a long straight edge. After it is down you can sight with it with you eye to make it real straight by nudging it one way or the other where it is out of alignment. You can't do it that way if you use glue during the early stages of track laying I might add. With glue you gotta get it dead on first time, which for many of us ain't easy. Sometimes the old ways are still the best!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
JMD Plastics makes a template that fits between the rails -- for tangents as well as various curves.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/374-209
There are other makers of these handy track laying tools, including Ribbonrail, in various lengths
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/170-8002
You slide the template between the rails and it removes kinks; you use it while laying the track and it will be secured straight.
The one made by MLR is a bit different as the template has grooves that fit over the rails, but it is the same basic concept. And it is currently on sale at Walthers
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/479-5015
Dave Nelson
I use the yard/metre ( I think Walthers track is a metre long) stick to straighten it. For long straight stretches I use the yard stick or a five foot level along the edge of the ties to make sure it's straight. I also (most often) just turn the track on its side and work it back to strait on a table or desk or the bench. I really like the flex track that stays where you bend it to.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I am using Peco Code 55 (N scale) track and am using the yard stick approach. The challenge I am running into is working a slight bow out of the middle of the track. The Peco track maintains the bend and, as I straigthen the middle, it just relocates the bend a little further up or down the track. I have tried to work the whole thing straight, only to find that there is still a bow somewhere, usually due to a little overcompensation on my part. I guess I will need to keep practicing.
That's what they told the guy, that asked '' How do you get to Carnegie Hall" Practice baby! Practice.
Striped
BATMAN I use the yard/metre ( I think Walthers track is a metre long) stick to straighten it. For long straight stretches I use the yard stick or a five foot level along the edge of the ties to make sure it's straight. I also (most often) just turn the track on its side and work it back to strait on a table or desk or the bench. I really like the flex track that stays where you bend it to.
The same method for straightening track will also work to create smooth link free turns. ME track especially thier bridge flex is some of the most stubborn to gain clean sweeping bends. If you cut a template (1/4" ply or masonite) to the inside arc of the turn (inside ties) you can gently curve the track to the template. No kinks at all.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
This is how I do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1O2X890tig
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
You may have to drill a few more centering holes in the ties to keep it straight. If it is bowing out of shape after you nail it its going to need the few extra nails, you need a pin vise to drill the holes, find the center tie in the bow and thats where you will drill the tie and put the extra nail to keep it straight. After you drill the hole remove the nail just ahead and nail the tie you just made the extra hole in to keep it straight and continue this process as you move along the troublesum length of rail. Jim.
Hi,
A quick way to get most of it straightened is to hold on end between your thumb and forefinger, and slap the track down on a hard surface (plywwod or stick lumber would be best). This will quickly straighten out all but the part you are holding.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Hi Richard; On the underside of the Peco C55 track are little indents to drill from the underside up through the tie. I use a number 66 drill bit and my small drill driver with a MicroMark small drill chuck to drill these if I think I will need to nail the track straight. My Midwest cork roadbed is glued down on center line marks and I lay the track to the centerline of the cork.
I will lay the track on its side and push against the tie ends to get fairly straight, lay on the cork and slip in a nail. As I go, I am constantly looking down the track at Eye level. When I have the straight sections installed I again will adjust the track untill all of the sections are straight by taking a nail set and slightly pushing one way or the other on the nail head just a touch to get any blip out.
I for one, am old school and do not use caulk to lay track. I nail my track with peco nails only, (they have very small heads) and after the track is spray painted with Krylon Camo Brown Ultra Flat paint and ballast is in you have to look real hard to see the nails. I tried caulk one time and did not like the process but that is just me. By nailing the track in the proper holes and taking my time I can say I have very straight track when it needs to be. Be sure to use a small nail punch and don't have the nail so tight it pushes the tie down to far into the cork making the track go out of gauge. I just snug the nail head to the top of the tie and no more.
If you read the how too books and I have many of them, you will see nails used by many of the experts. Anyway that is how I install Peco C55 track in a straight line. Doug
OK, I presume this is new track, just start laying it, and pinning it down. It should work fine. It depends on the make, if it is the old brass Atlass on fiber ties, forget about it, or use it for a static display somewhere.
Now if this is used track (and the LION has reused a lot of track) that has paint, ballast, glue, solder connections, or cork adhearing to it, or gaps cut into the track, you must patiently clean it and repair it first. It can be done, LION has did it, but then LIONS have lots of time to play with the stuff, and less money to spend on new stuff.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I use Atlas flex track and when I want to straighten a piece I set it on edge (against the outside of ties) and give it a slight tap against a flat surface (like a table top) and it straightens right out. I don't know if this would work with other brands that aren't as flexible (like ME or Shinohara) but it is work a try.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Richard,
I'm not familiar with Peco flex, but when you say the bend relocates it makes me suspect that the ties are binding. With Atlas flex, one rail is "fixed" and one is free to slide in the ties. Old glue or solder blobs that keep the free rail from sliding can make Atlas flex act like that. If Peco is built similarly perhaps that is the cause of the mysterious moving "bow".
Lou
farrellaa I use Atlas flex track and when I want to straighten a piece I set it on edge (against the outside of ties) and give it a slight tap against a flat surface (like a table top) and it straightens right out. I don't know if this would work with other brands that aren't as flexible (like ME or Shinohara) but it is work a try. -Bob
Yes it works with ME, this is the method I use.
Jack W.
rgengineoiler I for one, am old school and do not use caulk to lay track. I nail my track with peco nails only. . . If you read the how too books and I have many of them, you will see nails used by many of the experts. Anyway that is how I install Peco C55 track in a straight line.
I for one, am old school and do not use caulk to lay track. I nail my track with peco nails only. . .
If you read the how too books and I have many of them, you will see nails used by many of the experts. Anyway that is how I install Peco C55 track in a straight line.
Okay, I am going to thread jack my own topic. I think I know the answer to this ("no"), but I will ask anyway. Do track nails work if the underlayment is foam.
Should be easy enough to try. I will give it a shot when I get home.
Rio
I can't agree more about using nails over adhesive when laying track. There is absolutely no room for adjustments. And if there is, what a mess. Not to mention that the piece of track might even become useless and scrapped. And even the best layed track will need room for adjustments for any given engine. Each engine, especially steam, seem to be unique for certain curves and turnouts. One area of track that seems to be smooth running for one engine, might be a nightmare for another. And as some wiseman once said on this very forum, " If your are having trouble with an engine, 90% of the time it's the track and not the engine that needs fixing." Or something close to that.
By the way who actually said that? Please come forward. I have your saying written on my wall and I want to thank you. LOL
Richard, I can't answer your question about nailing track to foam and I don't use foam under my track. Again I am old school and use Midwest Cork. Fun to install on marked lines, nails will go through the cork and anchor to the plywood and very quite running and my last railroad lasted 25 years with no problems. I am using foam for some of my scenery buildups but not under my track. Doug