I finally got through all of the Atlas and other flex track I have been hoarding for years and started using the Life-Like track I bought last year (on sale from Walthers) for the layout. The thing I notice most about the Life-Like compared to the others is it doesn't have one side of the ties tight against the rail and minimal spaces where said ties can flex. There are the same number of spaces (25) between all of the ties under each rail and the pattern of the spaces just seems to be flipped end to end. With all of the flexibility of this track I never know if there will be a bunch of excess ties at the end when I am making a curve or just excess rail. Anyone have any tips for the best way to use this track?
Good Luck, Morpar
I don't recall using LL flex track. Are both rails freely moving or is it like ME where you have to coax it into making a curve?
When I lay flex track, I pin it down, in place making sure the rails abut. Having excess rail on the inside radius is common unless you have Railroad Empire radii. I mark the long rail with a thin point sharpie and cut it and any ties I need to from either end.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Both rails move with pretty much equal ease. One time I have extra ties, and the next it's extra rail on the same curve. I considered trying to flow some ACC onto one side to lock it in, but not sure if the glue will adhere to the ties. On the plus side it does solder nicely.
Once I get past this helix the appearance will be more important, so I really want to figure out it there is a good way to tell which side should be on the outside of this track. I know my local club has some in use, but won't get the chance to go over there for another 2 weeks. This track was recommended to me as pretty much the same as Atlas, but my results aren't even close to the same.
In general, on flextrack, whenever possible, the side that doesn't have all the ties connected goes to the inside of the curve for appearance sake.
Any time you curve something one side of the curve will have a different dimension than the other. Think about auto racing: the bottom of the track nets a shorter run than the top which is why most of the time everyone wants to be on the inside line for double or triple file racing.