Howdy,
I have been using N-scale flex track for years, but have always been unhappy with the way long tangent sections look. I just cannot get the track straight enought to suit me.
Has anyone on here used the RibbonRail 24" tangent tool?
Any suggestions on other tracklaying tools that are a "must to have" item?
Thanks
Chuck
I suppose there are some who use those, but I personally think they would waste my time and money.
I scribe my layout and follow with the corkbed as precisely as I can, and then my radius trackwork follows the roadbed as closely as possible. I do make adjustments by eye, and sometimes those bring the smoothest line a little off roadbed center, but that's not a big deal.
When putting together a long straight, I'll snap a chalkline from end to end, and scribe it again with pencil using a 36" wooden ruler. I lay my corkbed to the pencil mark. When I set the flex, I tack both ends exactly in the center of the roadbed split first, and then I tack the ruler against outside of either rail. I then just push the track snug against the ruler and nail it down. They come out straight as an arrow everytime.
My 2 cents.
I use them in HO so perhaps my experiences are only partly useful for someone in N.
I have both the tangent and the various curve radius track laying tools. I lay my track using adhesive caulk and it can be useful, after you have placed the track down on the fresh caulk, to run a radius tool through it. It is amazing what kinks can be created just by the process of touching the flex track. And by that time the centerline in the cork roadbed has disappeared under the caulk, which comes out white but dries clear.
Also, and here I lack experience with N scale flex track, in HO some flex track such as Atlas is like a wet noodle -- pick it up and it bends. But other makes are quite stiff, such as Shinohara, Micro Engineering, the old Atlas fiber tie track, etc.
The tangent lengths (I have them in 6, 12, and 18 inches) are useful for taking that rigid flex track and straightening it. It is tough to do this with a straight edge, or by hand, or using the old eyeball method. Ditto when creating curves. You HAVE to create the curve, you cannot just follow the centerline of your cork roadbed as you lay the track. And in some spots I use Woodland Scenics black foam roadbed that has no centerline unless I draw one in.
I do not want to overstate the wonderfulness of the product. Frankly running a 40" radius track tool through stiff flex track does NOT create a 40" radius curve, at least not without alot of repetitive effort. It is not a magic bullet. But it is useful and has helped me lay better track than if I just followed the centerline of my cork roadbed.
One man's opinion, nothing more, nothing less.
Dave Nelson
If you have worked on a number of projects around your house , you probably have an assortment of levels, T-squares and other straight edges of various lengths. Clamp one of these straight edges to one side of your track before your glue or nail it down. Once the track is secured, you can remove the straight edge. The straight edge should be as long as your tangent. One other issue to keep in mind is that swings in temperature and humidity levels can cause the subroadbed to shrink enough to buckle the track. If this is a possibility, offset the middle of the tangent just a 1/16th or eight of an inch from the straight edge and allow this track to float after being achored at the ends. This slight curve will hardly be noticeable but will be able to absorb temperature/humidity swings without kinking (buckling the track).
I'm hesitant to buy track laying tools, because, unless you build layouts all the time, once your trackwork is done, those tools are instantly useless (as opposed to tools like screwdrivers, pin vises, X-acto knifes, Dremel, etc, where they are constantly used for modeling purposes).
I have found a nice way to make perfect flextrack radii without the use of such tools, but I'm currently writing an article for MR so I won't give away my secret until then :)
Bob D As long as you surface as many times as you dive you`ll be alive to read these posts.
jdtractorboy wrote: Howdy,I have been using N-scale flex track for years, but have always been unhappy with the way long tangent sections look. I just cannot get the track straight enought to suit me.Has anyone on here used the RibbonRail 24" tangent tool?Any suggestions on other tracklaying tools that are a "must to have" item?ThanksChuck
I assume by "tangent" you mean the long straight sections of track between the curves. There are two tools I use the most. One is simply a yardstick. I hold it down and snug one rail up against it as I go along and pin it in place. The other tool, and I can't take credit for the original idea, is my laser level. I set it to shine a red line down the cork where I want one of the rails to be and just line up the rail so that the red line is hitting the top of it all the way down. If the track is coming off another straight section, or even off the straight ends of a turnout, I just set the level back far enough that it shines along a bit of the existing rail to extend the line. I even tried stringing a tight string between two nails. It sort of worked, but the string kept getting pushed out of alignment as I worked on the track. Another thing that might work is to snap a chalk line along the edge of the ties, but I haven't tried that one yet.
I agree with you that N scale flex track can get pretty floppy and has a habit of developing minute wiggles in it and is impossible to lay perfectly straight by eye.
..... Bob
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I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
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