Sorry friends, but I am new at this and I have been unable to find out how to post a query. I am intoducing my grandson to the hobby and want to know how I can lubricate Atlas Nickel Silver flexible rail (3 foot lengths) which have been stored for 35 years to make them flexible again without ruining the plastic ties.
Thank for any help and assitance
Buho
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I had some Atlas flex track stored for over 15 years and it required no lubrication to make it flexible. I did need to get a track cleaner like a bright boy and clean the rails, which were dirty to shine them up for good electrical contact for the engines.
If your track won't bend, it may be due to the plastic having gotten stiff and brittle over time? If thats the case, lubricating may make no difference if you were to attempt it. I've honestly never heard of anyone lubricating flex track before; some have put Wahl Clipper oil on the top of the rail because they feel it helps keep the track clean, but never to get the track to flex. I would suggest gently flexing it but it you are afraid it will break, use it for straight sections and get new fresh flext track for curved areas.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I remember the very first Atlas plastic tie flex track (and I have some recollection it came in 2 foot lengths, not 3 foot) and it was very difficult to bend, about the same stiffness as the fibre tie flex track (maybe Atlas assumed that is what people wanted). I wonder if this could be some of this older stuff?
The super flexible stuff that bends just by picking it up was a later development.
If you have some of the older stuff it can be bent, but it takes some work, and some of the curve templates such as Ribbonrail sells, or sold, can help. There are similar products available from other sources.
I can't think why some of the newer super flexible stuff would lose its flexibility unless it was actually laid as track and came into contact with glues or cements. If extreme heat (such as in an attic) was enough to meld the ties to the rails and make it no longer flexible, I'd think there would be other distortions in the ties.
Dave Nelson
You could try spraying it with silicone spray. Then gently work things loose.
Be sure to clean the flex track thoroughly clean before use. Glue, paint, and ballast doesn't stick to silicone very well.
How much track are we talking abou? Is it worth the bother vs just buying new?
Joe Staten Island West
The OP is in Chile, the cost and availability of HO track there, is an unknown for the rest of us.
Plasticizers are the stuff in plastic that make them flexible and is one of the things that makes a new car smell. They evaporate over time. Possibly more so it the track was stored in a hot attic. You can't put them back.
Hot water may be worth a try though.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
SouthPenn You could try spraying it with silicone spray. Then gently work things loose. Be sure to clean the flex track thoroughly clean before use. Glue, paint, and ballast doesn't stick to silicone very well.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Steven Otte To post a new message, go to the Forum you want to post in (the view that lists all the topics already in the Forum), and click the blue button at the top that says "Create a new discussion topic."
riogrande5761 I had some Atlas flex track stored for over 15 years and it required no lubrication to make it flexible. I did need to get a track cleaner like a bright boy and clean the rails, which were dirty to shine them up for good electrical contact for the engines. If your track won't bend, it may be due to the plastic having gotten stiff and brittle over time? If thats the case, lubricating may make no difference if you were to attempt it. I've honestly never heard of anyone lubricating flex track before; some have put Wahl Clipper oil on the top of the rail because they feel it helps keep the track clean, but never to get the track to flex. I would suggest gently flexing it but it you are afraid it will break, use it for straight sections and get new fresh flext track for curved areas.
Thank you for your suggestions ; however I would like to clarify that the problem is caused by humidity. I live on the coast and we have plenty of fog and drizzle in the mornings. If I put tue track in water, it flexes easily with no problems, but once it dries, it gets stiff again and I was hoping there was an easy and permanent solution. It seams I will have to put them in water one by one as I need them.
Rgds Buho
Are these virgin tracks or have they been used once and then recovered?
35 years old is a long time, not for modern track of course, but 35 years ago things were not built the way they are today.
Look at the underside of the tracks. The ties on one side will be molded in pairs, where as on the other side they are molded in strips about 9 inches long. The rail on the first side is supposed to be free and slip freely, the other rail is locked to the ties and will not slip, but the plastic will bend.
The older Atlas tracks (think circa 1960) were on fiber ties with staples to hold them. They did not bend freely at all. you could bend them of course, but it was difficult to say the least. And they were Brass rails. Very hard to keep clean. The LION still has some of that stuff, but will use it in his model of Penn Station, and will be for a static display only.
I do not think that the slipery plastics that we use today were even available 35 years ago. If you must use them, the LION thinks that a heat gun could be used to soften the plastic a bit to see if that helps. Methinks you would have to get the shape just right while it is being GENTLY heated. Beyond that you could just melt the ties off of the rails and then nail the rails to wooden ties. Great craftsman ship is required, but it is fun if you are into that sort of stuff.
LION has plenty of surplus (used and ratty track) that he will salvage for guard rails and repair rails.
On subways you cannot get cranes down into the tunnels to repair a track. Two maybe four men will go down there with had tools and maybe a gas powered saw of some sort to cut out a broken rail, then they will grab a spare rail (they are left laying around all over the place down there for just this purpose), cut it and fit it into place, and hopefully will not delay the syatem for more than a half an hour.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS