track laying question

[GGOOLER]

hello all,

im just getting ready to put down some track. ive always used plain white elmers glue on my other layouts. im going to try caulking this time, and have a question. what size bead to use? i know the elmers glue was about 1/16" or so. is there a need with caulking for less or alittle more?

edit: sorry, ho scale track.

thanks

glenn

[cowman]

You do not need a large bead of caulk.  All you want is to be able to use a putty knife and smooth a very thin strip about as wide as the track.  When you push the track onto the strip of caulk, none should squish out from under the ties.  The caulk has plenty of stick to hold most track in place, though on curves using flex track, it's a good idea to put in a few T-pins to hold the curve while drying.  It is also a good idea to put some weight on it once in place and let it dry at least overnight.  I used to wait at least 24 hours, as that was the next time I could get back to the layout.  Nice thing is that it also has a reasonable working time, so you can reposition the track easily for 10-20 minutes, if necessary,, unlike contact cement.

 I used it to put my extruded foam together, attach cork to the foam and track to the cork.  Worked very well.  It will also do a good job attaching track to plywood, if that is your layout base.

Good luck,

Richard

[galaxy]

A thin bead will work. Buy a cheap small offset metal spatula "knife' at the dollar store and use it to spread out the bead of caulk evenly before pressing down your track. If you can't find one there check out the cake decorating section of your favorite Crafts store. {AC Moore, Michaels, etc} They have small offset {bent} spatulas for cake decorating. AC Moore and Michaels usually have a discount coupon in the Sunday paper.

I used T pins to hold it in place and sandwich sized Zipper lock bags filled with play sand to weigh down the track while it "dried".

Have fun!

[tomikawaTT]

It doesn't take much.  Using grey caulk, I can see the various survey marks I put on the roadbed after I've spread it.  To make the spreading and tracklaying more accurate, I mark my tie-end lines rather than the centerline.

Others may use drywall knives, but I've gotten good (and cheap) results with the fake credit cards and extra rewards cards sent to me by various advertisers.  Office Depot sends me about eight a month - I might use two.  The others get used to spread caulk once or twice and then get tossed.

As for weights, I usually put lengths of 2x4 on the rails, then put 2-liter bottles of soda on the 2x4s.  We buy the stuff in case lots, and it's stored under the layout.  Others on this forum report having used canned goods.  (I've also used a short length of 65# rail, but that's gross overkill!)

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Medina1128]

Glenn, I find that a 1/4" wide bead is plenty. When credit card companies send out their junk mail with the dummy cards inside, I keep them; they're perfect for spreading caulk. Just make sure you spread it thin enough that the caulk doesn't squeeze up between the ties. I use cork roadbed, and have found that plastic head pushpins work to hold track down into the caulk. It's pretty solidly in place in 3-4 hours, but I let mine dry overnight before cutting isolation gaps or ballasting.

I know it doesn't look like much, but this track is securely held in place.

[rrinker]

 I use the clear caulk that comes out white. WHen spread thin it's almost clear, sort of a milky color, so I can still see even pencil lines throught he spread layer of caulk. It truly takes just a TINY bit to securely hold track. Caulk tubes usually have ridges on the spout where you are supposed to cut them for various size beads - this is for when using the caulk for the intended purpose. I use my rail nipper to cut a hole that barely passes a piece of #14 solid wire to pierce the foil seal inside. That's how small a bead I put downm then spread it. If you have enough of those fake plastic credit cards you can use them as disposable tools, I also have a putty knife, latex caulk just rubs off it after dry (scrape the majority on a scrap of wood first). In most cases, once spread, the caulk looks like a shiny spot on the roadbed - and it's plenty to hold the track in place. AND easily remove the track if you decide to change something.

                  --Randy

[CascadeBob]

I've used Randy's method with DAP Alex acrylic latex caulk to put down both my N-scale cork roadbed and Atlas flex track.  For spreading the caulk, I especially like the clear plastic pseudo credit cards sent out by American Express.  With the clear plastic cards you can get a better idea of how much caulk you're putting down.  I've found that I can visualize the center line on the cork roadbed clearly because the caulk leaves a white residue in the seam between the two sections of the cork forming a center line.

With my N-scale track, I position it on the cork roadbed and hold it  in place 1 1/4" long "T" pins through the track nail holes down the center line of the Atlas flex track.  I've never had to use any kind of weight to hold it down if I use "T" pins in all the nail holes.  I usually let the caulk dry overnight before I remove the "T" pins.  As I remove the pins from the track, I check to be sure the track is held solidly in place.  If I find any loose spots, I put the pins back in in the loose area and put a drop of thin Super Glue between the ties in the loose area.  Even these areas can be taken up later if necessary with a thin putty knife under the ties.

I've had one or two occasions when I've had to take up the track.  It comes up easily as advertised with a thin putty knife under the ties.  Cork does not come off as cleanly from foam board when caulk is used as the adhesive.

Bob

[GGOOLER]

thanks for the replies. i jusy laid down the same size bead as a elmers glue bottle does. used one of my angled putty knifes to smooth it out. and wo-la, all is good.

thanks

g

[Phoebe Vet]

 

When dry it looks like this:

 

[CascadeBob]

The caulk that I used is the same as that used by Dave, DAP Alex Plus - Clear.  When wet on my cork roadbed it looks like it does on Dave's foam roadbed, i.e., the center line shows as a white line of the wet caulk.

One thing I failed to mention in my earlier post is that after I get the track pinned down in it's final position, I run over the track 3-4 times with a wallpaper seam roller to firmly seat the track ties in the wet caulk.  These seam rollers are available for approximately $2.00 each at Lowes or Home Depot.

Bob

[Phoebe Vet]

I weigh mine down with cans and bottles until dry.

[rrinker]

I don;t even weight mine down. I press it down, then if it's a curve I stick in a few t-head pushpins to keep things in palce. On a straight I'll stick maybe 4 pushpins per section fo flex - one at each end, and then two more spaced along the length. For a turnout, I only palce caulk under the frog and diverging tracks, not near the poitns to avoid any psisbility of the points getting stuck. A tiny dab for the first souple of ties before the points. Usually 3 pushpins are used, one at the entrance and one on each diverging route.

 As soon as the caulk is completely clear (usually within an hour or so) I can remove the pins. The pins are smll enough that I can run cars and locos over the track with the pins in place for testing while the caulk is still tacky enough to move anythign if need be. The heads are below railhead level, so unless you have a drooping Kadee trip pin (which would catch on a turnotu anyway), it can roll over the pinned track with no fear of a sudden stop. One box of pins fromt he office cuppyl store is enough to do many many feetof track so while I CAN pull them up after only a short time, I don't have to as I have many more to work with. I did have nearly the whole box used at one time, when laying the yard tracks. The neat thing about the caulk method is it does VERY quickly, plannign ahead and being ready to go, you can lay many sections of track in a short amount of time. That includes for me drilling a hole at each joint for the feeder wires to be dropped through.

              --Randy

 

[rrebell]

I don't use weights, just lots of T pins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bearman]

Loctite all purpose adhesive caulk spread with a couple of used up Starbuck's gift cards and weighted with scrap 1 X 4 and a brick for about an hour.