Cutting sub-roadbed for L-Girder: do you have to "wing it" a bit?

[hominamad]

So last week I did one more pass through my benchwork. I lowered my crossover to 3.5" and re-leveled a few areas. Also added a few more supports to areas that needed it. I'm ready to start planning out my track laying now.

I decided that I'm going to go with the Tortoise motors instead of the Pecos - which means I'll have to remove those little springs in the Peco turnouts. I picked up one Tortoise to use as a guide to make sure I have enough clearance, etc under my layout as I start to put down the track.

I also picked up the Jeff Wilson Basic Trackwork book which hopefully will give me some good pointers. I really want to make sure I don't screw up at this phase. I know there's nothing more frusrating than having constant derailments.

Most of my plan is pretty straightforward as far as track complexity, but there is one area where I have a few turnouts in a row, that curve and meet up with some other turnouts. These are the areas that concern me the most. I want to make sure I avoid the situation where the curve is not smooth going into or out of a turnout.

Also some other questions - I was just playing around with attaching rail connectors, and attaching 2 turnouts together. This is the closest I was able to get the two rails without cutting any ties. Is this an acceptable gap or should I try to get everything so that its flush? I pushed a boxcar up and down the run and it had no problems - I couldn't even hear it going over the gap. But I want to make sure. In order to get it closer I will need to cut the second set of ties out.

Also, for this situation below, I'm pretty sure I Need to snip some of the ties - and even the switching bar in order to get these tracks to fit. What's the best tool for doing this? Dremmel? Xacto knife? I really want to make sure I don't permanantly mess up these $25 turnouts!

Last question (for now) - is it common or realistic goal to use all flex track for the entire layout? Or are there certain situations where it just makes sense to use some pieces of sectional? How do you determine which to use?

Thanks again everyone.... If I'm asking too many questions here just let me know!

Actually - one last thing I remembered - and maybe this is a dumb question. What do you guys use for making marks on your plywood? I've been using a pencil but I found that it's almost impossible to erase if I need to redraw something on top. I end up with a mess of lines. Is there anything more clever I can use for this?

~H

[fwright]

hominamad

Last question (for now) - is it common or realistic goal to use all flex track for the entire layout? Or are there certain situations where it just makes sense to use some pieces of sectional? How do you determine which to use?

A lot depends on how comfortable you are with bending and laying and getting the results you want with flex track.  Different makes of flex track bend differently, further complicating the answer.

If using Atlas flex, the natural spring makes it rather difficult to bend and keep the track in a consistent radius curve.  You almost have to have a series of curved gauges to hold it in a fixed radius while gluing or fastening the track.  OTOH, Atlas flex naturally forms very nice easements.

At the other extreme is Micro-Engineering (ME).  I find the best way to bend the stiff flex track is to cut an inside plywood template (including easement) to bend it against.  But once bent, ME flex track stays bent, so fastening it down is a piece of cake.

To directly answer your question, it is easier for me to lay a consistent 18" radius curve with snap track than it is to lay Atlas flex track.  OTOH, flex track is easier to use for straight track, and is the only way to get nice transitions. 

Actually - one last thing I remembered - and maybe this is a dumb question. What do you guys use for making marks on your plywood? I've been using a pencil but I found that it's almost impossible to erase if I need to redraw something on top. I end up with a mess of lines. Is there anything more clever I can use for this?

When it gets to that point - and I've been there - it's time to slap a coat of paint (gray or tan are good colors that still show pencil marks) on the plywood and start over.

just my thoughts and experiences

Fred W

[doctorwayne]

hominamad

....Also some other questions - I was just playing around with attaching rail connectors, and attaching 2 turnouts together. This is the closest I was able to get the two rails without cutting any ties. Is this an acceptable gap or should I try to get everything so that its flush? I pushed a boxcar up and down the run and it had no problems - I couldn't even hear it going over the gap. But I want to make sure. In order to get it closer I will need to cut the second set of ties out.

Regarding the turnouts where the rails don't quite meet: simply trimming the rail joiner so that it doesn't strike the tie will cure that.  I prefer a cut-off disc in my Dremel for such tasks, and it's also useful for cutting back rail where you need to place turnouts closer together than normal:  this works for turnouts on the same track or ones which form part of a crossover between two parallel tracks.

hominamad

 

.....Also, for this situation below, I'm pretty sure I need to snip some of the ties - and even the switching bar in order to get these tracks to fit. What's the best tool for doing this? Dremmel? Xacto knife? I really want to make sure I don't permanantly mess up these $25 turnouts!

I'd use a utility knife for this job:  a Dremel isn't a good choice for cutting plastic, and an X-Acto is a little too light-duty.  Trim the ties which interfere with one another as necessary, but leave the ones which fit into the spaces between the ties of the other track.
With the points in the same position as shown in the photo, trim off any portion of the throwbar which extends beyond that turnout's ties towards the diverging route.  Also cut off those headblocks even with the tie-ends, then re-install the cut-off portions on the opposite side of the turnout (where the stubby ones are located).  You may or may not need to alter the length to suit.

 

hominamad

....Last question (for now) - is it common or realistic goal to use all flex track for the entire layout? Or are there certain situations where it just makes sense to use some pieces of sectional? How do you determine which to use?

I'm not a fan of sectional track at all (too many joints to be soldered) but if you have some that you want to use-up, I'd use the straight stuff:  much easier to align a bunch of already-straight pieces than a piece of flex which is likely pretty wavy.  If you have a long straightedge, you can use it as a physical guide, but the best way to ensure that track is straight is to sight down it.  I used Atlas track and fastened it in place with track nails.  While I prefer them because it permits easy re-alignment, I found that after about a month of running trains, the "straights" had quite a few "wows" in them, even though they were straight when installed.  I attributed this to everything acclimatising to the layout room environment, but it may also be the nature of nailed-down flex track.      Regardless of that, I re-straightened the problem areas and then quickly ballasted everything.  Nothing appears to have moved since then.

hominamad

.....What do you guys use for making marks on your plywood? I've been using a pencil but I found that it's almost impossible to erase if I need to redraw something on top. I end up with a mess of lines. Is there anything more clever I can use for this?

About the only mark I used was a track centreline in a few places.  Most of the track was simply placed where it seemed to work best, but I wasn't working from a formal plan.  If you require the marks, you could use coloured pencils (and remember which particular colour represents the latest revision and the marks to be used), or the coat of paint suggested should do the trick. 

Wayne

[wickman]

I normally use flex track exclusively with all joints soldered. I  use  a dremel with cut off disc for cutting the rails.Snip  the ties  that touch at turnout  intersections with side cutters. Take two ties  off at each  rail joint from each  track. I  don't take  ties off  any turnouts. When laying  the  flex track out I  don't  go out of  my  way to  make the  track  straight on straight  aways and on curves I  try to  let the track relax  comfortably into  the curve to get  a natural   bend and for curves  I  solder three 3 foot flex tracks straight leaving  the  moving rail to  the inside  for  the curve then remove  ties as is needed as the flex track  is put into the curve and the joints  push on the ties. Keep  an eye out for the turnouts to not line up over  any cross   braces and leave  plenty of room for the tortoise motor. For lining up the tortoise motors  I  use double back  velcro ,  the  one that  has a peel  off sticky side on each mate, I apply one  have to tortoise and the mating velcro  to the underside  of the wood  the tortoise will mount to. I  then line up the tortoise wire through peco turnout and test the throw of the turnout and if I have to adjust I simply give the tortoise a push which ever way and the velcro holds it in place and when all is working good I put the 4 screws to fasten down. Also  I don't use the screws that come with  the tortoise I buy robertson head type screws the size that  takes the yellow  handled screw driver. Hope this helps

Lynn