Flex Track

[g-pa1]

Can someone explain to me how to attach flex track to go around a bend and attach to another piece of 9" straight track? When I bend the flextrack one rail at one end gets very long and disappears entirely at the other end. Do I need to take out 5 or 6 ties and attach the two sections of track? I have yet to solder the two track sections together but if I did and then bent it into a curve wouldn't I have to cut ties away anyway? I just seem to be flex track challenged. Gene

[crazyd37]

WOW, Thanks for this information to all! Great topic, great suggestions, as usual. Dot

[beastranger]

Gee, if Fred wins he can fly us all to his place for the party! Punk

[untabubba]

Actually, AMI has markings on it as well. I didn't notice them at first, but they are there. You just have to be careful when laying the track. Just kind of lightly stick it until you are sure.........THEN mash it in real good! One man's cork is another man's AMI...... Whatever THAT is supposed to mean! Marc

[trmwf]

Marc, I have laid a lot of track and don't believe I ever got a curve right the first time. Just think it would be a whole lot easier to pull a little pin here and there to adjust the radius then pull the whole thing up out of the goo to work on little spots. prof

[ginzokid]

Keep talking Prof. You are again making my case against the AMI roadbed. You guys work too hard at easements too. I can tell you that an N scale engine does not know the difference between an "eased" curve and one that is not. It's all in the "look" you want to achieve and only those highly visable cosmetic curved need be "eased". The rest can just go with what works for smooth running. Remember. This is done for fun, not science or work output. B-)

[janesew]

Right on Pete! I'm just collecting ideas for future layouts. I'm pleased with how my curves are but I did notice that I liked the look of "eased" curves and how the trains moved on other layouts. I also liked how some HO layouts looked with "banked" curves. I think that might get pretty finicky with "N' though. Now, for On30.... For some, the fun is in the work and understanding the science. Part of the fun for me is incorporating some of those prototypical details into my layout but I'm not nuts about it. My layout certainly isn't prototypical. As I stated before, I would like to attend an operating session to learn more about how a real RR works. Who knows, I might actually enjoy that sort of thing. At the very least I will incorporate some of the ideas into my layout plan to give me more play options. Everybodie's got their reasons for doing things the way they do (although using the AMI roadbed has me baffled too). How about those guys who scratch build N scale turnouts. Fred

[trmwf]

Fred, Super-elevating your curves is not hard. Just stick some real thin plastic pieces under and around the outside edge of the ties before ballasting. The tricky part is not getting it too much as the change in gravity will definately affect the electrical pickup of the loco. If you have tooo much the loco leans to the inside too much and gets "lite" on the outside rail losing contact. There was an article in MR a couple of years ago or maybe a few years ago about doing it. prof

[beastranger]

Fred How about those guys that hand lay track of any scale! I don't follow any set radius for turns on my layout. I just roughly figure where I want the track to go. Then try to get the flextrack to "flow" into the largest turns the area will allow. My only rule of thumb is that the smoother a transition the less trouble it will cause. Punk

[ginzokid]

Fred and Mike, Use shims of 0.10" white styrene on the outside rail. I have done this a lot in N scale. Any thicker and you get that flop over Mike is talking about. And start the "super-elevation" about 4" into the curve, let the track "float", don't nail or glue this area down, from there back to the straight part and fill this air space in with ballast. The shims are cut from 1/8" wide strip styrene about 2" long and placed under the outside rail only and glued to the cork roadbed. I tried to put the shims under the cork once, and as you can imagine, this did not work well since only one half was tilted and it left a dip in the center at the joint of the two halves of cork. The shims work better with the stiffness of the flex track. Now if you really want to get rediculous, you could start with just the cork glued down and then, using a plane, shave the tilt into the cork itself.....but then you would have a dip where the curve met the straight. Or you could plane some balsa or basswood sheets cut to the proper width of the cork roadbed and also to the right curvature with easement incorporated, and then you would have a super-elevated base on which to lay your cork and track. Nah! Stick to the styrene shims. B-)

[janesew]

Hi Pete & Mike, In your opinion, did you notice the super-elevation in the N scale after you shimmed and shimmied? Is it too subtle for the amount of work? Was it worth doing and did you encounter any troubles other than the rules of gravity vs electrical pick-up? Doug, when I first laid out my curves I was pretty anal about the radius as I had a lot of double track curves and I wanted to have it really even. Without the easement it looks too even and sort of toy-like in a way. It is my first layout and I did it "by the book", so to speak... the only problem is that I used the Cliff's Notes version. 🙂 (it's Coles Notes in Canada) The other, more "organic" curves, I could do by eyeballing and then checking the radius later. I've just ripped up and re-layed my trestle, and the approach to it, as it was too tight for any steam bigger than the 4 in a 0-4-0 if you catch my physics. I am pleased with the results and so is my light Mikado. Like many new model RR'ers I fell into the trap of being greedy with more and more track in a small space. On the upside, I have a lot of track in a small space. Fred-4-0

[trmwf]

Fred, We probably could have had a whole new thread on super-elevating curves. Yes it is subtle but then again it is supposed to be and it really is not that much work. You don't want it looking like Daytona. It looks best on broad sweeping curves. People built layouts for years and years without it and they looked fine so it is not a got-to-have type thingy. If you run taller equipment like auto racks and double stacks it is more noticeable than the shorter stuff. Real rr's do it just to relieve the strain on the outside rail to eliminate the rail rolling over. The only other problem with it is that I think it increases the chance of "string lining" if you have a long train but then that depends on other things also such as the radius. I have one curve with about a 30" radius that I didn't super-elevate but wish I would have. prof

[trmwf]

Oh yeah, it also helps a great deal with rail wear on the ball of the outside rail and helps the rail greasers do their job. prof You do model rail greasers right???

[trmwf]

I have quite a bit of hand-laid code 55 and 40 rail in my yard and really enjoyed doing it. Would I do it again? Probably not as after you add the ballast it is hard to notice anyway but it was fun doing it. I also tried hand building my turnouts and it is not hard you just have to practice a lot to get good at it and I didn't have the time to invest at the time. Now that I have all the commercial jobs I will ever need there is no need to go back and practice but it is worth the attempt just to say that you did it. It is kind of like building a new house, it is something that everyone ought to do at least one....but only once right Gene. prof

[ginzokid]

Mike, I always employ the rail greasers on my sharp curves to lessen the squeal of the wheels and on steep grades also...you know the reason why. The movie "The Emperor of the North" starring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine shows a prime example of the rail greasing application. I'm not going to bother with super-elevation on the new layout. After all, I really don't think it was the fashion on the narrow gauges where the speeds were a choice of two.....slow or crawl. Mike I applaud your hand laid efforts. They really look good in your pictures. My forte just happens to be building models. I'll bet if we all could get together we could build one hell of a layout together. Flex Rules! B-)

[g-pa1]

Prof, You ar soooo right. This may not be my last house though. I still have the poor house and the nursing 'house' yet to aspire to! But I do love the one level.The layout becons in the basement and I now have three tracks going. I used a little flextrack (there is alot to be said for snap track though)and am now in the process of bulletproofing the long track.Kato loco's do not like small radii. Even the F 3 that I have. I don't have the track on anything but the foam and inclines so far and the track moves after a number of trips the loco runs around the track. The lifelike GP 38's seem to have little problem though. The MRC 260 I picked up awhile ago on ebay really makes a difference.I think that the AMI will hold the track together much like soldering would. Gene