flex track

[skymortar]

i am building a shelf track about 1' under the ceiling of my sons bedroom.total track will be about 52'.is flex track the way to go?it is square.

[tworail]

What type of radius are you planning? For 52' of track, I'm guessing the room is around 12x12, which gives you plenty to work with in the corners, 2 or 3 or 4 ft radius which is quite wide. As long as you can get to the flex track up high and nail it down, I don't see why not. You can do all your testing on the floor below provided it's not full of furniture :)

[skymortar]

the room is 13x13.i can nail it down quite easily.do you think this is the best alternative?thanks.

[tworail]

Well, sectional track would be easier, but I don't think they make large radius curves in sectional, from what I remember.

Are you putting any switches in? Or is this just a straight loop?

[skymortar]

just a run around the ceiling on 1x6.i want to keep my gussets in the corners as small as possible but i will be running a 4-8-4 with passenger cars.so i know i need to turn a little wide.i have been tinkering with a 4x8 layout for my home office but as you can probably tell im pretty green.this is for my two year olds room who cant get enough of "choo chooos".any advice would be greatly appreciated.thanks.

[stationmaster]

I have to disagree with tworail, I like flex track. I think that it is easier to work with and gives you more flexibility(no pun intended) with your lay out. And fewer connections.

Just my $.02.

[T-Man]

Something that large you will need to add a few power leads so the engine makes it around.
My 2 pennies.

[stationmaster]

Something that large you will need to add a few power leads so the engine makes it around.
My 2 pennies.

I have leads every 4' +/-. I think I have all of my dead spots covered.

My layout has a bit of overkill in that I run DCC and have blocked the layout. The DCC was an afterthought. The price was way too high when I started the layout. I wasn't about to climb under the tables and start ripping out wire. But, the lights on the detection board look neat.

Just remember to solder the leads on the OUTSIDE of the rail.