[jgbeerman]

I went to the store today and purchased 12 pieces of atlas code 100 flex track and a few turouts. I also have metal rail joiners, plastic insulating rail joiners, and terminal joiners. I was wondering if anyone knew of any tutorials or wouldn't mind walking me through how to lay out some flex track and cut it and everything!

I have a layout planned for my 4X8 as a modified dogbone with a few turnouts for fun! I plan on going DCC but will be using a dc transformer to test the track at this point until I have the money for the DCC unit. I have a few sets of the terminal joiners and was wondering why having multiple areas for power connection was needed. The guy at the store explained it to me, but it was alot of information to take in. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


If any clarification is needed, just let me know!

Thanks

 

[jgbeerman]

no worries on the multiple terminal joiners part of my post, was supplied that answer via another post!

still need help with the flex track!

 

[tankist]

try searching the forum. there was plenty good discussions on this. but i guess we can have another one

there is not much to laying flex track on cork roadbed.
mark centerline with pen/marker. tie a string to it to make large radius's . mark any easements that you doing with more radius. spread adhesive caulk (ie dap...) lay down cork in halfs along the centerline, it will grab fast, yet will be somewhat adjustable. put weights (cork is springy in curves), let it dry for couple hours and repeat with other half. the joint will mark the centerline and tacking down flex sections is no brainer. before putting rail it is a good time to paint your roadbed grey if you so want.

it is arguable where the sliding rail goes, some do on the inside , some on the outside. it is not possible to curve the very end of the flex so plan on last inch or 2 being streight. when joining flex to to ordinary section i stager the joins, meaning make the rails different length (easy since one of the rails will be longer anyways) , cutting the rail but not the plastic tie grid. then the i slide the extra length into the plastic. i solder and polish all my joins.

flex rail on the left, rigid section on the right. line marks where the tie grid of rigid section ends (since then i resoldered the joins for cleaner performance) so the flex conforms to section shape exactly and transition is seamless.

 

[tjcruiser]

Tankist ...

Good tips there on staggered joints, soldered connections. Professional work!

jgbeerman ...

For what it's worth, I found that it was quite easy to trim the flextrack rails to length with a little abrasive wheel on my Dremel. Quick cuts ... easy burr cleanup. I usually cut the rail from the top, then flipped the track over to trim the plastic ties (and plastic tie-to-tie connectors). I used rail joiners to connect sections of track (though I like your solder idea) ... as such, I needed to cut away the end-most tie, leaving room for the joiner to slip on the end of the rail. When all done, I cut off several individual plastic ties (from leftover flex pieces), and simply slipped them under the rail joiner sections (friction fit, only) to give a cleaner look without gaps in the ties.

TJ