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Layin Track

2849 Views 15 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  tankist
what are the do's and don'ts,

I don't want to use the quick connect stuff that came in the set, and I was at hobby lobby the other night and noticed the bendable stuff.

Is the bendable all there is, or do you actually build track from scratch like laying ties out and then laying rails.

again, have no clue about anything train related, real or model.

thanks guys.
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i use flextrack as much as i can.tacked and glued to cork roadbed. the joints are almost all soldered, besides the isolating plastic joiners.

the club i visited hand lays their stuff (just as you said - ties and then rails)
srry, i can't help it , i really love lmgtfy, :rolleyes:

but as far as purpose - IMO first and foremost noise reduction. in addition, if you going to use foam as your base you can't tack flex sections down, the foam just doesn't hold those little nails very good, cork (glued to foam) however does.
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 (easi since one for the rails) , 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.
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its the rail code, basically how high the rail profile. code 100 represents the heaviest rail. it also provides full backwards compatibility for old trains. its arguably the cheapest. ties are black

code 83 is more prototypical and provides smooth running for both modern NMRA pr25 profile wheels and NEM profile (1.0-1.2mm of flange) European trains. looks better. ties are brown. old equipment barely runs and jumps on switches.

code 75, looks even better IMO but nothing other then new NMRA standard wheel sets will run on it

4.5-5$ per 3ft section is about the average price. concrete tie flex sections are more. look for used stuff for better price (was 1$ a piece at my LHS). also "looks better"is obviously subjective matter. my opinion in this case
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