? About flex track

[rogertra]

Wot Jim said.  :-)

Works every time.

[barrowsr]

there is a solution i have found that works well, but i've never seen any of the "experts" in the magazines do it. rather than remove the ties under the joint, youuse a hobby knife to carve the spike heads away. also, carve a slight bit off the tops of the ties under the rail, just enough to slip the rail joiners on. you can then solder the joint. this method works very well on curves which require more than s ections of flex track. you lay your first two sections down, carve the ties on the fixed rail side of the 2nd and t3rd pieces of track. thread the sliding rail into the tie strip of the 3rd section, and join the two sections together and solder the fixed rails together.
now, bend the 3rd section into the curve you want and fasten it down. the sliding rail of the second section, slid into the ties of the 3rd section, should push the sliding rail partway out of that section. trim the spike heads off and carve the tops of the ties where the sliding rail ends. add the rail joiner, slide the rail from the 3rd section into the joiner and solder. repeat for as many sections as you need.

Jeff,

I like your idea of leaving the ties in place and just removing the tie plates.  How do you prevent those ties directly below the soldering operation from melting?  I use a resistance soldering tool and as quick as that is any plastic within ¼ inch of the rail joint will deform.

Thanks,

Robin




this method has one huge advantage. when you are soldering the rails together, they are staggered from each other, and the opposite rail and the flex track itself willminimize any kinks in the joint
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[jward]

melting is a problem. you can use clip on heat sinks to minimize this and keep any melting restricted to the joint itself. work as quick as possible, i try to keep the heat as high on the rail as possible and remove the iron as soon as the solder melts. unless the ties are badly distorted, i've found that once ballasted and painted, the ties are barely noticeable.

just be sure everything is in alignment before you solder. you have one shot, any adjustments requiring reheating will probably melt the ties badly.

[pdlethbridge]

 I have never had a problem with joints being opposite one another. Sectional track has had that for years and the prototypes do it too. Ever seen panel track? Go up to horseshoe curve sometime and you might see a train going by with panel track in gondolas, including switches. I wonder if they buy their track from atlas?

[jward]

panel track is meant as a temporary replacement to get a line back in service quickly after a derailment or other situation where track was destroyed. it is often welded into the adjacent track as soon as possible. railroads don't like joints in the rail. they are a maintainence headache. these days, even the insulated joints are welded into the adjacent track.