Experimenting with EZ track

[czechwizard]

Hi, I'd like to experiment with Ez track a bit. I've got a 4 track mainline and I'd like to use 4 pieces of 90 degree track to literally cut through the mainline. The problem, as always with Bachmann, is the spacing - there's about one centimeter gap between the tracks when I connect two 90 degree crossings. How can I "fill up" the gap so that the train not derail, like filling it up with soldering ? Is that even possible ? So far I'm only in the planning wildly stage, but I'm really mad, lol, at Bachmann not giving us standard 90 degree crossings to smoothly cut through mainlines making them much more interesting. What do you think, railroaders ?

[jward]

you could use short pieces of flex track, cut to fit the gaps.

[jonathan]

Wiz,

I have had no problems mixing EZtrack with other brands.  Perhaps it would be possible to use Atlas (or another brand) crossings with some sort of roadbed underneath.  At the very least it would be easier to cut and fit some flex track in between as jward mentions.

Regards,

Jonathan

[czechwizard]

you could use short pieces of flex track, cut to fit the gaps.

Thanks, but how can I cut a 1 cm flex track to fit the crossings, I've never had Atlas flex track ? Any special tool to cut ? Won't the rails get damaged ? How about the railjoiners ? Are Atlas ones compatible with Bachmann ? Do I have to solder the railjoiners ? Thank you and Jonathan for your/his input. I'm kinda shaking.

[jward]

1cm is about 3/8" i see what you mean about that being too short. but maybe rails cut to that length would work. i handlay my track and spike it about every inch. if your rail is solidly held on either end it should be ok. buy a pair of rail nippers or use a zona saw to cut the rails, and a mill file to smooth the ends. standard code 100 rail joiners should work with ex track.

[Doneldon]

czwiz-

Use some rail nippers to cut your track. Make sure that the square side is to the rail you plan to use. These aren't inexpensive tools but they do a great job and are quick. There's usually very little file work to be done compared to other methods of cutting track. I go back to pre-nipper days when we cut with a fine-tooth hacksaw or a Zona saw; you never got away with no filing then and it was very easy to get rail ends which weren't true, that is, vertical and square.

What I'd do for such a short piece of track is cut two pieces of rail the length I need, attach them with rail joiners (most are a fairly universal fit), and then solder both ends of each rail. Once that was done I'd go back to fudge the ballast and a couple of ties. You can use any rail the same size as what you are already using. Maybe you have some odd pieces laying around which would work. Even rail from EZTrack, though I probably wouldn't cut into a nice new piece. But I'd definitely do the rails as a separate step from the underpinnings unless I was planning to use a piece of EZTrack. Then I might try to do it in one step. I might try to use the connector on one end of the EZTrack and just solder the rails on the other end. But there'll still be roadbed work to do. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
                               -- D

[Jerrys HO]

czwiz,
  I just pulled up my anyrail to do a comparison and it looks like the Atlas 90 degree crossings are longer than the Bachman ones. It is possible to trim down the Atlas crossings to mate up with the EZ track. You would probably have to cut the Ez tabs off to mate them together. I did the same thing with one section of my track where I used a piece of Atlas straight with no roadbed to cross over my wooden trestle. I cut  one end off of a 3" EZ straight added some rail joiners and it works out perfectly. I used anyrail.com to design my layout so it waas easy to remove a section of EZ track and adapt the Atlas track to it without screwing up any fits to the rest of the track.
Jerry

[czechwizard]

aha, that's a lot of options, thanx