track and scenic cement

[Slam]

I was just wondering if it harms n scale e-z track to be coated in scenic cement. Will voltage still be able to travel through the rails?I'm new to the forum and would like to indroduce myself as slam.my track is nickel silver with a gray roadbed.Thanks!

[Jim Banner]

Scenic cement will not harm your rails but may stop the flow of electricity if you get it into the rails joiners (the metal clips that join the end of one rail to the beginning of the next.)  It will also prevent locomotive wheels from picking up electricity from the rails if the cement gets on top of the rails. 

Hopefully you are using water soluble scenic cement so that you can wash if off the tops of your rails with a damp cloth.  Getting it out of rail joiners is a whole different matter.  Soldering all the joints is one way to keep out the cement and assure good electrical conductivity from rail to rail.  But not too many people want to solder E-Z Track because it makes it hard to take apart.  An alternative is to solder feed wires to every section.  This is a lot of work.  A third method is to fill the joiners with dielectric grease before joining the track sections together.  Dielectric grease, which is type of silicone grease used to keep moisture off spark plugs, is usually available from automotive parts suppliers.  If you use a small (10 or 25 cc) hypodermic syringe with a 16 guage needle, it is easy to fill the joiners with grease.  Just make sure you grind the sharp point off the needle so that you don't accidentally give yourself a silicone injection.  This grease will keep your scenic cement from seeping into the rail joiners. 

[Slam]

Thanks for your reply, Jim. I was surprised at the amount of informatoin that you provided and the promptness of the reply .
Slam

[CNE Runner]

Hi Slam...welcome to the forum! I, personally, do not use EZ-track; but your observations on Jim's timely suggestions are bang on (would we expect more from someone who has been in the hobby for almost 60 years?). The only caveat I wish to bring up is regarding the use of a syringe needle. I don't know in which state you reside, but many ban the possession of a hypodermic syringe needle without a perscription. Here, in Alabama, that (and many other things) isn't a problem.

While I use Peco flex-track and turnouts, and I do solder a power feed to every length of track, Jim is correct in saying that would be (is) a time-consuming project. In the past I have used dielectric grease to great success (PS: the only place you want to solder track sections is on curves).

I am glad you found this forum and I invite you to also join the Model Railroader forum at www.modelrailroader.com in the near future. One can never have enough input.

Ray