hello, im am new to the model railroad scene. i recently obtained a big collection of HO scale trains and track from my grandfather. my question is, can a standard 18" radius curve be cut into the half or thirds version of the same radius? i have a layout that requires both but no shop near me that sells model railroading supplies. thank you
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the good foryune of the train stuff. The question is a bit vague to me. Can you state it another way?
Often I’ve needed short lengths of curved track, and I don’t hesitate to cut the pieces to the size I want For me this works better than very short lengths of flexitrack…
Mike
The short answer is yes. I would invest in a pair of Xuron Rail Nippers. They are designed for just that purpose, and if you treat them well, they will give you clean edges for many years. By “treat them well,” we generally mean to use them only for track, not for snipping wires or piano wire for switch machines, or for cutting beef jerky, either.
You’ll need to remove a tie or two so you can get the rail joiner on. Save the ties. Use a hobby knife to shave off the molded-on tie plates that held the removed tie to the rail. Once the track is fastened down, you can slip these ties back under the rails so you no longer have a gap in the ties.
Welcome.
Part of model railroadings attraction are the skills you will grow while building your empire. Track laying is one of them. In addition to the rail nippers you will need some spikes to hold the rail in place. It is easier to drive those spikes if you can pre drill, but that depends on what material you are laying the track on.
When you can get to a hobby shop buy some flex track to experiment with and/or lay track without the restrictions of pre-made geometry. BTW, if you can go to a really good shop, train show or even club layout and ask some questions/see deomonstrations that will help
Richard
Atlas makes 18" radius track in half and third sections. I suspect your plan may be one of theirs? Cutting the track as suggested can be done but might be a little imprecise. There are plenty of online model railroad stores that could help. If your track plan is Atlas, you can go to their website and get the exact part numbers that you need.
thank you all for the advice. I do believe it to be an Atlas layout after a little research. I do not have a lot of room available right now so i was looking at a 4x6 layout that would give me the most excitement for what i could do with what i had available. Was unsure if those 1/2 or 1/3 versions of 18" radius curves could be cut from a standard size one to help reserve financial resources.
You can certainly cut them, as others have said - I have. I also have a box full o’ rails and ties from all my mistakes. Do it carefully and exactly and you’ll be fine.
The rail nippers work great and YES you can cut just about any track as needed. I jewelers file will help clean up any mistakes. The nippers have one side for the “keeper” track so look at the instructions.
You can also cut using a small fine tooth back saw. Then file a bit to make getting the rail joiners go on easy. You will as stated above have to remove some ties…but a little shaving or sandong the bottom and they will slide under with ease.
You can use white glue and some tacks or pins to hold the track till you ballast also. I have bad tremmor so the spikes are not an option for me.