I’m working on my setup, and its time to install track. What is a good way to secure the track? Traditionally I have used track tacks (really small nails) into the plywood, but my current setup is sculpted out of foam. The tacks are too short; in addition, my setup has many curves, so the flex track is under a lot of stress. I would like the track to be extremely secure, I assume some kind of glue? Any Ideas?
Thank You in Advance
Dennis
Yes. Get a steal spatula, a tube or two of cheap latex caulk, and place a thin bead of the caulk along your pre-marked centrelines for your tracks. Use the spatula to spread it as thin as you can without damaging the foam surface, and then press your track into position along the spread caulking. When I say thin, I mean thin enough that when you press the ties into the spread, it doesn’t ooze up over the ties and make it difficult for you to make it look good later with your ballast. Weight the tracks with stacks of magazines, tin cans, etc., and leave it until the next day to be sure it is secure.
If you are flush for cash, you could spend more on another good product, PL-300 from Ohio Sealants. Also good, but expensive relatively is Liquid Nails for Projects.
Use the caulk. [;)]
Clear latex caulk is the way to go. After you get the track laid down, I set beer, I mean
Coke cans overnight to let it dry.
If you decide to change it later it comes up very easily; Liquid Nails is a one time deal,
it will not come apart without removing half the ties and bending the rails.
Ditto on the clear latex caulk. At about $2 or less per tube it is cheap and very effective. Also, when doing curves, you can put the track down in this stuff and it will practically stay in place until you tweak it just right and weight it down.
Also, a tip. When weighting down, you can use a thin and/or narrow board on the track and then place the weight on that. It will distribute over the length of the board and require less weights or beer cans [:)] … whichever takes your fancy.
Regards,
Does this work as well when putting down either the foam roadbed or the rocrk roadbed? with the track on the roadbed after? Just wondering as I too am getting to the point of track installation.
I use the caulk for all of it, track and roadbed. Works great!
Caulk it is. If you use track nails to hold it while it dries, be careful not to put them in too far and squeeze the track together.
I’ve used white glue, latex caulk, both clear and colored, Aileen’s (sp?) Tacky Glue, and super glue, depending on what strength I wanted for the bond. For super glue, drip some between the ties and capillary action will ooze it under the ties.
Caulked track is the easiest to pull up and superglue is virtually impossible without wrecking the track and / or roadbed, so choose accordingly.
ANother vote for latex caulk. I also use the clear. It come sout white, dries clear. Obvious when it’s dry. I did ALL the roadbed AND track on the 8x12 first stage of my layout with ONE tube of caulk. Not that it’s expensive, about a buck and a quarter a tube. You want s SMALL hole - the ridges markerd ont he nozzle where you’d cut it for more ‘normal’ uses of caulk are WAY too big. I nip just teh very tip off, and stick a piece of #20 solid wire in to pierce the inner foil seal. That tiny hole is PLENTY for track and roadbed. At the end of a roadbed section I will make sure to spread the caulk across the entire width - in the middle of the piece it doesn’t take much to hold things in place. I use a putty knife to spread the caulk after laying the thin bead. Plastic fake credit cards in the junk mail and other similar pieces will work just as well.
I picked up a pack of push pins with colored heads at Staples and use those to secure the roadbed and/or track while the caulk dries - mostly on curves and at joints. The caulk is generally tacky enough to hold on straights with little or no help. You get about 30 minutes working time in which you cna slide the track or roeadbed around to line it up, after that it starts getting tough to move, but you can always tear it up easily and redo a section.
Caulk works equally well on a plywood or foam base, and with cork to foam roadbed like Woodland Scenics. THE best ‘new’ discovery in model railroading in years.
–Randy
Can one use the caulk to secure WS foam risers or is yellow glue good enough for that?
I’d probably just use the caulk, it will work fine. Just to keep from having to buy two different adhesives. Yellow glue will work fine too.
–Randy
There are a lot of different types of latex caulk. Make sure you use simple latex ADHESIVE caulk. I use white. Some above advocate clear, but I have never seen clear latex caulk. The only clear I know of is silicone, and you want to stay away from silicone as it is messy, hard to clean up, and has a slick surface. I use latex adhesive caulk for both roadbed and track with great secure adhesion and wonderful results.
Ron
Well I did not see it on my quick read through of this thread but in addition to what ever adhesive you choose to use, try using sewing pins to hold the track to the foam. The pins are the same diameter as track nails and they are available in lengths up to and exceeding 2". They work wonders to shift flex track into proper shape and hold the track to that shape while you are working with another piece. When you are done you can leave them in the track for extra strength and paint over them or remove them and re-use them elsewhere.
I found the pins to work well with sectional track, such as EZ-Track because of its inherent rigidity. I did not like their purchase in foam using flextrack because their profile is so thin that they can bend more easily and slice through the foam. Instead, if I wanted absolute security in position, I used drywall screws carefully driven into the foam and placed close enough to the rail foot that it clamped it in place. The much broader profile and the threads do an excellent job of this.