I was re-working a section of track on my layout that I was never happy with , to get a longer piece of straight track between two opposite 28’’ radius pieces ( an s curve if you will ) . Anyways when it came to connect back up with the rest of the track that is already layed and unchangable I needed a shorter pc. of 28’’ rad.
I cut 3’’ out of the center of the track and kept the ends with the connectors and simply super glued them back together. I used some Atlas rail connectors to keep the rails in line. I also super glued a pc. of styrene underneath to hold them together. Once it is weathered and ballasted it will be un-noticeable.
A year or two ago I had plans to build a little N scale shelf layout in my home office using Unitrack. When I was working my way through the track plan, and later during testing to see if all the parts were going to fit, I was tempted to resolve small imperfections in my planning by cutting pieces to proper size. Alas, I didn’t… I went back and did a little tweaking, bought more Unitrack, and made it work the “right” way. But again, I sure was tempted in those early stages when everything was so close, yet wouldn’t meet up exactly. I guess in hindsight it made me a better modeler for not pulling out the old moto tool and going berserk.
Good solution you’ve up with there. I’m glad to hear your situation worked out. I should really get that project back on my radar screen… it was going to be a great distraction while working in my home office.
I have a bunch of Unitrack, my actual layout is not built with it but I got a whole mess of it just to have to build instant layouts to try new things with. I admit to having took advantage of the closing “Great Train stores” to get a lot of it. They come in all different sizes so my guess is that eventually you could work something out with various pieces, but I would think that to cut it you would have to modify some things since they are set up to join and stay together in a certain way.