Hello all,
First time posting. I have been away from the hobby for years, and am now getting back into it.
As a temporary setup I’m doing a basic oval under the Christmas tree. My track is sitting on a hardwood floor. Many of the pieces of track easily slip out of the rail joiners. Any suggestions on how to eliminate this movement? Obviously I cannot nail it to the floor (don’t want to get divorced). Some sort of adhesive? Crimp rail joiners? Other ideas?
Thanks!
A double sided tape maybe ?
Like what used to hold plastic on windows,not that mutch stickum, but maybe enuff to hold track for a few weeks.
Too mutch stickum might damage floor finnish
That’s how I got back into trains. I used a 1" 4x8 sheet of insulation foam and track nails, which didn’t hold all that well, but was good enough for a couple weeks.
You could use blue painters tape, taped to the floor and outside of the ties. Paint it in some inoffensive color. You don’t want adhesive or tape that is going to leave a gummy residue on your floor
I agree with Henry. You don’t want to wreck your hardwood floor, so put the track on a 4x8 sheet of insulation.
Rich
Hobby style flat face short nosed needle nose pliers work fine on rail joiners.
Pull the joiner completely off and carefully squeeze the centre portion a little flatter. That way the ends stay nice and open, the joiners shove onto the rail ends easily and the joiners tighten up as you shove them onto the rail ends.
If you over do it a bit then a large gauge pin (I use woodland Scenics very handy foam “nails”) can re open up the joiner a tad.
If you overdo it a lot you may need a bag of fresh rail joiners …
Put single sided tape on the track under each joint, tape the joints together. Use black electrical tape if you don’t want it very visible.
Welcome to the forums. You will be moderated for a few posts, so be patient when waiting for them to show up.
I used a 4x4 sheet of plywood under the tree, with a simple frame to keep it from warping. It didn’t stick out so much to be a tripping hazard. Granted, you don’t have as much space for your trains, but I don’t expect it is going to last much after the new year.
Will this be a step toward having a more permanent layout?
Good luck,
Richard
I use a round 48” diameter x ¾” thick piece of MDF that I bought at a home improvement store (rough table top) maybe 30 years ago that I use as a base for our Christmas tree to prevent the tree from tipping over by the little people. For extra weight I glued and screwed a 24” x ¾” round piece of MDF to the center of the larger piece. I screw the tree base to the center of the round MDF base.
Roughly about 15 years ago I put a circle of G gauge track around the edge. We don’t necessarily run a train on it every year but if the great grand kids ask for the “Christmas Train” I hook it up.
Once the tree stand is removed it is easily stored in our garage flat against the wall about 1½” thick with the track. It’s heavy but easily handled by rolling it like a tire from the garage to the living room. I haven’t removed the track since I put it on the base.
We don’t expect Christmas company so neither the tree or train will be out this year.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Hi PGWolfe,
Welcome to the forums and back to the hobby!! [#welcome]
I would try using two different tapes. First, apply some plain old beige painters masking tape or other ‘low tack’ tape to the floor at the rail joints. Then use small pieces of double sided carpet tape on top of the painter’s tape. If you put the carpet tape directly on the hardwood you might have a devil of a time removing it. Using the painters tape should make things easier to pull up.
One small point. I suggest the beige tape or low tack tape because it is less likely to stay stuck to the floor. The green or blue painters tapes get harder to peel after a week or so.
Dave
Drug stores sell small clear plastic boxes with four or six silicone ear plugs. They are sticky at first, less so as they get used and exposed to dusts. You can take one and pinch it into much smaller pieces, place them here and there under the plastic ballast, and press the track pieces to the floor…joined, natch. The small nubs of silicone ear plug material will help them to stay put.
When you go to lift it all, or just to shift it all, the plug material will lift of rather cleanly. Taking dust with it, though. So clean the area as best you can first.
[#welcome] to the Model Railroader forums. Your first few posts will be moderated by the site administrators, but that ends pretty soon. Please be patient and join into the conversation.
I am assuming this is HO scale sectional track.
Small rubber bands for dental braces will work well, and should be available at any drug store. Just slip them over the ties near the end of each track section.
Crimping rail joiners is a bad idea. It might provide some mechanical improvement, but deforming the rail joiners could cause a reduction in the surface area of contact and poor electrical continuity.
-Kevin
Just for clarity, I’m not suggesting “crimping” anything. Flat faced pliers will simply flatten and greatly improve both the physical and electrical performance of rail joiners. In fact, since Atlas rail joiners have relatively poor contact area due to their cheap design, flattening those joiners a little improves that brand most of all.
Sorry if my previous post on this topic was so unclear as to confuse some. I really don’t see how that could possibly be but apparently plain English can be confusing to some.
On all of the “plywood centrals” I’ve built in the past, I always used a needle nose to “tighten” up the rail joiners.
Having a constant supply of new joiners wasn’t always an option.
I like the tape idea, might try something like that on the On30 I want to set up for Christmas.
Mike.
A few strips of tape should prevent movement. You won’t need much. I soldered track in sets of three pieces together to stabilize my O scale circle - soldering also helps prevent power loss through weak links. The unsoldered connections can be stabililized by elastic bands as described earlier. I also use the track for another portable layout - otherwise, I would set up a permanent track on a round piece of plywood. Some day, I might look for more O scale track to have some specifically for the tree display…
Simon
20191221_170545 on Flickr
Kevin, I sent you a PM.
Dave
Hello All,
Great idea!
A 4’x4’ sheet of Luan plywood (available at home improvement stores) with a sheet of cork glued to the bottom would be low-profile, to avoid a tripping hazard, would provide some sound deadening, and protection of the wood floor from the plywood.
Luan plywood has a better finish than “A” grade plywood, is thinner and lighter for easy storage.
Beveling of the edges gives a finished look and avoids the sharp edges.
The Luan could be painted or left unfinished and provide enough thickness for track nails or brads to “bite” whether using roadbed or not.
Hope this helps.
I keep several sizes of these Glue Dots handy. This is the same sticky stuff that credit cards are stuck inside envelopes with.
Very sticky but will leave no residue on your nice floors. The link is to 1/2" diameter dots but you can find them in different sizes and shapes.
Good Luck, Ed
My solution is off-beat and not likely what you’re looking for with so many nifty temporary fixes being offered here. In my case, I wanted to be able to lay the track over a white snow blanket so I decided to use a piece of 1/4" plywood cut to the exact shape of the oval layout. I tapered the edges of the plywood oval to resemble a roadbed and nailed the track to it. To avoid any electrical problems, I soldered every joint. The obvious disadvantage of my system is that, after the holiday, you’re left with a large oval that needs to be stored somewhere. The benefit is that it’s a pretty bullet-proof arrangement. Good luck!
My experience is the same as Ed’s. I use them to temporarily keep disorderly electrical cords next to the wall (fans, space heaters, etc.). I don’t think I’ve ever had them in place for more than a few weeks, but they’ve always come up clean.
Eric