I am realatively new to model railroading and have noticed that flex track has one rail fixed to the ties and one rail that “slides” on the ties when bending for curves.
Which is the preferred practice:
Keep the “slider” side on the inside of the curves which tightens up the tie spacing, or,
Do the reverse by keeping the “slider” side on the outside, which opens the tie spacing?
Of course, consistency throughout the layout is a foregone conclusion.
I put the sliding rail on the inside. This is not because of the tie spacing, but because the stress of turning the train is mainly on the outside rail. I think the fixed rail is stronger in this reguard. In the big scheme of things (and dealing with physics at this toy level) it is probably irrelevant.
As I recall, putting the sliding rail on the inside gives you better control over the curvature. When the slider goes on the outside, the whole thing becomes more unstable and “springy” and doesn’t want to hold a smooth curve.
I haven’t gone through the math (and I don’t plan to, either) but I suspect that the “spring constant” k, which we all remember from Physics I while deriving the equation of motion of perfect harmonic oscillators, is different for the two sides. When you bend the track one way, the configuration is inherently more stable than when you bend the track the other way.
Put the slider to the inside. Another factor not mentioned is that the track gauge will narrow slightly if it’s to the outside, and will widen slightly when it’s to the inside. For a curve, you will want the slightly wider track gauge, especially with longer engines. I don’t recall the exact fudge factor, it varies with the track, but it’s only like a few 10-thousandths of an inch.
Brad
I put the flex rail inside, found it was easier to work the curve and cut the rail. Also it gives you the full length of the rail on the solid rail…seemed like to me it just worked better…
Randy
Virginia Southern
I lay my track fixed rail outside, which eliminates cutting ties off the ends of sections of flex. I also keep the sliding rail full length, and slide the extra length into the next section, trimming the ties where necessary to accept rail joiners. (By trimming, in this context, I mean cutting away the cast-in spikeheads and shaving a little off the tie tops.) The flying end doesn’t get cut off square until I’ve laid the transition and returned to tangent track.
Above all, make sure there are no kinks, and check gauge with a track gauge. Knocking the sharp top inner corners off the railheads at every rail joiner will also help to eliminate derailments. All it takes is a quick swipe with a file or emory board.
Chuck.
The full length rail? Are you saying you cut the inside rail at every piece instead of just the final one of the curve? Seems like that is a whole lot of extra cutting. Just let the rail joints stagger. Slide the surplus inside length of rail into the ties on the next section of track. Not having the joints across from each other makes kinking less likely also.
I agree! Now I’m getting to understand flex track…
So, you bend your flex track where you want it, nailing/gluing it down as you bend. Then, you take a track radius guage and slide it through the curve until you want it to go strait or curve another way. Then, you cut off the excess inside rail, correct?
Yes, for the most part. But nothing says you couldn’t carry the surplus rail into the next straight or reverse curve section as well. I try never to cut until I have to, like when I hit a prefab turnout.
I may be dumb (sorry) “defering success” but which flex track product has a fixed and a sliding rail???
I’ve used Peco, Hornby, Micro Engineering, Walthers and at least one Eu make and ALL of them both rails slide.
I generally find it better to do what the reall RR usually do and keep the rail joints together rather than let them stagger… for one thing the extended rail has to start keying into the ties of the next length of track and this will only get worse as the stagger increases (in which case you will not have a fixed rail in that location).
Do you all mean that you are treating one rail as fixed and moving the other one round it?
I cut rail with (expensive) (Xeron?) rail cutters… an expensive investment but worth it… a whole lot less hassle than saws and files.
Have fun all [:P]
David
Atlas flex has one fixed and one free-sliding rail, as does some Italian-made brass flex my sister picked up at a yard sale.
Prototype practice in the United States calls for staggered rail joints. Prototype practice elsewhere (UK and Japan that I’m sure of) calls for rail joints to be aligned. I personally find it easier to lay kink-free track on curves if the rail joints are not aligned. I don’t solder my joints, which influences my thinking on this.
My rail cutter of choice is a modified pair of side-cutting pliers which predate the Xuron tool by some years. No matter what makes the basic cut, all rail joints can be improved by dressing the rail ends and blunting the sharp corner at the inside of the rail head.
Note that my way is hardly the only way. It does give me reliable, derailment-free track. Any other method which can do the same is just as good.
Chuck
For cutting you guys are talking about the Xuron Rail cutter, correct(Well D. Foster is anyways). I found one for only $12.99! Is that expensive?
Thanks
Is joint staggering all-over regular practice?
Is the stagger alternate at equal distance or random as the rail lengths fall?
In my research (mostly UK based) alternating rail joints in the days before 60’ or longer rails were found to cause much too rough a ride… but that was with mostly 4 wheel 16’ open wagons and vans (freight cars).
Thanks again for your help[:p]
That’s a decent price. It’s one of the few tools in my****nal that are strictly for Model Railroading. Yes, you could use it to cut wires or even small shrubs, but don’t. Keep it exclusively for rail snipping. It does the job perfectly. Note that one side will be flat, but the other side of the cut is going to have angles, and should be clipped the other way before you use it. The flat side of the snippers, reasonably, give you the flat-cut rail end. And to my way of thinking, there is no better tool for the job.