I know flex track is much better than sectoinal, and it is what I shall use for my railway, but I want it to be realistic as possible, so I prefer the real wooden ties, but I don’t like the random nails every 10 or so ties to hold the rail down, So, I wondered if there was commercial flew track with real wood ties.
Haven’t heard of or seen any. I think because of the labour involved it would be cost prohibitive.
As much as I admire the hand laid wood track, to me my time is better spent working on other details. besides it’s not uncommon fo me to rip sections up 2 or 3 times before I’m happy with it.
Fergie
Back in the mid 60’s, there a product by Kurtz-Track(sp?) or Kurtz-Craft that had wooden ties and a ‘tape’ under the track - I remember Linn Wescott of MR used it on his Sunset Railway & Navigation layout. He mentioned that it was somewhat ‘tricky’ to lay.
Plastic tie flex has built-in tie plates/spikes and looks very good when painted/weathered. A lot of folks have made the statement that ‘wood’ structures should be made of wood, and engines should be made of metal - but there are plastic version of the above examples that are just great with a little painting/weathering. I would not worry too much about the ‘medium’ used to make the model, it is the ‘finish’ that we see.
Jim
As Jim said a little paint and weathering can do a good job of making plastic ties look wooden. There are a number of good articles in MR on how to do it.
Good luck,
Richard
No such product on the market!
If you want to go for wooden ties, you have to handlay your track. Of course you will have to put spikes in every tie!
Using commercially made flex track is no draw back. When properly painted, ballasted and weathered, you will hardly be able to tell the difference. In fact, it may even look more realistic!
As you intend to model in Sn3, you may have to handlay your track, as tie spacing of HO track is incorrect for S scale narrow gauge track.
Are you sure?
What about Custom Trax ? http://custmtrax.com/products.html
And there you have it, gents, $18/3ft.
Not true. You can, of course, but a lot of folks only do every 4th or 5th tie on non-complicated trackwork.
Thanks for the link Arras88. I like the fact the track comes ballasted!
Ken
Now, your’re talking about way back into mid '50s, when I was still into Lionel and found out about GARGRAVES 3-rail, bendable track in 3’ sections with REAL WOOD ties, to use on my primitive O scale layout in my Dad’s cellar [about 3 yrs. before I went to work for Uncle Sam for 4 years, in USAF]. Thanks For The Memories ! TTFN…OLD papasmurf
Thanks Arras88!
Someone said that HO tie spacing is different than Sn42 spacing, so what about On30 track from my Sn42? After all it is just HO track with different spacing between the ties…
F.Y.I: Believe it or not, I just found the gargraves.com website and they STILL manufacture their 37" flex trackage with real wood ties, in O scale only! …papasmurf
“…I don’t like the random nails every 10 or so ties to hold the rail down…”
Then don’t install the track that way. I use plastic tie flextrack, and don’t have a single track nail in evidence. You can install the track with adhesive, or drill for smaller spikes adjacent to the rails so they all but disappear.
Carefully installed and weathered plastic-tie track is at least as realistic as handlaid on wood ties.
Actually, they also have S and OO as well.
Enjoy
Paul
If you use “micro” spikes and paint the rails after spiking, the spikes will hardly be noticeable. Prototype spikes and tie plates are practically invisible anyway when viewed from a foot’s distance (87 scale feet in HO scale) anyway. Track details on most flex track is grossly out of scale anyway, so I prefer not to have it.
Walthers flex track has holes every 7th tie IIRC, but on each side of the rails (not one hole in the middle like Atlas track). I believe the theory was that this would make it look more like handlaid track, since handlayers would normally spike the rail about every seventh tie.
If you paint the plastic flextrack ties, you can make them look like wood. I like to paint some dark brown, some dark gray, and leave some black.
p.s. I’m not convinced flextrack is superior to “sectional” track. Kato Unitrack has a narrow-profile Code 83 rail that’s really quite nice. Plus it’s nice to not have to do curved angle cuts to joint the flextrack together at curves. If you paint the rails (I use Neo-Lube to get a flat dark gray finish) and ties, and maybe put a little weathering on the ballast, you can come up with a great looking result that’s not difficult to do.
Why not use central valley tie strips, then you can get the best of both?
John
trainobsessed:
I know flex track is much better than sectoinal, and it is what I shall use for my railway, but I want it to be realistic as possible, so I prefer the real wooden ties, but I don’t like the random nails every 10 or so ties to hold the rail down, So, I wondered if there was commercial flew track with real wood ties.
One of the drawbacks to a rarely used (at least in North America) scale/gauge combination is that you have to hand lay the track to get a realistic look. Most HO gauge flex track tries to come close to scale for HO scale 20th Century main lines. That may or may not be anywhere near correct for your Sn42 prototype. Chances are the ties on HO flex track will be too narrow, too short, and too closely spaced.
The 1st step is to figure out what your prototype’s (real or fictional) used for ties and rail. 3ft narrow gauge in the US generally used 6ft or 6.5ft ties either 6x6 or 5x7 cross section, typically on something like 27" spacing. Rail was anywhere from 35lb to 85 lb. But I have no idea what the specs were for 42" gauge track - and I’m not sure what era you are modeling. Track standards definitely varied with era.
Of course, you could just use regular HO flex track, bury it in ballast, and call it good like some On30 folks do. But that begs the question of why not just model a short or backwoods line in HO standard gauge in the 1st place?
decisions have consequences
Fred W
Okay, so I model at the time of about 1920ish.I really am starting say, forget you guys, when it comes to Sn42. I have found some experts on OTHER sites, who do Sn42. So I will hearby never mention Sn42, And I will just ask the pros
Fred and others have tried to help you avoid making a mistake. Just because they do not model in Sn42 doesn’t mean they are not “experts”. Many posters have come here asking advice, unfortunately very few are willing to listen to the advice they ask for. You should thank Fred for the time he has spent answering your many, many questions. He and others have told you the absolute truth but unfortunately it isn’t what you want to hear. No “offense” taken but there are many good reasons why they suggest modeling in a different scale. Unusual scales take a boat load of money, and some skills that come with practice, age and abilities. This is why most start out with the basics, because they can hone their skills on common items that don’t cost a whole lot and are easy to obtain. But it;s your decision, have fun and good luck.