Do you apply it to all the length of the flex track?After how do you keep it steady until it dry?
I used all purpose adhesive caulk and after i did a mistake and had to rip them off, it was impossible,it sticks very hard.Now i dried with acrylic caulk for painters and seems better,but i don’t know if it will hold in time.Do you re-use the flex track when you start a new layout?
Apply it everywhere except around turnouts. Hold the track with pins, nails or heavy objects. I saw pics of one guy using pop cans. I used some old bricks.
Yes you can reuse track. It takes some care and some gets distroyed, but most can be reused.
No; add it to the ROADBED, not the track. Add a thin bead down the center, flatten and smooth it with a metal spatula (spackling knife), and lay the track. You only need a THIN layer of caulk; no more than the thickness of a couple of pieces of paper.
Push pins.
On my last home layout, the caulk held with ZERO issues for three years. I’ve had three Ntrak modules kept in a garage (no climate controls) for three years as well (when they weren’t at shows) and had no problems with them either. Caulk will last just fine for the average lifetime of a home layout.
If I can, yes, considering how expensive the stuff is! When I had to dismantle my old layout, the track that I had laid but unballasted came up just fine: I just slid my spatula down the roadbed and the track (about 200 feet worth) came right up. Unfortunately, the stuff that was ballasted down wasn’t so easy. I soaked the white glue holding the ballast in place with HOT water, but the track really didn’t want to come up. Of about 150 feet of ballasted track, I think I was only able to salvage about 25 feet (and all the switches, which I didn’t glue down at all).
I have adopted the technique of “light gluing” the ballast. Now, I have never watched another modeller glue ballast, but I figured early that I might want to re-use my tracks, or maybe just move them later. I had gotten the sense that a heavy mixture of glue, maybe 2/1 in favour of water was what many guys use. Naturally, that is going to be a bear to tear up without breaking some pieces. So, I use a mixture more like 8/1, always with a drop or two of detergent added, and that seems to do a good job of keeping the ballat still…but, when I want to remove the track segments, shoving a metal shim under the ballast and ties to break the bond with the latex adhesive is much easier, and I can save most pieces of track that way.
This reply was a bit of an aside to your question about caulking and keeping it in place, but if you do want to keep most of your track segments, try a lighter approach to both the initial latexing, as Ray described, and to the ballasting as well.
Tin cans, on their sides, do a good job right atop the rails for keeping things in place…about 3 hours to be safe.
Is it possible to use pins to hold the tracks until i ballast them and then remove the pins?I think the ballast will hold the track down or not?
I always use push pins (the ones with the plastic bell-shaped top to them) when gluing my track. They will work with caulking as well. Once you have the track where you want it, push the push pins down between the ties and the plastic bit will put pressure on the ties. I think they can actually pass through the pre-drilled holes in the ties with HO scale track… not so for N scale.
Once the glue dries clear you can remove the pins and then ballast… or not. I left track that way for years with just 100% white glue holding the track down and no ballast.
The beauty of push pins is that you can re-use them and they aren’t that easily lost!
You spread a bead of water soluable caulk such as OSI All Purpose Adhesive Caulk (get the one that comes out white and dries clear) on the road bed. You spread it with a spatula or one of those phony plastic “your name here” credit cards that come in junk mail. You set down the flex track – keep the caulk away from the extreme ends – and press it down. Pin it down if need be. The Ribbon Rail tangent track gauges can make the track nice and straight.
I sprinkle and tamp down ballast on the caulk between the ties
There is an article in the April 2003 issue of MR by Chuck Hitchcock that tells how to do this in greater detail. The DAP product Hitchcock used is no longer available.
Dave Nelson
I mean without using caulk latex ,just pins
yes, when I laid the track on my old HO layout (before a move forced me to start over; this time in N scale); that’s what I did. I painted the track first, though, and then ballasted it.
Instead of pins though, I used Atlas track nails. And after the paint and ballast dried I left the nails in. I figured, with all three of those things holding it in place it couldn’t possibly come loose anytime-and I was right!
And, if you use that method and you’re worried about the nail heads not looking realistic; don’t be-since they’ll be covered with paint, anyway.
I use cheap latex caulk, not construction adhesive. I use a putty knife to spread it out. I also use my rail niper to open a TINY hole in the tube - well above the line marked for the purpose. You don’t want a 1/4" or larger bead liek you would when using caulk on a window frame. If you draw pencil line to mark the track location, it should eb easily readable underneath the caulk. That’s all you need to securely hold roadbed and track in place.
I use push pins to hold the track while the caulk dries, but usually only need them at joints and on curves. The caulk is tacky enough that in straight sections it can just be pressed down and if you don’t bump it it will stay. I pin joints to keep them from shifting or lifting,a dn curves naturally because the track tends to want to straighten back out.
I remove an entire siding with turnout and reused all the track, even the turnout. No problem lifting the track up without damage. I use Woodland Scenics foam roadbed, that’s a little tough to get up without damage, at least in good enough condition to reuse. Cork is a little tougher and should peel up fine.
–Randy
I squirt the caulk on the roadbed and spread it with my finger, nice and even. Wipe off the extra with a paper towel.
For the curves, I use picture nails. I found push pins wont make it all the way through the roadbed and into the plywood and still be sturdy. I let sit for 24 hours then pry the nails out. Be sure to use nails on BOTH sides of the track, because it can flex both ways!