Hi All,
Another newbie question. I bought PECO code 83 flextrack and the respective joiners. My question is: How are you dealing with the missing ties at the joints? Are there any ties to buy that I can place underneath? Or are you just cutting off some ties from another piece?
I’m not familiar with the Peco flex track, but a quick search shows that it has ties right to the ends of each piece.
The usual procedure is to remove whatever number of ties necessary in order to add the rail joiners - it will vary, depending on whether the track is straight or on a curve.
Once the joiners are soldered in place, cut the removed ties into individual ties, then use a small file to remove material from the top of the mould-on tieplates in the area between the moulded-on spike heads. You need only remove an amount similar to the thickness of the bottom of the rail joiners, and perhaps a little material off the rail-side of the spike heads, also to account for the width of the joiner.
Lift the track slightly, slip the modified tie/ties in place, and once you’ve ballasted the tracks, you’ll likely need to hunt just to find where you installed those extra ties.
Wayne
Yup, same process as with Atlas or most any other flex track. Trime a tie or to off the end to fit the joiner, but don;t throw them out. Use the cutoffs to slide under the joined section before ballasting.
I have more than enough tie ends, and I haven’t even laid one stick of track yet - back when I was ordering a small sample of different flex track to see which I wanted to use, the first order of Peco I made got totally damaged in shipping - I got a box of 10 strips of rail and 5 full length tie strips, it was thrown around enough to nearly completely separate all of the rail from the ties. I didn’t throw it out - no model railroader throws out anything that might someday be useful. Thje seller replaced it, and I got 5 good pieces. Recently bought 2 full boxes, they cam through shipping just fine.
I set up a turnout and 3 pieces of flex on my bench, and something I noticed is that even brand new unused joiners are a bit loose. I’ll be soldering most joints, so it doesn;t really matter, but Atlas joiners tend to fit tighter, at least when they are new and previously unused.
Something Peco does nice, there is a small notch cut out under the rail on the turnouts, so there is room for the joiner to slip under without having to remove ties.
–Randy
Instead of cutting ties off you just cut the spike heads on two ties at each end of the piece of track to make room for the joiners. Peco demonstrates this in one of their helpfull and so very British videos.* The flex track connections keep the ties attached and the joiners keep the connected ends in gauge.
We use Peco joiners which are tighter than other brands. Peco rail has a thinner bottom flange. We also use their insulated joiners.
In our experience Peco joiners are very difficult to use if connecting Peco to Atlas.
Atlas makes very convenient four tie ends that slip over the ends of their flex track rails after you cut off four ties. This effectively converts flex track to sectional track and is very handy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_KyhpOpkQ
At about 1 minute 10 seconds in.
I find it simple to make new replacement ties from Evergreen strip styrene.
I cut appropriate lengths from 0.060" by 0.100" rectangular bar stock.
I paint these brown, then slip them in underneath the cut-out rail joiner portion.
Once the ties are weathered and the track is ballasted, it all looks OK.
-Kevin
Whoa. I have so many left over ties from cutting and fitting track work, I just pull a few out of my box full and slide them in wherever missing ties are. No muss, no fuss. Snicker snack.
I’ve been busy laying peco 83 turnouts and flex track and never noticed the little void in the ties to accomodate the joiners. For Atlas N gauge code 80 joiners, my joiner of choice for peco 83, the voids are too short.
I’ve just been doing it the old fashoined way. Removing one end tie to fit the joiner, then shaving off the spike heads on the tie to slide back under the rails to fill in the gap.
Simple enough.
Even with sectional track that I use on parts of my layout I keep a small box of cut ties from flex track to replace the d shaped ends.
I agree…unless your layout is a switching layout or a linear shelf layout, with no curves at all, any other layout will automatically generate, at each curve, a good supply of excess ties for use at rail joints.
I used Central Valley tie strips on a portion of the upper level of my layout, and simply cemented all of the sections together, then used contact cement to affix them to the cork roadbed or directly atop the plywood.
To accommodate the code 55 rail joiners that I opted to use on the code 83 and code 70 rail, I used the face of a cut-off disc in a motor tool to remove some material from the bottom side of base of the rail, and some more material from each side of the width of the base.
This allowed me to solder-together rail in 12’ or 15’ sections, with no need to remove or alter any ties at all, with the rail being secured to the ties using contact cement.
While it’s unlikely that I’ll build another layout, were I doing so, the whole thing would be done in this manner.
Wayne
I almost have too many extra ties to place. I just been throwing them all away, saving a short peice of unused flex and replacing that way.
A tip: get some flat pliers and smash down the spikes a little bit to make it easier to slide them under the rail.
Also if you purchased the Peco joiners, you will have a hard time fitting them on the rail. Its almost impossible.
I have Peco flex track and I use Atlas 100/83 universal joiners. They fit a bit loose but if you solder the joints its no big deal. Make you life easier and get Atlas joiners.
Michael. Try Atlas N gauge code 80 joiners. Much smaller and better looking than the code 100/83 and nearly a perfect fit for the peco 83. Just a bit on the loose side, never too tight.
Thanks Douglas I just orderded some of the code 80 joiners.