Well short and simple, found 3 flex track turns that are a little tight. Relay the sections or throw the track away? Car’s made the turns that I found by accident. Had a decouple happen and rolled the free wheelying cars around and they slowed down at 3 points so the rails must be tight. Will check the track with the NMRA gauge later.
Cuda Ken
It seems that these sections are faulty, but we must be sure before we discard perfectly good stuff. Are the sliding rails to the inside of the curve? For sure? You must test the sections in about five or six places, about 1" apart to be sure. Use the gauge, but also good illumination to make sure you are placing the gauge on the rail heads properly. Also, turn the cars upside down, and ensure the trucks rotate on their shafts enough to accommodate the curvature. Finally, if you ever inadvertently leaned on the rails, you could very well have bent one of them so that its rail head is no longer parallel with the foot …the web is no longer vertical, so the rail tilts, in this case toward the centre-line of the track. Discard it…period.
In any case, if you can’t easily discern the trouble, I would not bother with relaying. For ease of mind, and the few bucks to replace them, get new sections.
To ensure the proper radius when reinstalling, make a wood or cardboard cut-out of the center area between the ties of a good section of curved track (from elsewhere on your layout) to use as a guide when laying the new roadbed & flex track. A commercial version is available too. I made mine about 6" long.
Align the new roadbed & flex track rails to conform to the guide. This way, your radius will be consistent with the good section elsewhere on the layout. And don’t forget the curve easement if you have the space.
If you are nailing your track to the roadbed, check at the spot of derailment, to see if you have driven the nail in too far and bowed the ties. this would also cause your rails to bow in.[;)][;)]
Selector, had not seen that about the sliding rail on the flex. Good Tip! [:)]
If the gauge being used is the thin metal kind do not drag it down the rails. This will wear the gauge out and eventually cause it to measure everything too wide.
Really? It has been in almost every one one of the almost weekly “how do I lay flex track” threads. [:O] JPM335 and TGG both mentioned it in: http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/872874/ShowPost.aspx
We really need a FAQ assoicated with this forum … and a search engine that goes back more than 30 days.
I plan on using radius guages (Ribbonrail) to make sure my curves are consistent and uniform–if I remember correctly from the Walther’s book, they’re made in 15 thru 48 inch radii.
Jim