HELP ME PLEASE! I am just getting back into the hobby after a long time off. I just started laying my shinohara and peco track,but they are a whole lot different than I am used too! They have extra ties on the end of the turnouts (shinohara) and the ties go to the end of the flex track (peco).My ? is do I cut the rail joiners to fit between the ties or do I cut the ties back so the rail joiners fit full length? signed, confused[*-)]
If it is flex track or some turnouts too, will require you cut off one or two ties so you can connect them to the next piece. Save those ties as you may simply need to shave off the molded on parts that hold the rails and then slide them back under and glue in place.
It makes sense if you looking at the track and think about what needs to be done!
A side issue (you may already know this), if you find you want any turnouts to fit closer together than when connected as built, you can cut the rail (usually on the non-throwbar ends) to shorten it as long as you don’t get to the electrical jumpers underneath that you can see, and still allow for some tie removal for the rail joiners. Not a big deal at all and you may have places where you like how adjusted turnouts and connected track works out.
Hi!
May I strongly urge you to pick up a couple “how to” books and study them before you go any further. You can get them at the local hobby shop, or online, or Ebay. Trust me, relearning the basics will save you a lot of time, effort, and money, and you will end up with a much better result.
I have yet to find a good book that focuses just on laying track and that step in the layout building process
You can cut the joiners, as I have a few times on curves where I prefer to stagger the joints. With flex, you slide the longer rail into its opposite set of tie spikes by sliding the next length of flex’s rail out as well. This makes for a very smooth and strong curve with flex. Here is an image showing how one of mine turned out that will be inside my helix and covered with a mountain eventually. (click on the image for a larger view)
It’s a bit of a bother, frankly, but with some resolve and practice, you get good at it.
For those turnouts, I believe the ties closest to the ends have a thin gap between them and the rail foot to allow for joiners. I know the Peco Code 83 turnouts do. If you find there is no provision for slipping a joiner between the ties and the rail, then invert the turnout on a soft but firm surface, hold it in place with a grip near where you want to remove a tie or two, and use a construction straight-edge knife, a scoring blade, to press down and sever the web between the first tie and the next. Easy! You don’t want to dull your blade, break it, or jab something into your fingers.
Here is a decent enough description on youtube. No, I am not that person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyucN1tV0zY
Crandell
I second the suggestion above on the “Basic Trackwork…” booklet and also recommend this one to supplement:
http://www.kalmbachstore.com/mr6090801.html
These booklets address issues such as making kink-free joints (e.g., on curves), straight-to-curve transitions, laying roadbed and track (e.g., with caulk), with lots of good detail and photos.
In the area of track planning, I liked (there may be better ones): “101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders” and “Track Planning for Realistic Operation”. Also, the track plans on the MR site database (available to subscribers).
While I’m at it, on benchwork I also liked: Basic Model Railroad Bebchwork…The Complete Photo Guide" but in my case of a moderate sized cookie cutter layout I found the approach used in the MR Virginian project (series of 2012 articles and online videos) detailed the approach I chose for my 5’ x 10’ layout.
Other booklets on the MR site on things like electronics (DCC) and scenery are also to be recommended. In the case of DCC, several websites are most helpful as well.
I found learning ahead of the building process to be important, without spending too much time in planning but rather creating awareness of what needed to be considered when approached. I’m only at the track finishing stage (actually wrapping up Revision I), so much of my learning curve remains ahead.
thanks for the picture.
id heard about this technique but seeing it up close makes it mduplicate matthewduplica
You are welcome. Now for a bit of reality…the joiners are thin and easily crushed…this being one of their weaknesses even when they are set in place and used as they are designed. So, figuring out how to cut them is a bit of a challenge. A few years back I decided to tackle making my own turnouts. I acquired a jeweler’s saw with the thin filamental blades, like a coping saw with 24 gauge steel saw blade. It was to finely sever the frogs from the rest of the rails around them in order to isolate it and make it either electrically neutral or to make it switchable for polarity.
I plade a full joiner onto two pieces of flex track with a bit of a gap between them and I attempt to saw the joiner three times to yield four identical pieces. What you see in the photo is a fourth, roughly, of a joiner. It is a bother, as I warned, to split up a joiner, but also a bother to get that tiny item stuck on one rail end and then slide the other nearby incoming end into place. Takes some learning. But, as you can see, it is doable. As a hint, if you can use some paste flux to hold on the one end while you slide in the other, it acts a bit like a glue. Then solder it before anyone sneezes!
Crandell