Hello all, simple question: Do you secure your track with glue(I use liquid nails adhesive), track nails, or both?
Im not sure if the glue is enough to secure the track, but the nails make the track look fake, because the nail head sticks out of the track every few inches.
What do you guys use?
PS I dont need other suggestions right now, this is more of a poll.
Charles
Adhesive caulk. No nails.
I like clear latex caulk. I use track nail to hold it all down and pull them when I an satisfied. Liquid Nails to too permanent…I can lift a section of track with a wide putty knife…
I use to use nails in the old days and still do on a very rare occasion. I would never use glue as I like to be able to easily lift the track up if needed.
Caulk is my weapon of choice. Using a very thin layer to stick the track down is all you need. If there is caulk on the track that needs removing when pulled up, you have used too much caulk.
Nails.
I don’t know why you would use both. I’m a caulk convert.
I glue the cork roadbed and then use track nails for the track. The track nails have pretty thin heads and are black. I have trouble finding them if I need to take the track up. But that could be my old eyes [(-D] But since I don’t see them in the ties, they’re fine for me.
Paul
I have found that using caulk on cork roadbed is perfect, it holds like a really, really strong fridge magnet. For some reason, I have found using caulk on some types of wood to hold track is a really strong joint that is sometimes hard to pull apart. Usually, when I am mounting directly to wood it is for a temporary purpose so I will use a nail or two.[C):-)]
, on Flickr
I went with nails ballasting it with Elmer’s White All Purpose mixed 8 parts water 1 part Elmer’s, when fully dry I pulled all the visible nails.
I use Midwest cork roadbed anchored with Caulk, the ballasted track comes up fairly easily with a putty knife if needed.
All of my hidden track (in my mountains) is unballasted and held with nails.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for
Tacky Glue/Weldbond They’re pretty similar. I think the squeeze bottle makes it easier to apply than caulk.
Jim
I give my cork a thinned coat of grey craft paint after sanding. Then use gray latex caulk spread thin with a putty knife and set the track on top. In a few places I may have to put some weight for an hour or so, but mostly a thin layer grabs it just fine.
I’ve used clear caulk for putting down cork, but lately use gray for the whole process.
It also has the advantage of making it look a little more finished until you get around to ballasting.
Don
Hello all,
With 15-inch minimum curves in HO scale:
I use GE brand silicone caulk to adhere the roadbed to the blue foam base. Spread it evenly with the putty knife. Any cleanup can be done with water and a damp cloth.
Then I “T” pin the track to the roadbed.
I ballast the track, as in the thread I listed above.
Once the ballast in set I remove the “T” pins. After 24-hours the roadbed, track and ballast are set.
Remove the “T” pins and move onto the next section.
When I need to adjust the roadbed I can peel it up and remove the caulk from both the roadbed and blue foam base.
If I need to adjust the tracks after ballasting I just soak the area with water, let the glue dilute then remove the track.
To thoroughly clean the track I wash it in warm water with “blue” dish soap until the track(s) are free of debris.
I understand that you would prefer to not use track nails. With this method the final ballast holds the track in place with only using the “T” pins to allow the glue to set.
Hope this helps.
I use nails, which blend in with the sleepers once they’re painted. Then when I ballast the track, the glue from that holds the tracks in place.
Nails … If track is causing derailments, you can easily remove it so you can correct the problem with replacement track.
I have been known to use both. It just depend’s on if it’s a straght section ( calk / glue ) or curve section ( nail’s )
But be careful using nail’s , if you drive them in too far they will pull the track out of gauge.
The use of Liquid Nails in track work is downright destructive. WAY too permanent! You can kiss goodbye any track you need to relocate or even adjust, and you’ll be surprised how much you may need to. I wasted plenty of expensive Micro Engineering flex track learning that mistake.
I use nails, with the intention of letting the ballast hold the track in it’s final position. Then the nails can be pulled if distracting. Caulk would be a good alternative as attested above, but by all means, AVOID Liquid Nails! Dan
My club has laid the track using just nails to start. The reason was that it would be easy to realign the track if need be. In a club environment there may be several people laying track who have varying skill levels. If someone doesn’t get the track down quite right it is easy to correct. For example, our primary track layer refuses to use a straightedge. We have adjusted some of his work. Of course we did it when he wasn’t around and we never said anything to him.[swg]
Another situation arose where the person who was laying the main yard misinterpreted the instructions that he was given and cut the yard tracks where they didn’t need to be cut. With only nails holding the track in place it was easy to pull up the shortened pieces of track and replace them with full lengths of flex track. We could have left the short pieces in place, but that would have required that we install more feeders in an area that will already have a lot of wiring under the layout. The short pieces were quickly used up in other areas.
Another reason for using just nails to start is that we didn’t know what the benchwork would do as the seasons changed. This is our first year in the new club house. We did in fact have some track distort within a few days of it being laid.
Ultimately, the track will be glued down quite firmly when we install the ballast. Until then the use of nails by themselves makes getting the track aligned properly very easy.
Dave
For the main level of my layout, I used Atlas track secured with nails, either through the cork roadbed, which was affixed to the plywood sub-roadbed with carpenter’s yellow glue, or, where the track was directly on the plywood sub-roadbed, directly into the plywood. All nails were pushed into place using pliers, never hammered in. While they’re somewhat visible, I don’t plan on removing them, even though the ballast holds everything securely in place… The advantage with nails is that a few days after fastening everything in place, I could go back and re-align places that needed adjustment, often doing so simply by applying lateral pressure to one side of the nail’s head…
For the partial upper level, I used mostly Central Valley tie strips, either atop cork or directly on the plywood surface of the entire upper level. Both the cork and the tie strips were fastened in place using contact cement, as was the Micro Engineering rail…
The turnouts (Atlas, Micro Engineering, Shinohara, and Peco) are held in place with contact cement and/or nails, while the Central Valley turnout kits use mostly contact cement. (In the photo above, the track is freshly ballasted, with the tie-tops still wet.)
Wayne
Nails or ME spikes for track. Ballast dilute white glue or matt medium.