The liftout I built last summer and worked smoothly has increased in gaps with winter contraction. I live in southern Texas and my train shed only has heat/AC when I am out there working or running trains. The gaps since winter temps have set in are from 1/8" to 3/16". In summer they are reduced to 1/16". Although I can run trains over the gaps with minimal derailments I would like to make it fool proof.
The idea I am working on is to build my own rerailer inserts out of vinyl floor tile which has a textured black back and rail height thickness. I have tapered each end to a point and plan to use CA adhesive to glue them half way on each end of my liftout leaving the other half at each end to fit between the rails of the stationary tracks. If it lines up perfectly it should work. However, my only concern is that unless the free ends lie perfectly flat on the stationary tracks where they will not be glued it could still cause obstruction or derailment. I have thought about using a small amount of the tacky glue (the kind that allows removal and repositioning) on the ends that have to be detached when the liftout is removed.
I will post pictures as I get a little further along on the project but if anyone has suggestions on how to improve my plan, I would appreciate the input.
Why not use something like appropriately thick styrene instead of the vinyl tile? That should not flex and should lay flat on the fixed section. I’m afraid that the constant sticking and removing you are thinking about will end up causing you grief.
Rather than rerailers, How about just guard rails? Assuming your wheelsets are all NMRA spec, if you place the guard rails witht he proper NMRA flangeway spacing, this should prevent cars from jumping the track at the gaps. The guardrails would also need to be gapped of cource, since part will be on the fixed side and part on the moveable side of the bridge. And remember, anything put in place now, when the gap is the largest, may need to be trimmed back as it expands when summer comes to avoid a vertical kink.
If they aren’t already, a small chamfer on the inside of each rail on either side of the gap will also help make sure the cars stay the rails. If you look at the instructions for Fast Tracks turnouts, the current version, image 71 on page 37 shows what I’m talking about,m on the ends of the wing rails. With that chamfer, you might not even need any additional guard rails.
I also agree in using guardrails. Since you already have expeinced the varying conditions of the seasons w/o “real” issue, guardrails will add a bit of insurance and piece of mind. The guardrails need only to end quite close to the gap but not enough that they would extend beyond the liftout that much to be subject to any damage once removed.
I think I will give the guardrails a try. Do you adhere them with CA adhesive? I will have to be real careful in how I store the liftout when not in use to avoid damaging the protruding guardrails on each end.
I had some rail joiners years ago that had sides in them that came as high as the rail head. Using brass or nickel silver you might be able to bring an edge up to rail height by soldering an extension to the ra il joiner. You would only need it on the inside of the rails. That could give y ou a half inch of expansion that could be absorbed.
Using Pliobond or contact cement would be a better adhesive for the guard rails. CA joint is too brittle whereas the flexable joint would stand up to any minor bumps or bangs of the protruding rails.
Use a goop-type product that can be squeezed out of a tube or that cures only semi-hard, as Bob suggests. CA will cause no end of grief. I have used GOOP, Gorilla Glue, and even some DAP Alex Plus with Silicone. They tend to dry shiny, but there’s no rule against touching up what shows with a flat grey or brown or black paint.
Randy and Bob, Slight problem with the guardrail idea: on Atlas code 100 track the inside track mounting “nails” keep the guardrail too far from the main rail to prevent derailing. If I cut them off the main rail will want to move inward. I guess I can use the same adhesive to adhere the main rails and the guard rails but I fear gunking it up. Any other ideas on how best to procede?
Grind notches on the bottom web of the guardrail. After fabricating the rail sections, dry fit and mark w/ a Sharpie. A round file, or dremel will make those notches rather quickly.
OK, thanks Bob. I will grind grooves in the guardrails to fit over the nail plates on the inside of the main rails. I hope to work on this and get it operational before my son and grandkids come for Christmas. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks again for all the helpful ideas. Gary
Hmm. If I was faced with this issue I would explore a few ideas. First rather than try to make my own re-railers and worry about clearances and such, I would use actual Atlas rerailer sectional track pieces on both sides of the gap. The Atlas rerailer really does work and it is interesting that a piece of sectional track originally intended to help out train-set level beginners has gained a new lease on life with the advent of modular layouts and the large central staging yards they often involve, almost all of which make lavish use of Atlas rerailers.
In the alternative rather than try to add guard rails to existing flex track, which I think is an invitation to precision as well as flangeway “issues,” I would explore using lengths of pre-fab bridge track from Walthers with the guard rails built in. I think Micro Engineering might make some as well. By cutting the webbing beneath the ties it is possible to make the bridge track slightly flexible, if that is needed.
Thirdly and here we get to an area of nearly vaporware engineering, I wonder if it is possible using some mechanical means, perhaps involving threaded rod between the end pieces, when the liftout is in place, and a series of wing nuts that can be turned by hand, to have a way of forcing the ends closer together as the need arises. I seem to recall an article about someone doing this with seasonal height differences but seems to me it could work with horizontal gaps as well.
I use threaded rod and wing nuts to attach my domino 2x4’ segments together and can testify that it is possible to “bull” reluctant end pieces together, within limits needless to say, perhaps by slightly bending the supporting 1x4" pine at the ends of each segment.
Lastly and here I am going way beyond anything I have done, but where seasonal changes create, and then close, gaps, I wonder if the best idea is to have
I tried grinding the grooves on the base plate of the rails yesterday but it weakens the rails too much and I don’t like the look. Today I am gong to cut off the inside “nail” plates and then use clear DAP to adhere both the main rail and the guard rails. I think this will allow me to have the closest clearance and the best appearance.
Maybe you can do both. That Atlas tie plate/ spike detail is rather large. File off just enough material to still hold the rail and then file only a small portion of that guard rail bottom web. Removing the inner detail altogether may cause far more problems than you exibit now.
If you need added insurace to hold the stock rails, “wick” a bit of CA under the rails. Trying to get adhesive under those now loosened rails may prove quite tricky. Don’t know what roadbed you have, but a few spikes may help keep the guage.
Remember you are only adding guard rails to an otherwise decent performing track. I would hate to see major problems develop. maybe the answer may be to place styrene plates (very much like rerailers), cut fit and glued as someone metioned earlier would be the best option
To hold the rails securely in place you could replace a few ties with PC board ties and solder both the rail and guard rail to them. The PC ties could be securely fastened to your roadbed with spikes or an adhesive. But I agree with Bob that the rerailer option might be a better one.