Hi Folks,
I am in need of advice on how to make an electrical gap with HOn3 flex track. I have tried N scale plastic joiners but they are too small. When forced onto the rail, these plastic joiners split. HO plastic joiners are too big.
Thanx for the help.
This shouldn’t be too difficult to do if you look at a couple of things first:
If the track is straight and is being newly laid, and there are NO lateral (horizontal) stresses to deal with, all you need is to leave a small gap between the ends of adjoining rails and fill it with a bit a epoxy or styrene plastic that is glued to keep it there. All it has to do is keep the rails from creeping together and shorting. Shape the plug with a small file to match the rail profile. If already laid, and there aren’t lateral stresses, just saw a small gap, and do the same.
The problem of lateral stresses that will cause a kink in the track-line has to be solved before going further. You can use a nail or 2 to force the rails into alignment, or, better, form the rails so they are naturally in line, as in a curve. Some rails take a bend easier than others… experiment before you commit to the job. My non-DCC layout seems content to have its double-rail gaps staggered by 1-2 ties on curves; that cuts down on the kinks too. Anchoring the rails well is very important to prevent wheels from stubbing on misaligned rail ends. I recommend you slightly round the rail-ends if you can; that helps too, especially on curves. That’s something I do to all my joints.
Have fun and try things out… George
George,
Thanx for the tips and info. I appreciate it, especially the lateral stress problem.