Hello all, thank you for all the replies about the curved grade in the other thread. I now have a new question: Because I switched the type of turnout I was using in a particular location, there’s now about a 1/4 inch gap between the flextrack and turnout. Since this piece of flextrack is custom cut and the ties are cut for joining around the corner, I don’t really want to buy, paint, and use a longer piece. What is the best way to fill this small, yet significant gap?
My current solution was to cut small pieces of rail and join them with rail jointers, but this isn’t perfectly smooth (for whatever reason, most of my joints come out too high or low, or imperfect). Is this an OK solution, or am I missing something here?
The best way is to grit your teeth and buy or find a piece of flex track to cut in.
Less labour. Less skill.
To do what you have done requires accurate alignment of the tiny piece of rail while you solder it into the joiner(s). You can file down irregularities.
But really, it’s just easier to cut out a longer piece of the flex track that’s now too short and cut a new longer but still short piece to connect the gap. More reliable and will look much better.
Track issues at turnouts will cause derailments forever until you fix them.
BMW airhead motorcycle owners have a saying “The cheapest thing on the bike is the owner” I suppose thermite welding would risk burning down the house.
How did you post a picture that we can magnify? Is that a new forum feature?
Seconded. Assuming the flex track going into the turnout is straight for at least a couple inches before it gets to the turnout. It’d be easier to insert a larger piece, like ideally 2" or so, of straight track into a gap that you’ve cut to be the perfect size for the track you’re inserting.
If the flex track is going directly into a curve it might be difficult to get a nice joint without kinks… I’ve only used Atlas flex track though which likes to spring straight. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad with whatever track you’re using
I would be interested in learning the length of that piece of flextrack currently in place. It might be worthwhile to replace more than just 2 inches with a more lengthy piece of flex track.
Yes, OP could replace just the closest couple of inches and not the entire piece. It would obviously have a new joined seam where a new piece of flex track would not. He needs to have a spare chunk of track…probably not a problem finding a scrap piece.
He has to re-lay a given portion of the flex and can’t really mend the seam as shown, IMO.
I messed up this week re-doing an area on my layout (first re-alignment in the 15 years I have had it) I cut the track too short somehow and had a spare turnout within easy reach and installed that. The next day I realized it was a perfect spot for a small siding for some MOW equipment and added another piece of flex to the diverging route of the turnout.
We all screw up, that’s what spares are for. I have two boxes of Walthers track on the top shelf. Like the local mall, I always seem to need more parking.
Hey, I’m cheap too, but flex track is not the most expensive item at a LHS. Even soldered, your piece will likely cause problems - and will look awful.
Ok guys, I get it, Last Pike Mike was right for once. Tracklaying “standards” and my frustrations are getting to the point where I’m thinking of leaving the hobby. Too much pressure to do things ‘right’ ie perfect. I know I was the one who asked the question, it’s on me, but I tried to do a 2 inch section replacement and even that failed. I guess I’m just not cut out for this at least at my age. Although I don’t see how I’ll magically be better in the future. Maybe I’ll tear what I’ve built down, or maybe I just won’t care so much and see where that gets me. Problem is, I’m in a place where MMRs and amazing modelers are looking at me at eye level, instead of down like before. And I can’t live up to that. Oh well, sorry guys…
Congratulations, Harrison, you are now truly a model railroader. Once you reach the “I’m thinking of leaving the hobby stage”, you have arrived. You’re not going anywhere. You have already accomplished so much at your age. Your next assignment is to go buy a piece of flextrack and fix the glitch.
Once you pick up a piece of flex track, this should take all of 5 to 10 minutes to fix.
You will do no such thing. Fix the glitch and report back. We await a photo or two of your success.
Looking at this picture as it posts on my laptop screen:
Never, ever use tiny pieces of filler rail unless you’re going to solder them in. With a jig that aligns them both laterally and vertically, and with the ends of the rails dressed. That’s a useful skill for fairly advanced trackwork. You can use something like a heavy straightedge under the track, with fairly level blocks spanning the rails about an inch from the joints, and clamp at those points, to get things level for soldering, using a rail gauge to get horizontal alignment before tightening the clamps down. (And use a good eutectic solder, flux well, and prepare any ties that need to be fudged in spacing by having their ‘webs’ in between ties cut out…) When done, slide the clamps off and use a level to bed the track in to level or grade, letting the spring in the joined section ‘spiral’ any transition,
In your case go back from the turnout a reasonably far distance… as far as you can go before the joint will be in a curve, if you can… and put in a corresponding length of flextrack with its rails very carefully cut and dressed to the right length. That will average any ‘spring’ over the length of the piece while allowing rail joiners to ‘float’ the switches, as others with experience note is valuable.
It does not help that the pieces you inserted are the wrong size rail.
It also does not help that they are visibly kinked up by nearly exactly the height of that popsicle stick or whatever.
One very useful lesson is that the old adage about ‘if you want to see the places for improvement in your modeling, look at an enlarged photograph’ applies thoroughly to trackwork.