Can someone give me a tutorial on how to stagger flex tracks joints on a curve and on a straightaway? I am using C100 Peco and the ties are cut after every 4 ties on BOTH rails so both rails slide.I have been practicing and have ruined some rail already. What I can`t seem to figure out is how many ties and where to cut them. I am looking for about a 3 inch joint stagger. The Kalmbach books on basic tracklaying do not show this but show the joints being in line with one another.
Thanks
I wouldn’t bother making both rails sliding - it’s really hard to do and have everything work right. Just be careful to keep the sliding rail on the inside of the curve. Of course if Peco flex has BOTH rails sliding, then you have a much easier time of it.
By doing this, even if you solder the rail joints before you curve the track (the best way , IMHO - it prevents kinks), the joints will stagger naturally - just don’t trim the extended inside rail… You’ll have to remove some ties when you curve the rails to keep the ties from jamming, but you’d have to anyway. Just preserve the ties in good condition, remove the cast-on spike heads, and slide the ties back under the rails after the track is laid.
On straight (“tangent”) track, just bump the sliding rail along a couple of inches. In fact, if you don’t solder the straight track, and are reasonably careful, you might not have to remove more than one or two ties (under the rail joiner). Just slide the movable rail of the next length of track into the empty ties from the previously-laid track. A lot of trouble, for a very limited return, IMHO, but if that’s what floats your boat…[:)]
Staggering the rail joints is far more important on the prototype than on the model, to prevent simultaneous pounding and possible failure of the joints. Our models do not have near enough mass for that to be a problem.
Of course, if you really want to be prototypical, handlay the track, cutting the rail into 39’ (scale) lengths (or quarter-mile lengths, depending on your era), and spike 'em 4 spikes to the tie on each rail. And don’t forget the tie plates, and the bolted fishplate joiners… Or not. [swg]