Now that I’m laying track, I have all of these gaps where I’ve removed the ties at the track connections to get the rail joiners in. So how has everyone handled replacing the ties at these joints? Even if I remove the spike head detail from a tie and slip it back under the rail, the thickness of the rail joiner stresses the joint and makes the track want to form a little raised kink. It seems like the ties need to be somehow “shaved down” a bit to truly fit. What’s the prevailing wisdom in addressing this very common condition?
I snip of the detail with my sprue cutter (it is quick and I usually have one laying around) leaving the detail on the outside of the tie that will face the viewer, this way I can slip the tie back under and it is less obvious. I usually also will run a narrow file, the width of the joiner, over the part of the tie where the rail joiner will fall to give it some more space so the track will lie flat. It only takes a few strokes of the file to achieve the desired result.
Same for me. I nip the spike heads off with my Xuron rail nippers (I know, never use them for anything but cutting rail, but plastic is hardly going to dull them faster than cutting metal), and then take the thin side of a large flat file and abrade the rail foot area on the tie to thin it a bit. Slip the whole thing under the joiners until you see them settle in the new grooves, and yer all set.
My solution? I bought a bag of Micro Engineering pre-stained wood ties. They slide right under the rails and will even slide under the rail joiner without lifting the track. A little dab of latex caulk, slide them in and you’re done.
I leave my gaps until after I paint the rails and ties. When the gaps are filled, it looks like the MoW crew has been out replacing some ties.
Don Z.
GET SOME STRIPWOOD the thickness of your ties. Cheap.
CUT to length with an Exacto blade, Easy.
Stain to look like creosote.
If your using atlas or code 83 flex track, atlas makes track tie ends. I just picked up some off of ebay. You can use these when you cut or remove the ties from flex or regular straight track. They go for $2.99 on ebay’s buy it now, or you can bid.
The previous posters who described the surgery required to modify plastic ties covered the situation for cases of total tie removal.
If you figure out where joiners are going to fall BEFORE amputating ties, you can perform similar surgery with the ties in place. My preferred tool is a #11 X-acto blade. I find it a lot easier to get tie spacing right if the tie strip remains intact.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I’m laying down Micro Engineering N scale Code 55 track with concrete ties. Anytime I have to cut the rail or add joiners, I save the discarded ties. I use a Dremel with the cylinder-shaped sanding attachment to shave off the pandrol clips (concrete tie spikes) and a little of the tie tops. Slips under the track and joiners with no problems.
To make your life easier, I would make sure to save tie sections that are still attached, there will be many situations where you need a section 3-4 ties long, and it’s so much easier to lay down if they’re all in one piece, as opposed to 3 or 4 ties you’d have to place down.
All the methods described above work. How much is your time worth? Those Micro-Engineering bags of pre stained wood ties are sweet to me.
I cut off the details and shave the top smooth with a hobby knife. I just take a piece of 1x2 scrap and put it on the table. Then I hold the tie vertically with one hand, and slice the unwanted part off with the knife. This takes only a few seconds.
Also, I use Woodland Scenics foam roadbed. This gives a flexible cushion which can be compressed to allow for any remaining small irregularities.
I use a single-edge razorblade to trim off the parts of the tie used to hold the rail in place, either level or with a slight ‘gouge’ to allow for the joiner…but really, most joiners aren’t that big that it makes a difference. Of course say in code 83, Walthers joiners are smaller than Atlas, both work on the same track, so if you’re using Atlas joiners and having trouble, you could try some Walthers ones.
There is an easier way. I don’t cut off the top details nor shave off the wood grain detail on top at all. I sand 1/32 (approx) off the BOTTOM of the tie and slide it under the rail joiner with glue on the bottom of the tie. This way the datail remains and looks good but actually sits slightyly below the rail joiners.
Ron
Walthers sells Shinohara “spacer ties” which have a notch at each end for the rail joiner:
item# 669-175 Code 100 wood
item# 669-179 Code 100 cement
item# 669-375 Code 70 (I use these for Code 83)
$2.75 for 2 dozen
Great, now you tell me… Sheesh!