01-17-2009, 09:27 PM
I have to say I am a bit disappointed with the Atlas advise. Trimming the rails and having the rail joints opposite each other leads to kinks on a curve as previously discussed. I think they are trying to make it sound very easy as a sales pitch. First timers might be put off with a more detailed, helpful advise. To add a bit more detail to my previous post, as Les mentioned, the further apart the joints are the better, within reason of course. When I laid the helix trackage on my layout, I used the movable rail on the outside, and as I went around and around, the outer rail got shorter and shorter in relation to the inner rail. I eventually had to insert a piece of rail just on the outside to get back to within a few inches of the inside rail. I think an offset of at least 2" is desirable to prevent kinks. Cut a rail if needed to get this. And a few people mentioned soldering 2 or 3 pcs together while straight then curving. They may have some method I am not aware of to make this work if the curves involved are all in the same direction (not an s curve). On my helix I wanted to solder the joints for reliability. I would lay a piece for about 2/3rds of its length. Then I would hold it in place in the position it needed to end up in, and note where the short rail ended. I would use a chisel blade to remove the "spike" and enough of the tie to allow a joiner to lay flat at that point. Then I would let the last 1/3rd extend somewhat straight and solder the next piece to it. This made it easier to compensate for the movement of the sliding rail as it was curved into position. I did not want to remove more than three spikes so my gauge would not be compromised. I was laying 24" radius curves, the movement of the sliding rail over several feet at that radius would be significant, and the joiners will not slide thru the spikes!
Gary
Gary