Question on laying Atlas flex track

[Herc Driver]

One more piece of advice...don't try to move the rail that's firmly attached...and espicially don't try to force it with the wide, flat portion of a flat head screwdriver thinking you can overpower the resistance and move the immovable rail. Something might suddenly grab your attention and when you turn to look, the screwdriver might slip allowing your finger tip to impact the rail. hock: One nano second later, you'll feel the end of the rail puncture your finger tip and you'll realize how painfully stupid the whole idea was. Oh, and puntured finger tips bleed...a lot. :o You'll spend the next few weeks waiting for your finger to heal and think how dumb your actions were just because you didn't want to turn the flex track around and cut the movable rail. But if you dress the puncture wound correctly, the doctor will compliment your self-aide efforts (but not your reasoning) and you won't need a few stitches to close up the hole in your finger tip that would add insult to injury. (Don't ask me how I know all this.)

[tetters]

One more piece of advice...don't try to move the rail that's firmly attached...and espicially don't try to force it with the wide, flat portion of a flat head screwdriver thinking you can overpower the resistance and move the immovable rail. Something might suddenly grab your attention and when you turn to look, the screwdriver might slip allowing your finger tip to impact the rail. hock: One nano second later, you'll feel the end of the rail puncture your finger tip and you'll realize how painfully stupid the whole idea was. Oh, and puntured finger tips bleed...a lot. :o You'll spend the next few weeks waiting for your finger to heal and think how dumb your actions were just because you didn't want to turn the flex track around and cut the movable rail. But if you dress the puncture wound correctly, the doctor will compliment your self-aide efforts (but not your reasoning) and you won't need a few stitches to close up the hole in your finger tip that would add insult to injury. (Don't ask me how I know all this.)

Nicely put fine sir!

[Steamtrains]

Herc....That's about as good a description of a hypothetical situation that might present itself while laying track as I've read anywhere....

[Herc Driver]

"Hypothetical" to some..."reality" to others. I just chalk that little experience in the "Not To Do Again" file of my brain.

[Biased turkey]

There is a flextrack hint and tip on the Atlas website:
http://www.atlasrr.com/superflex.htm
It is of course less detailed than the advises offered by The-Gauge.net members in this thread, specially the "accidents" tip as described by Herc Driver.

Jacques

[Herc Driver]

If only I would have read that little tip first.... ...would have saved about two weeks of pain.

[jglfan]

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

[jefelectric]

Hello everyone,

Since I asked the original question, I thought you might like to see the results so far. Keep in mind that this is the first effort for a 13 year old. He has done the majority of the work. I did solder the rail joiners for the most part but he is learning that also. We started soldering two section together and if the joint comes on a straight section we did not solder that one. Will next solder feeders so that none of the rail joiners that are not soldered will be depended on to carry current. I had him prepaint the cork gray so that if it takes a while to get around to ballast it will look somewhat finished.













The old reefer in the picture is more than 50 years old, one I built in the early 50s, think it might be a Red Ball kit. His Dad has a whole box of stuff that I gave him many years ago when he had a fleeting interest. We ran out of track, roadbed and switches, so tomorrow will bring a stop in at the local hobby shop for more.

Thanks for all the help.

[Steamtrains]

Way to go...John...!! That looks really good..!! Cool how it all came together...And the boy looks very happy..!! I think you've sown a seed that'll grow and follow in your footsteps...

[eightyeightfan1]

Nice looking so far.
Had me fooled there for awhile. With the cork being painted, I could of sworn that we scared you away from flex track, and you went with Bachmann EZ-Track instead.
Great job!

[sgtcarl1]

Great work!! Your grandson is as young as my grandson!! He just turned thirteen, a while ago. I wish I lived closer to him, so I maybe could get him interested in trains, too.

[Herc Driver]

Nice job!!! You're off to a great start. Way to go.

[jefelectric]

Thanks guys, But you know how their interests can change quickly at that age. Hope his lasts at least till we get some trains rolling. I am certainly enjoying it. I have a 14 year old grandson who lives in CO. I built him a 3-rail O-gauge layout a few years ago during a visit. Since that they moved and the layout is stored away. I think he has discovered girls already.

[eightyeightfan1]

Trains...Girls...cars.....College.....marriage.......kids.....weddings....grandkids...trains.

It's a vicious circle. We've all been there, or will be there.