Atlas Code 55 Flex

[basementcalling]

I try to keep joints with flex track on the straights, but it's not always possible. When not, the soldering the joint method works to help keep the tracks in guage.

[nickelplate759]

I do too, but no joints is even better!

Since no-one seems to have any experience on this, I'm going to try it and see.

[nkalanaga]

That would be my suggestion!  And, like the others said, IF you needed a longer piece, you could solder two pieces together, and have the ties face the right way on both.  But as you said, no joints is even better.

Maybe ask the UP?  Page 11, February "Railfan & Railroad", UP laying new track:  "The crew used machines undreamt of in the steam era to remove the old track while replacing it with 33 new, pre-assembled, quarter-mile-long panels."

Prototype flextrack??? 

[MetroRedLine]

That would be my suggestion!  And, like the others said, IF you needed a longer piece, you could solder two pieces together, and have the ties face the right way on both.  But as you said, no joints is even better.

Maybe ask the UP?  Page 11, February "Railfan & Railroad", UP laying new track:  "The crew used machines undreamt of in the steam era to remove the old track while replacing it with 33 new, pre-assembled, quarter-mile-long panels."

Prototype flextrack???

For the Rivet Counters in the house, a quarter-mile in N scale is 8'3"...doable I guess

[nkalanaga]

Model rail used to be available in 9 ft lengths, from someone, many years ago.  It took "special shipping", but some O scale folks preferred it.  I'm not sure USPS or UPS would want to handle something like that today.

Except for the shipping, it would be quite practical, although only for large layouts.  Trying to use an 8 ft piece of track on a door would be frustrating.

[robert3985]

Ya gotta be careful to not lay extra long lengths of N-scale rail without expansion/contraction cuts in it.  Extra long rails might sound groovy, but in practice, soldered together rails over 6' long might very well give you problems with kinking as the temperature rises and falls, as the humidity goes up and down, and as your benchwork ages and contracts (if it's wood).

My good friend and fellow crazy Gregg Cudworth is building a basement full of the RGS in Nn3, using C30 "ribbon rail" soldered to a PCB tie every 7th tie.  He is laying it on laminated Masonite subroadbed, mounted to premium pine benchwork.  Last year, Gregg went down to his basement in the afternoon to work on his layout and ALL of his C30 rails were kinked between PCB ties.  He figured out that his premium pine benchwork had shrunk in the five years or so since he'd laid that track, so he cut expansion joints every 3' and the kinks disappeared.  Code 30 "ribbon rail" is just flattened wire and come on 300' spools.  Some of Gregg's hand laid track had continuous lengths of rail that were over 30' long.

My layout is both portable and sectional, with the longest section being 6' (except for one which is 8') so, my longest length of soldered together rail is a little over 6'.  I don't have any problems with kinking, either on my RailCraft C55 or my hand laid C40.  I am sure my modules, made from wood, have shrunk over the years, but because there's no rail that's over 6' long on the layout, they can expand and contract at the section boundaries.

Some modelers, who live in high humidity areas, or places that experience large seasonal temperature swings, swear that 3' is the longest piece of solid rail usable to prevent kinking.

So, although extra long lengths of rail might sound great, in use, you have no need for rails 8' long, since for reliability's sake, you should cut expansion joints in your rails at least every 3' to 6'.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

My good friend and fellow crazy Gregg Cudworth is building a basement full of the RGS in Nn3, using C30 "ribbon rail" soldered to a PCB tie every 7th tie.  He is laying it on laminated Masonite subroadbed, mounted to premium pine benchwork.  Last year, Gregg went down to his basement in the afternoon to work on his layout and ALL of his C30 rails were kinked between PCB ties.  He figured out that his premium pine benchwork had shrunk in the five years or so since he'd laid that track, so he cut expansion joints every 3' and the kinks disappeared.  Code 30 "ribbon rail" is just flattened wire and come on 300' spools.  Some of Gregg's hand laid track had continuous lengths of rail that were over 30' long.




Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

I don't understand this. If every 7th tie is glued down and rail is soldered to it how does the rail move between the PC ties?

I use PC ties about every inch and the only way I can think to gap the rails would be to gap them every inch. That is the only way they can move right? So I gave up.

[nkalanaga]

It kinks sideways between the PC ties, if one is lucky.  If one is UNlucky, the foil comes loose, and the PC ties need to be replaced.  I've seen it, although it was on a test track, not an operating layout.

In Gregg's case, I suspect that the masonite didn't change length enough to affect the rails between every tie, but was put under compression by the benchwork shrinking.  Cutting a few gaps was enough to relieve the pressure.  Removing the roadbed from the benchwork, then reattaching it, would likely have solved the problem as well, but that would be very difficult.

[robert3985]

I don't understand this. If every 7th tie is glued down and rail is soldered to it how does the rail move between the PC ties?

I use PC ties about every inch and the only way I can think to gap the rails would be to gap them every inch. That is the only way they can move right? So I gave up.

Chris, my question to Gregg was the same as yours.  My PCB rails on my C40 trackage are every 5th tie, and there is the possibility that Gregg's 7th tie protocol was too far apart and allowed the kinking of his minuscule C30 ribbon rails.  I guess we won't know the answer to that, since Gregg is now gapping his rails every three feet and isn't going to start laying his rails on PCB ties spaced at every fifth tie.

He postulates that the reason the kinking went away after cutting his expansion joints, is because of the flexibility of the the cork roadbed it's all glued to, which in my thinking, may have also been a reason for it to kink in the first place since he cuts his cork roadbed from large sheets of it he buys at the local lumber yard and it's quite a bit thicker than even HO scale Midwest Products cork....but, what do I know??  There were some places he had to resolder his rails, but only a few.

Photo (1) - Gregg's C30 PCB (every 7th tie) Handlaid Track:


Photo (2) - Semi-Finished Scenery on Gregg's Nn3 Rio Grande Southern Layout:


Gregg's basement is fully climate controlled with concrete floors, sheetrocked and insulated walls in a home that is less than 15 years old, but the climate here is very dry.  It was Gregg's conclusion that his kinking problem was caused by benchwork shrinkage from drying out over the years, and I agree with his conclusion.  His benchwork is premium pine dimensional lumber, and splined Masonite subroadbed (with a thicker than normal cork roadbed glued to it), all glued and screwed together.

Both Gregg and I know that it doesn't take a lot of rail expansion/benchwork contraction to make track kink, and in his case, with the flat contour, it may have a tendency to kink easier than C55 or C40 NS "rail" with an actual rail-like contour.  Total rail growth due to high temperature on sun-exposed modules at shows is probably less than .005" every 6 to 8 feet, but if the track isn't securely fastened to its roadbed, it can and will kink like crazy (speaking from observation of nailed-down Atlas C80 on neighboring Ntrak modules).

Shrinking benchwork, which includes subroadbed and roadbed due to dehydration does the same thing as rail elongation from heating, but takes a lot longer, and may not happen in more humid climes.

Gregg was surprised that his track returned to "normal" after cutting his expansion joints (in most cases) because he was prepared to have to resolder it, his thinking being the same as yours and mine.  The only movement allowed by soldering rails to PCB ties would be due to the flexibility of the cork roadbed, which the PCB ties are securely glued to, which is the case with my handlaid track too.  He also thinks that his benchwork didn't shrink evenly, with the major culprits being the ends of the dogbones, where the pine supports would shrink at right angles to the runs coming into and going away from them, shortening their runs by mere thousandths of an inch, but enough to kink small rails.

Also, Gregg glues his splined Masonite subroadbed together with yellow carpenter's hot glue, which is going to allow the subroadbed to grow and shrink a lot easier than if glued with regular yellow carpenter's glue...which I use.

Many factors can contribute to track kinking, but...and this is my main point, most of the reasons for track kinking can be compensated for by cutting expansion gaps every 3 to 6 feet, even if the rails aren't going to slide over the PCB ties it's soldered to.

If a modeler decides to use the good practice of soldering feeders to every piece of rail, and not rely on rail joiners to carry current, only using the rail joiners to mechanically align the rail ends with each other, then I don't see a need for cutting expansion gaps.  But, for us who solder our C40 rails to PCB ties, it's probably highly recommended to leave or cut a gap every 3 to 6 feet.  I works for me!

Better safe than sorry IMO.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

Thanks. It sounds like the cork is what lets it move.

I didn't understand how track that is held tight every inch would work with gaps every 3 feet. But if it's cork then it isn't really "tight". I might give it a try again...

[nkalanaga]

Ahhh...I missed the cork, and thought the track was laid on the masonite.  Yes, the cork would have enough give to compensate for roadbed changes, to a point.

I haven't used cork in decades, but most of my mainline is laid on balsa strips, which are almost as forgiving.

[OldEastRR]

Atlas Code 80 was produced with brown ties for a while. I still have some.