Question Regarding Handlaid Turnouts

[mightypurdue22]

Question regarding handlaid turnouts…

I’m awaiting an order from Fast Tracks for turnout supplies and have been anxiously prepping to build my first turnouts.  One question I have for those who have done it before…How do you fasten the finished turnouts to the roadbed/layout?  I have in the past used small portions of liquid nails to hold track in place, but am open to anything but nails. 

Also, how have you ballasted these turnouts (besides carefully)?  Reason I ask, I’ve been prone to tear track up and reconfigure things.  Last thing I want to do is invest time in turnouts and not have them be reusable.  Any advice, thoughts, etc. are welcome.

Thanks!

[robwill84]

As one who has made a lot of mistakes often changed my mind about track placement, I've found that a very thin layer of liguid nails FOR PROJECTS is the way to go. It has a bit less "grab" than regular liquid nails, still plenty to hold the track in place, but if something needs to be changed, you can slide a blade underneath, and any adhesive that remains on the track peels off without too much effort.

As for ballasting, the tried and true soak with alcohol/ dribble on white glue method is still my favorite. To undo ballasting, soak with alcohol from a spray bottle. It may take several applications, over a half hour or so to really dissolve the glue, but eventually it will loosen up to the point where you can remove the track, then soak it in water or alcohol and scrub with a toothbrush to remove any stubborn residue.

[davefoxx]

I use yellow carpenter's glue to hold my track, including some handlaid track, to the cork roadbed.  While I haven't tried removing the handlaid track yet for reuse, I can and have easily popped off the flextrack and commercial turnouts.  But, the yellow carpenter's glue doesn't release when flooded with wet water and adhesive during ballasting.

DFF

[robert3985]

I sock both my track (ME/Rail Craft) and hand-laid turnouts down with CA, helped along with Accelerator.  This is all on Midwest Cork Products cork roadbed, which has previously been glued down with yellow carpenter's glue, then sanded flat on top.

I apply ME ties to the ends of my turnouts by sliding them on and stopping where the PCB ties start.  Be aware that PCB ties are rarely the same height as either Atlas or ME plastic ties. The PCB tie material I work with is what ME/Rail Craft used to manufacture hand-made PCB turnouts way back in the 80's and is .030" high, whereas their plastic ties on their flex are .050" high, so when I place my hand laid turnouts on my cork roadbed, the PCB ties are "floating" .020" over the cork.  I put .020" Styrene spacers under the head blocks and frogs and use runny CA to sock them down, and then I use gap-filling CA for the rest of the PCB ties that are "floating".  Works well for me, and goes very quickly with liberal applications of Accelerator, evaporated with my 1500 watt hair dryer after the CA has cured.

Although I rarely tear track up and reuse turnouts or flex, I have had to do it a few times and fingernail polish remover works very well on my turnouts after you've gotten rid of the ballast using previously mentioned methods (which work very well).  You can also buy CA debonding/release agent, which is mostly Acetone.  This softens the hard CA so it turns into a jelly-like state and you can easily remove whatever you've glued down with it, and "roll" off any excess CA adhesive while it's in its jellied state.  It'll harden back up when the Acetone evaporates out of it, but does so slowly.

As for flex, CA doesn't stick all that well to Delrin, so you can pop up flex if you've glued it with CA.  It's really the ballast cement that grips it and holds it down, the CA being more of a "spot weld".  If you want to make sure you don't pull the rails off the ties (especially if you're using ME flex), run a metal spatula between the ties and roadbed which'll do the trick.

I've been laying track this way for decades along with using ME/Rail Craft "stiff" flex, which requires me to get the straights straight and the curves smooth before I sock it down with runny CA, but I don't have to wait for it to dry and can quickly get a lot done when I start laying track.

[mmagliaro]

I have two hand-made curved turnouts that I bought from somebody who makes them with the FastTracks jigs.
I glues them down using Woodland Scenics Foam Tack Glue.  Ballasting was the same as regular track:
put the ballast in, wet with alcohol, then drip 50/50 white glue mix in with an eyedropper.

  When I ripped out my layout a few years ago, I wanted to save those, of course.  I was able to slip a thin putty knife
under them and gently slice them free from the roadbed.   Then some soapy water and alcohol and a toothbrush
is all it took to get the glue residue off the bottom.   I DID have to replace about 10 of the wooden ties,
but the soldered PC board ties were fine and they are what holds the turnout together anyway.

On one of them, the solder joint at the drawbar broke, but that had nothing to do with the glue.  I just
pried on that end too roughly while I was removing it.   (I was able to solder it back in place, so all is well).

[rodsup9000]

 I drill a #73 hole in a couple of the PC board ties and use track nails to hold it till I satisfied with it. Then I take it up and then plant it with some acrylic calk.

Rodney 

[BCR 570]

I am also using Foam Tack Glue from Wodland Scenics - easy to use, helps deaden sound, dries clear, and can be dissolved and removed if required.

Tim

[jdcolombo]

Here's a simpler solution:

Don't glue down your turnouts at all.  Let them float.  Glue, tack, nail, whatever, the entry and exit tracks; then drill one #70 hole in a tie near the center of the turnout and use a single track nail in it there to keep it from moving when the points are thrown.  When it comes time to ballast, use the usual 50/50 white glue mix.  Go easy on the ballast, particularly around the throwbar and points.  When the ballast is dry, remove the single track nail.

Now if you need to remove the turnout, all you do is spray it heavily with water, wait for the ballast to loosen, and then pull it up.  No muss, no fuss, no damage.  I never use any glue or other adhesive on my turnouts.

John C.