Laying ME Code 55 Flex On Curves

[mmagliaro]

Just remember, even if with all your preparation, you get a slight kink at the joint, you can
push it back into round with a track gauge pressed in place, and solder some PC board ties in there to hold it.
The nice thing about those soldered ties is that they are something you can retrofit into existing trackwork when a kink
infuriatingly appears despite your best efforts.  Even if it happens 6 months from now.

[GaryHinshaw]

A good fraction of my mainline has been in place for 3 years now with zero kinks.  Having staggered rail joints and ties with rail clips running straight through the joint works really well.  The templates are also indispensable.

[nkalanaga]

My big S curve couldn't be presoldered straight, because the resulting piece wouldn't fit in the room...

[Santa Fe Guy]

I highly recommend ME code 55 track. Mine has been put down with Selleys All clear Silicone, ballasted and operated on almost monthly since 1996. No pins, no kinks. I do pin my turnouts so they are perfectly straight and can be removed if a major repair needs to be carried out on them.
Rod.

[Cajonpassfan]

Doug,

In my 15 3/4 inch radius helix, I am offsetting the rails the same way Gary shows but I remove one tie at each joint (ME Code 40) and use a half-length rail joiner.  It takes time to cut the joiners but the half-length one holds the rail in alignment well and doesn't introduce as much of a kink as a full length joiner.

Cheers,

Geez Greg, who uses Code 40 inside a helix??!
Are you kidding me?
Love your work, Otto K.

[nkalanaga]

To each their own, but in a helix, out of sight, with no turnouts, I'd probably use Peco code 55.  That stuff will last forever, even if it is ugly, which is why I used it in my staging yard.

[PGE_Modeller]

Geez Greg, who uses Code 40 inside a helix??!
Are you kidding me?
Love your work, Otto K.

I had plenty of Code 40 flex on hand and it was easier than bothering to transition from Code 40 to Code 80 and then back to Code 40 again!  It also provides an extra scale foot of "finger clearance" between the railhead and the sub-roadbed for the next turn - particularly useful when trying to stay at a maximum gradient of 2.25% within the physical constraint of a 400 mm (approx. 15 3/4") radius.  In my "Givens & Druthers", "people space" in that area is more important to me than increasing the diameter of the helix as the station at the bottom of the helix is the major switching location on the layout and is also a train order station - thus a site of "people congestion".

Cheers,

[nkalanaga]

OK, for a limited space/grade helix, the smaller rail does make sense.  Trickier to lay, and debug, maybe, but afterwards the extra clearance could be important.  Good engineering decision!

The 40/80 transition is easy.  Just file a notch in the top of the C80 rail and solder the C40 to it!  It also works with 55/80, but not so well with 40/55.  There I used the old "smashed rail joiner" trick, or, in several places, just aligned the rails, as the transition was at a natural gap anyway.

[PGE_Modeller]

- snip -
The 40/80 transition is easy.  Just file a notch in the top of the C80 rail and solder the C40 to it!  It also works with 55/80, but not so well with 40/55.  There I used the old "smashed rail joiner" trick, or, in several places, just aligned the rails, as the transition was at a natural gap anyway.

Been there, done that!  The hidden reverse loop/staging yard is Peco C80 which transitions to ME C40 for the visible trackage with an appropriate tapered shim to gradually raise the C40 until the railheads line up.

Cheers,

[robert3985]

I had plenty of Code 40 flex on hand and it was easier than bothering to transition from Code 40 to Code 80 and then back to Code 40 again!  It also provides an extra scale foot of "finger clearance" between the railhead and the sub-roadbed for the next turn - particularly useful when trying to stay at a maximum gradient of 2.25% within the physical constraint of a 400 mm (approx. 15 3/4") radius.  In my "Givens & Druthers", "people space" in that area is more important to me than increasing the diameter of the helix as the station at the bottom of the helix is the major switching location on the layout and is also a train order station - thus a site of "people congestion".

Cheers,

I've used Railcraft/ME code 55, code 40 and code 70 for decades.  No kink problems.  However, the "new" ME code 40 has problems with flange clearance on just about any brand of engine out there, unless you sand the "spikeheads" down.  Kato engines simply WILL NOT run it...I didn't try any of my others...I just sand the spikeheads.

Soooooo Greg...if you're not sanding your spikeheads, I am going to assume you are using Railcraft (not ME) code 40 flex INSIDE YOUR HELIX???????  You're using that beautiful, impossible to get, best-looking-flextrack-ever-made for your totally out-of-sight HELIX????

Still got "plenty" of it?  I could use a few packs of it if you want to sell some...(really).

I also cut down my rail joiners, but it's not to eliminate kinks at the joints, although as an added benefit, it achieves that.  I get two, maybe three joiners out of a single one because I make them the same length as the distance between ties...then I cut the spacers on three or four ties at the joint on either piece of rail (six or eight total tie spacers), slide the ties back from the joint, solder the rail joiners and rails, the slide the ties back...VOILA!...no funky under-the-rail-no-spikehead ties.  The railjoints are difficult to spot, especially after painting, weathering and ballasting. 

Yup, it takes a bit more time to do it this way, but I think it's worth it.

I solder a 22AWG solid core copper feeder to the center of every rail on the railfoot...underneath, so these joiners are used for mechanical alignment only.

I've been doing this now for hmmmmm....over 25 years???  On modules and portable sections which get transported to shows, and it has worked very well both from a cosmetic and mechanical aspect.

I sock my flextrack down using runny ACC after I get all the kinks and bumps out...sanding the cork roadbed first.  I "tack" it down every six to eight inches first, holding the rail down with a flat pine 1X2 and squirting Accelerator on the ACC and track...then, using the M1A Eyeball Method, I sight down the rails and correct any faults I see before continuing onward.

After I've got a section tacked down, I come back and flood runny ACC between the ties and cork roadbed, holding it down with my little flat pine 1X2 as I progress along.

I take a 1200 watt hair dryer to the newly laid track to totally evaporate the Accelerator, then I chip away any hardened ACC that may be on the tops of my ties or sides of my rails...then proceed to thoroughly test that section of track before painting and weathering.

This goes down really quickly and if you make a mistake, you can pull it up as the ACC doesn't bond strongly to the Delrin ties...then use Debonder on the hardened ACC and scoop it off...the do it over.  I've only had to do that once, so if you work carefully and plan ahead, you probably won't have to do that.

I don't consider the track truly "socked down" until after I've ballasted it.  The ballast cement (Elmer's White Glue or Matte Medium) combined with N-scale real-rock ballast really makes your track immovable.

Photo 1 - Cut-down railjoiners I make and use BETWEEN ties:


Photo 2 - ME code 40 flex at Emory center siding w/spikheads sanded down:


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore