# need help with flex track



## spacomp92653 (Jul 5, 2018)

I'm trying to get started on a small layout and want to use flex track. My question is this, when joining 2 section of track, the connectors can not go on the rail until you remove one tie. Removing one tie on each length or track results in this big gap between the ties. What is the best way to hide the gap?

Should I just save the removed ties and trim them to slide under the connectors?


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

you can reuse the plastic ties but they have to be cut down in thickness a little, to allow for the thickness of the joiners, or you can use wooden ties that are already a little thinner ..for HO i think the tie size is 7"x 9"
i used the wooden ties, and just slipped them under neath when i was ballasting
View attachment 475028


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

There is more.

When you go to fashion a curve with flex, one of the rails, the sliding one, will withdraw or slide out of the ends, depending on whether it's the inside or outer rail. You must deal with this constructively or you'll have horrible curves, probably with kinks.

You must first establish your tracks' path along curves. Draw the centerline. Place the two lengths of track so that their ends will mate with sliding rails doing what they want to do. At some point you will have to trim or make them meet inside of one of the two pieces of flex, and you'll have to remove two ties there as well. Track pins or nails help you to hold the flex in position while you measure or mark which ties must be removed.

Many of us slide the protruding end of a rail into the spikehead details of the mated piece to find the natural meeting point and remove those ties. This helps to provide a really strong retention of the slide rail and keeps the curve looking natural and realistic. You will find youtube videos showing how to do this.

When you remove ties, you set them aside and use them back in place as explained by the previous poster. You take a small metal file and file down the spikeheads and the tie plate details in relief. Make the top surface flat. Then they will easily slide back into place before you try your hand at ballasting.

Don't replace the ties until your tracks have been retained in place permanently with glue, more nails that you intend to leave there permanently, or with ballast. But do slide them back and align their edges before gluing the ballast!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Flex track on curves*



spacomp92653 said:


> I'm trying to get started on a small layout and want to use flex track. My question is this, when joining 2 section of track, the connectors can not go on the rail until you remove one tie. Removing one tie on each length or track results in this big gap between the ties. What is the best way to hide the gap?
> 
> Should I just save the removed ties and trim them to slide under the connectors?


spacomp;

Another tip for flex track on curves. The rails will tend to kink near the joints. First, use mesenteria's good advice about offsetting the two movable rails. I don't know if you plan on soldering rail joints or not. Many do solder them for good alignment of the rail ends, and electrical continuity. I personally solder rail joints only on flex track that will have a rail joint in the middle of a curve. I leave the joints in straight track unsoldered to allow a bit of room for expansion and contraction due to temperature changes. The rail actually expands/contracts very little, but the wood under it expands/contracts more, and can distort the track if all joints are soldered. 

So, let's say you do end up with a rail joint within a curve. One method (the one I use) is to lay the two pieces of flex track straight on a workbench (with those sliding rails on opposite sides) and solder the joints with the track still straight. Then take the soldered, assembly of two sections of flex track and bend it to fit the curve. Soldering while the rail ends, and joint, are still straight makes them stay straight and lined up properly when you form the curve. Not doing the soldering until after you lay the track in a curve, means the rail ends in the joiner will try to kink. Kinked joints can derail a train. I'm not saying it's impossible to make a good joining of two rails already in a curve, just that it's much easier to do when the track is still straight.

If you choose to adopt mesenteria's other suggestion, and thread the longer rail through the spike detail of the other track section, so that the joints are not opposite each other, then I'd think any soldering would have to be done with the track already curved. Again, not impossible, but harder. The advantage of offsetting the rail joints like that is that the very fact that they are not directly opposite each other tends to help resist kinking a little, since both rails wont end up with their, easy-to-kink, joints in the same spot. This can let the two entire sections of flex track move sideways into a kink, more easily. In either case, you will need to remove, sand thinner, (from the bottom) and re-insert, a few ties. Also, when soldering, put a wet paper towel, or other heat sink, on either side of the joint. This helps prevent heat damage to the plastic ties. 

Good luck & have fun;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Retain the ties you cut out. Use a file to flatten the spots where the joiner rests (spike and joint plate detail, mostly).

For the kinks at joints problem you can also solve that by using MicroEngineering flex track, which is stiff and does not have the tendency to spring back straight. The drawback is that it is more difficult to shape.


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