# ? about tacking down the track



## chrisoneal814 (Mar 11, 2011)

Im starting to nail the track to the cork and table. I nailed the nail in i think a little to far on some of the track and i noticed the tie was smashed in a little will this cause problems or are u supossed to do it like that. And for the second ? on some of my turns iv noticed that there is a little gap between the rail joiners will that be problem. i couldnt even get it all fit snug even before i layed the cork. I ran some rolling stock around all the track and it seems to be fine no derailments or hang ups. any advise will be great


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

The sections of track should fit against each other firmly with no gaps.. If they're unable to do so , then it's usually due to some sort of repeated obstruction. There are usually two leading obstructions that can cause this. One obstruction sometimes may be due to one or both ends of the railjoiner having too long of a needless flange. Before attaching the railjoiners to the track, take a moment to look at them. Sometimes there will be a little fange on one or both ends left where they were attached to each other. Remove these little flanges as they will a lot of times prevent the two track ends from coming together all the way in each end of the railjoiner. 

Another obstruction is that a tie is too close to the track end and is preventing the railjoiners from fitting properly. This problem is usually associated with flex track and altered sectional track. Gaps in the track can and sometimes do cause derailments, not to mention the possibility of also causing track electrical problems as well due to poor contact caused by improperly fitted railjoiners 

About the propper way of nailing down a track, it is not a requirement that when nailing one down, the nails have to be in so far that they smash down the ties. The nail should only be driven down as far as to be snug against the tie, no further. Sometimes when driving a nail too far to where it smashes down a tie, it can actually pull the rails together a bit at that location, thus changing the distance between the rails resulting in sometimes derailing the train.

If the nails don't seem to be able to hold down the track securely due to maybe being too short, than use longer nails rather than trying to drive the existing nails deeper. Model Power and Lifelike both offer these longer nails. In addition to being sold at hobby shops, both sizes of nails can also be purchased at Lowes, Home Depot and Ace Hardware, they're just not painted black as are the ones made for model railroading. But this problem can be easily overcome by dabbing a little bit of either flat black or whatever color paint desired on the nail heads with a small brush after they have been driven into the track. Good track laying is essential to having a successfull running model railroad, and when done so, the majority of future potential derailment and track electrical problems are eliminated.

John


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Many folks don't recommend nailing down the track at all, there are a number of adhesives that are easier to secure the track with, and they're easier to remove if you have to move the track.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Glue! Quit smashing rails!  :laugh:


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## novice (Feb 2, 2011)

Excellent explanation - thanks John - answered several questions I was going to ask soon as well.

CP and GRJ - thanks, you're talking about silicone adhesive?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Silicone is a good choice.


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

novice said:


> Excellent explanation - thanks John - answered several questions I was going to ask soon as well.
> 
> CP and GRJ - thanks, you're talking about silicone adhesive?


You're welcome. Gluing is another good option. A lot of model railroaders prefer this method. But because I'm primarily a nail man preferring to nail my track down rather than to gluing it down, I'm going to back on out of here and let someone else whose more experienced with this glue method explain it to you. Glad to have been able to help.

John


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

I use simple latex caulking! I did a write up on it.
Simple track laying and Mountain building


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## novice (Feb 2, 2011)

NIMT said:


> I use simple latex caulking! I did a write up on it.
> Simple track laying and Mountain building


Ah, latex caulking - I saw where it said caulking, but didn't know what kind.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

I do a little nailing and gluing. Sometimes a nail is necessary to get the track to conform to what I want. Otherwise glue. Seans method would be #1 though!


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