# tips for laying track



## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay guys i just ordered a bunch of track some sectonol and a bunch of flex too lookin for info on best way to lay the track are there any templates for curves for the flex thanks alot its code 83 atlas stuff


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

You can buy ' sweepsticks ' here: http://www.handlaidtrack.com/SweepSticks-for-HO-track-30-quot-radius-p/sw-ho-c-30.htm they hold the flex track in place while you pin it.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

LFB

After you design your layout, draw the center line of the track on
the table surface. You can then pin the flex to that and maintain
the radius that you want.

You'll notice that only one rail of the flex moves. You'll also notice that
it 'bends' more easily in one direction. Use that to your advantage
for smoother curves.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

You can create a trammel using either string or a yardstick which will help you draw nice, smooth curves for your track centerlines. There are also various radius tools available (search Micromark and Walthers).


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

thanks guys im gonna look into thsoe shaper sticks thanks for the advice and keep it coming open to any all on this im new to this whole flex track thing haha.


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## tr1 (Mar 9, 2013)

*Check on Mark Gurries DCC web sight also*

Lfb,
What was mentioned earlier was to use a trammel, or a compass like device to draw your
radii curved center lines. Do this on a flat surface to avoid any complications. Try to stay away from sectional track,because you'll be able to keep the joints to a minimum, and soldering also. It's probably a good idea to solder to the bottom of the track initially. Save the plastic tie pieces for later insertion. Drop wires can be14AWG (~3'[+]or[-]) long too a terminal block. Or,
they can be as small as 22guage and it is recommended as long as 4" soldered to a12 guage bus wire.House wire solid is much less cost wise. Red wire(+) White wire(-). Short sections of house Bell wire(~4")can be used also as drop wires
(~4" in length).Soldered it would be similarly comparable to a centipede let's say. Regard's,
tr1


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay cool can i buy a trammel or is that something thats made pretty easy and how hard is it to use the sweepsticks look pretty nice they go in the track and you bend it to match that and bam radi is done thats after lookin them over atlest is what i get orm it thanks.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

You can buy a trammel pre made, buy clips that enable you to make a trammel out of any straight piece of wood, or make your own from scratch by drilling holes in a piece of wood or a cheap yardstick.

I personally opted for the clip on trammel points sold by Micromark.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

CTValleyRR said:


> You can create a trammel using either string or a yardstick which will help you draw nice, smooth curves for your track centerlines. There are also various radius tools available (search Micromark and Walthers).


Thats exactly what I did, and laid out the curves I have on my layout currently under construction such as here: 



Now in order to draw those center lines I had to temporarily attach a piece of wood that I could nail the trammel to so I could swing the trammel with the pencil as if it was a giant compass, like what you drew circles with as a kid, only I was drawing large quarter circles with radii such as 38.5, 36 and so on.

You can buy a yard stick and drill a hole for the pencil at appropriate distances from the nail hole where the pivot point is. I don't think any store sells a trammel that I am aware if so you will have to buy a long thin piece of wood and make one your self, but it is easy. You just measures the distance from the nail for your radii and drill a hold for the pencil, 1/4 inch will allow you to squeeze the end of a pencil into the hold enough to hold it temporarily. I'll see if I can take a photo later and post it of my home made trammel. Usually I'll use a drywall screw and scew a piece of plywood in place to hold the trammel just long enough to draw the center lines and then remove it. You draw the center lines so they line up on either end of the curve with the straight sections they match up to. In my case, I actually make the center lines about a half inch inside the straight center lines so I can have easements - which allows the curve to have a gentle broad end before the straight.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay cool ill keep this all in mind when i go to lay track it wont ship out till late today so will probably be friday or saturday till i get it in will let yall knwo what i decide on and what it do and post pics if i can figure it out.


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## vikramgoel (Mar 2, 2015)

Hi,

One of the issue with flex track is when you lay the track and until you glue or nail it down it does not stay in shape. A nifty little tool is '*FT-HO-01 Flexible Track Holder for HO-OO Tracks*' made by a Turkish company, details ate: http://proses.com/modelrailforum/items.html

regards,

Vik.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

vikramgoel said:


> Hi,
> 
> One of the issue with flex track is when you lay the track and until you glue or nail it down it does not stay in shape. A nifty little tool is '*FT-HO-01 Flexible Track Holder for HO-OO Tracks*' made by a Turkish company, details ate: http://proses.com/modelrailforum/items.html
> 
> ...


Depends on the brand of flextrack. I use MicroEngineering flex, and it stays in whatever shape you put it. That's one of the reasons I prefer it (some people consider it a drawback).


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## vikramgoel (Mar 2, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> Depends on the brand of flextrack. I use MicroEngineering flex, and it stays in whatever shape you put it. That's one of the reasons I prefer it (some people consider it a drawback).


Hi,

I think Atlas track is being used here and it does lose the curve and is difficult to lay correctly.
Regards,

Vik


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

vikramgoel said:


> Hi,
> 
> One of the issue with flex track is when you lay the track and until you glue or nail it down it does not stay in shape. A nifty little tool is '*FT-HO-01 Flexible Track Holder for HO-OO Tracks*' made by a Turkish company, details ate: http://proses.com/modelrailforum/items.html
> 
> ...


I find the "stiff" flex track to take a lot of messing around with and generally difficult to work with, and I'm working on my fourth layout so I don't consider myself inexperienced.

The nifty tool I have to lay my Atlas flex track is the Atlas track nail, that comes in little bags. I lay the track with the nail hole over the center line, then with a pair of needle nose pliers, lay the nail into the hole and press it into place. If I"m on homasote, I can push it down with a nail set or gently tap it down with a small hammer. If I'm on plywood, such as the last photo (below), I can tap it down with the hammer. Occasionally I do bend a nail if the wood is hard, but I usually just toss it out and get it in the 2nd time (worst case scenario). I prefer not to use glue or adhesives because, as the old saying goes, to err is human, and it's much easier to pull up a nail or spike with my needle nose than rip the track up thats glued down, if I have to re-lay it or reposition it (which I've had to do numerous times already. Murphies law and all that - you can count on it happening multiple times no matter how good you are.

See with Atlas flex, it's actually VERY easy to work with. When you curve it, you simply lay it on the center line and put the nail on the center line and miraculously it follows it exactly as it is drawn - boom - easy.


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## GN.2-6-8-0 (Jan 10, 2013)

One other trick I think works well is to stagger the track joints,particularly on curves for smooth transitions


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

GN.2-6-8-0 said:


> One other trick I think works well is to stagger the track joints,particularly on curves for smooth transitions


I perfer not to stagger my joints because that enlarges the distance that I have to cut ties out from under the rail. Usually if the rail joiners are snug, they will keep the rail straight through the curve and not kink, but if you want insurance against kink on a curve, simply solder the rails while they are positioned in straight, then after the solder has cooled, curve the track and it will curve smoothly as if you have one long smooth welded rail.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

awesome advice guys thank you a bunch now antoher question i have is on woodland scnics riser inclines systems i want to make one trakc go over the other and have enough clearnce for doublestack container trains what particualr inclien and what height riser will i need to buy thanks


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

For clearance of double stacks, get out the ruler. I have some at home since I model up to the late 1980's - put one on the tracks with two stacked containers and meaure the height - from memory it will be around 3 and a half inches. So the underside of the bridge will have to clear the top of the top container with at least an 1/8th of an inch to spare - more is better such as 1/4 inch to be sure. 

If you have several different types of double stack containers (Walthers, KATO, Athearn, Intermountain, etc.) measure them all and use the tallest as your minimum clearance.

As for Woodland Scenics risers come in different grades from what I understand, 2%, 3% 4% etc. but you'll have to see based on your clearance how high you have to go to pass over the containers. When it comes to layouts, I don't use much prefab components like the risers but rather use raw materials like plywood and drywall screws and calculate grades the old fashioned way - grade = rise over run etc. Ideally you want to keep the grade under 3% like real railroads do ... well, real RR's shoot for 2% less, but the D&RGW had 3% on the Tenessee Pass until the UP shut it down in 1996.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Rio Grande

When building a staggered joint in curved flex track the 
idea is to pull the rails a couple inches out of the ties. Make your cuts in
the rails, then re-insert the rails into the ties. They will hold
your gauge and help avoid kinking. Pin the track to hold
it until your permanent attachment, glue, screws or whatever,
is finished.

Don


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

well i don't own any double stacks at the moment there on my list to buy just want to plan ahead for them so say 3.75 inch's for total clearnce what kind of grade would i need to get to this height thanks.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Well to give you an idea of what is needed a Woodland Scenics 2% incline set will raise 4"
in 16 feet. so you are looking at something like 15 feet to get over your double stacks. 
Also don't forget to figure in the height of the roadbed if using it. So with roadbed you'll need pretty much the full 4". They are about $15.00 each and you'll need two, one up and one down. They are real easy to use but expensive. 

They make a set of 3% as well if you don't have that much room. Kind of steep but workable for some.

Here's a link to Model train Stuff and you can check out other options. 
www.modeltrainstuff.com
Go to the scenery tab and then to Sub terrain layout. You'll see all WS options.

I just used a ton of this stuff on my re build. 

Magic


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

thank you magic for the information ive browsed over there stuff just couldn't ever find out what i neede to do this or whats need to do that there a little vauge on that part thanks again to eveyrone for the help my order form mts will be here today yay i will let you guys know how it goes though will just be a start to laying track but hey gotta start somee where right thanks again all lfb.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Grade is rise over run, so how steep your grade is depends on how long your track is that reaches say, 3.75 inches. Say you decide to go with a 3% grade, that means the track will rise 3 inches for every 100 inches of distance. In other words, divide 3 by 100 = 0.03 - 3%

You can also reverse engineer the grade too. Say you have to get up 3.75 inches and you have 10 feet to do it in. Simple math. 10 feet = 120 inches. Divide 3.75 by 120 inches = 0.3125 or basically 3.1 % grade. I think the woodland scenecs comes in 2, 3 and 4 % grades but you don't have to use their risers - and you can make your own grade and just calculated the change from one support to the next using the simple formula.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

well that may be simple for you but i suck at math haha though thank you for the idea i have a 6x10 layout and i am wanting to do a twice around style plan on it and i know the woodland scenics still is pricye but for the ease of it its worth it to me


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

FLB -- don't go there, dude! This isn't rocket science, or even trigonometry. Heck, it's not even algebra, but simple division.

That said, whether you feel comfortable computing it or not, actually DOING it with any degree of accuracy is trickier (though not impossible). I've seen people get all wound up using the WS risers, too. The major problem with the WS risers, though, is that with the 3 and 4% slopes, you really need an easement at both the top and the bottom, unless you're running very short trains and equipment. If you can afford the space, it's better to start out with a more gradual slope at each end that's twice as long as the longest equipment you intend to run on it.


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

alright i will think on this and as said my layout isnt going to be huge sadly lol but it is better than nothing 6 ft wide by 10 ft long and i want to do a twice around style layout otherwise not sure on what i want to put onto it i plan to run modern day locomtoives so will think on this how would i do an easement on the grades at top and bottom thanks for al the help guys.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

On a 6x10 you will probably have enough room for a 2% grade (requiring 16'), Depending on how you lay it out.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

little fat buddy said:


> well that may be simple for you but i suck at math haha though thank you for the idea i have a 6x10 layout and i am wanting to do a twice around style plan on it and i know the woodland scenics still is pricye but for the ease of it its worth it to me


It's ok, if you have a hand calculator you can use it. I do! Simple math, Grade = rise over run or Grade = how much the track rises divided by the distance the track goes.


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