# Adding ties to AF S gauge track



## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

I've started building a small 4' x 4' track for under the Christmas tree this year. I'll post photos later. I was wondering if there's a way to add additional ties to the American Flyer S gauge track. The only thing I've come up with is cutting down some 1" dimensional lumber to the width of the AF ties and then painting and gluing them to the underside of the rails. About half of the track I've purchased needs some heavy cleaning and derusting (is that a word?) so I've been trying several solutions to clean it. So far tile grout cleaner and CLR has been working well. It does take off the black paint on the ties but I was going to paint them brown anyway. 

Thanks for any help. 
Joe


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

If you don't care the black paint is coming off soak your track in Evaporust or vinegar.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

There used to be a vendor of rubber ties made for placement between the steel ties. I have not seen them for a long time and they are not listed on the NASG website.
I think the rust is prototypical. Just sand the top of the rail and inside edge; then clean the track pins. You can soak it all like Mopac says if you want.


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

OCJOER I have used rail ties from "Triple R Plastic Realistc Railroad Ties". It has been some time that I have ordered these. These are a made of rubber and at the time they offered brown and black. These ties are listed as 027 ties but don't let that stop you because they match up perfectly to the original AF track ties. You get 250 per order. If you decide to ballast the track it looks great and matches the AF tie tops in size. Mine came directly from the company. When I typed in "3 R Pastics" it shows Amazon as the supplier. As to the track, I have track that I left rusted on the sides but cleaned the rail heads and the track pins and a bit inside the connecting rail for good track electrical contact. This is used on all my yard track and sidings. I used all good AF track and new K-Line broad curve track for all main lines. I used 3 different colors of furniture stain on the rail sides to simulate rust. In retrospect I keep thinking I should have used all rusted track except for the K-Line. The rust gives the track a prototypical look. 

Kenny


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Kenny, that would explain why the ties on not listed on the NASG site.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Contact GarGraves, they may sell them....315-483-6577..


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

flyernut said:


> Contact GarGraves, they may sell them....315-483-6577..


Let me re-phrase that..I know they have them, but I'm not sure if they would sell them, you'll have to ask..


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

mopac said:


> If you don't care the black paint is coming off soak your track in Evaporust or vinegar.


These are a pair of 3-spring trucks that were soaked in evapo-rust over-night. The pitting of course is still there, but all the rust, as well as the bluing is gone.


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

Hey Flyer and Mo,

I don't really care about the paint so I dipped one of the short straight tracks in CLR and here's what they look like. Any suggestions as to what to use after to keep the rust away? I wiped it down with WD-40 but it didn't help much. I can see the rust coming back already this morning. 

Joe


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

Morning AFG,

Amazon does have them. It looks like they snap onto the rails. Do they actually fit the S scale rails or do they just set in place? 

Joe


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

OCJOER said:


> Morning AFG,
> 
> Amazon does have them. It looks like they snap onto the rails. Do they actually fit the S scale rails or do they just set in place?
> 
> Joe


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Sorry Joe, I neglected to tell you the rust will come back unless you paint them. I do not think it will come back as bad as your pieces were. Yours has gotten wet at some point. And like Kenny said earlier the track will look more real with some rust. All you have to do is keep the top of rails clean. I use the green ScotchBrite scrubbing pads found at your local supermarket in cleaning aids aisle. They work well. For some reason rust does not come back as quick on the top of rails. I thought about adding the ties to my Gilbert track. The track will look a little better but still not prototypical. My choice would be use cargraves track. Neither will be all that cheap. The cargraves will look much nicer. They have nice flex track. I don't have cargraves
but I am cheap. Cheap is not always best way to go.


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

Hi Mo,

I'm going to paint the ties for now and maybe add the 3 R plastic ties. At this point I'm not going to buy all new track. Maybe later on when I win the lottery  I've got loads of ScotchBrite so I'll just wipe it all down when I set it up. It's only going to be up for Christmas (for now) so I'm sure it will stay clean for a month or so. 

Joe


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Gilbert track is fine to use for the layout. GarGraves makes sectional track but the rail is not as good as Gilbert and it is more expensive. I consider GarGraves only for flex track that mates with Gilbert turnouts.
If the rust is returning then, to me, that means not all the rust was removed, probably needs a longer soak time. I have 500 pieces, maybe more, of Gilbert track. None of it has rusted. If there is some rust and it is 100% removed the track should not show more rust unless it gets wet.
FYI, there are at least three variations of rail used in Gilbert track. First is the 1946 only rail that has black webs, those webs will not rust. Second is rail that appears dull grey, third is rail that has a shiny appearance and is lighter in color.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AmFlyer said:


> Gilbert track is fine to use for the layout. GarGraves makes sectional track but the rail is not as good as Gilbert and it is more expensive. I consider GarGraves only for flex track that mates with Gilbert turnouts.
> If the rust is returning then, to me, that means not all the rust was removed, probably needs a longer soak time. I have 500 pieces, maybe more, of Gilbert track. None of it has rusted. If there is some rust and it is 100% removed the track should not show more rust unless it gets wet.
> FYI, there are at least three variations of rail used in Gilbert track. First is the 1946 only rail that has black webs, those webs will not rust. Second is rail that appears dull grey, third is rail that has a shiny appearance and is lighter in color.


I don't believe they make the flex-track in S scale anymore. They do have the sectional track of course.I know they quit making standard gauge track.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Interesting, I wonder if it is just a temporary interruption. The S gauge flex is still listed on the site and the two suppliers I looked at had plenty of the flex available. Is my case of 50 pieces of GarGraves flex about to rise in value?


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AmFlyer said:


> Interesting, I wonder if it is just a temporary interruption. The S gauge flex is still listed on the site and the two suppliers I looked at had plenty of the flex available. Is my case of 50 pieces of GarGraves flex about to rise in value?


Lol. maybe!!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AmFlyer said:


> Interesting, I wonder if it is just a temporary interruption. The S gauge flex is still listed on the site and the two suppliers I looked at had plenty of the flex available. Is my case of 50 pieces of GarGraves flex about to rise in value?


I'll call them tomorrow and find out.


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

I soaked one piece of track overnight (I actually didn't plan on overnight, I just forgot I left it there). I'm going to dry it in the oven to get rid of any residual water and see what happens.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Looks really clean. I have heard of drying in an oven. Good luck.

I have also heard of soaking in baking soda & water. It neutralizes.
Like if you soak in vinegar.


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

This is the progress so far. I was initially planning on making a bridge for the overpass but every time I tried different angles for the supports it just took up too much room so I went with a tunnel. I guess I'm going to have to buy one of those heat wire things to cut the foam. The ol' Xacto knife just isn't doing a good job, even with a new blade. I've been looking at ideas for the foam and I think I'm going to go with a cinder block design for the wall that will go on the inside most section where the top piece of MDF goes and do some kind of landscaping on the outer circle. I'm going to run the train so that it goes up the incline that is on the outside ring. That will give it about 10 feet to go up about 4 1/4" rise which, from my old math calculations (and the ol' interweb) will give me an incline of about 3 1/2%.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I did call garGraves as promised, and they still make the flex-track in S scale. They also make 4 different radius curves, and they do sell the wooden ties for placing between the original Gilbert track/ties. The cost is $1.00 for 12...hope this helps anyone concerned.


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## SF Gal (11 mo ago)

I also soaked my old rusty track in vinagar overnight. 








To stop any rusting I wipe down the track after a rinse in tap water and dipped them in light air tool oil, and put them in a dish rack to drip dry. I later "lightly" wiped down the rail top and inside with a paint pad damp with goof off. I like the Gargrave price for a dozen ties, much better price than Amazon's price. Thanks for sharing everyone, good info to know!


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## OCJOER (12 mo ago)

Hi SF Gal, 
I'll have to try the light oil dip. I've tried WD-40 but it didn't seem to keep away the rust. 

Would you have any pics of the Gargrave ties? I went to the link but there are no photos. 

Joe


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

AFAIK they are just the wood ties that slide on the GarGraves flex track. Picture below.


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## Steve on Cattail Creek (11 mo ago)

I model in O scale (almost all Marx rolling stock but with mostly (very) used Lionel track on the layout) rather than S scale/AF, but I faced a number of the same esthetic and functional issues as the OP cites. When I decided to add ties to the legacy tubular track, I tried several materials, ranging from sliced-up foam mouse pads sprayed brown to quarter-inch lauan plywood (the latter generally worked best IMHO). I sized the additional ties to be as close a match as possible to the metal OEM ties, but since the OEM ties varied somewhat from track section to track section, I didn't obsess about it. Initially, I added two extra ties between each pair of internal ties (none between sections):










For the el loop, I experimented with using three ties, and liked the effect better:










I know AF/S scale track is different, but hope my experience might be of some help. Good luck (and looks like a nice little layout so far, to judge by the pics!)!


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Your O track looks pretty good.


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## Steve on Cattail Creek (11 mo ago)

Thanks - still a work in progress, but I can certainly empathize with your quest! Regardless of the scale, blending a commitment to legacy equipment with a desire to push the limitations is a never ending journey, IMHO . . .


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## Steve on Cattail Creek (11 mo ago)

SF Gal said:


> I also soaked my old rusty track in vinagar overnight.
> 
> To stop any rusting I wipe down the track after a rinse in tap water and dipped them in light air tool oil, and put them in a dish rack to drip dry. I later "lightly" wiped down the rail top and inside with a paint pad damp with goof off. I like the Gargrave price for a dozen ties, much better price than Amazon's price. Thanks for sharing everyone, good info to know!


Yeah, early on I used a similar technique, baking the vinegar/water (50/50 mix, IIRC) covered track in an oven for an hour or so, then rinsing with water and then a baking soda solution to neutralize the acid. After drying the track, most of the paint on the ties had been lifted or loosened, and what rust remained seemed chemically bonded to the rails. I didn't have further rusting problems, but of course any pre-existing track damage (dings, warping, etc.) survived, and eventually connectivity problems led me first to additional power drops, and recently to replacing some of the used track with legacy-style new track. Moral of the story: much of the available used track is cheap for a reason!


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