# Flex track



## wmsuggs (Feb 15, 2011)

I am new to the hobby and I have a question. I have replaced my ez steel track with NS flex track. I am not sure how to hook it together other than using rail joiners or solder. Do you cut the rail once you make your curve? also do you remove any of the ties? Any help would be appreciated. Maybe a walk thru??


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

you need to get a rail cutter to cut the rails to proper size, then you tack that track down and remove any excess ties. You then put the rail joiners on and connect the next piece of track and solder them together for a good connection and you are done.


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

gc53dfgc said:


> you need to get a rail cutter to cut the rails to proper size, then you tack that track down and remove any excess ties. You then put the rail joiners on and connect the next piece of track and solder them together for a good connection and you are done.


 ^--- Agree. I use a dremel with cut off wheel to cut the rails. When I remove the excess ties I save them and when all the track is laid I put the extra rails under the sections with the rail joiners/solder joints.
-Art


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

stagger your joints between inner/outer rails when joining sections together through a curve to avoid kinks in the curve. Flextrack has 1 fixed and 1 moveable rail, just slide the loose rail down (inside rail on a curve will grow in length as you bend it.) into the next section of track, remove a couple ties where the rails join and use a regular joiner. Just trim some of the ties you removed and slide them in under the spliced section when you're done to hide the joint.


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## wmsuggs (Feb 15, 2011)

Thanks for all the help. I am going to work on it now,


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

WM,

Check out Choo Choo Greg's tip on prebending flex track to your desired contour, before you lay it down ... rather easy, and enormously helpful:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3931

TJ


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

what's the best brand of flex track to get that would help him as well and me too at the same time.


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

little fat buddy said:


> what's the best brand of flex track to get that would help him as well and me too at the same time.


For me the easiest one to work with in HO has been Atlas. Like the name implies, it is very flexible and quite easy to handle. The hardest has been Model Power. It is very hard to handle, as it is very stiff and was quite difficult to bend to the desired shape. The only reason I decided to try it rather than to continue with Atlas, was because it was cheaper. Big mistake. 

So, I bought some more Atlas flex track, used it for the curves, and used the Model Power flex track for additional straight track. So in the end it all worked out. 

Routerman


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## little fat buddy (Jan 14, 2011)

okay cool what about the micro engineering flex track any expeirnce with it at all just trying to figure out what to invest in becasue yes i may have a local hobby shop but it's over an hour away and mom don't like driving there too often so im normally odering off the internet thanks' zman.


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## wmsuggs (Feb 15, 2011)

I went with atlas flex track after doing some research on price versus quality. So far i am pleased with the results. I have a question: Except for my turn outs or switches can you use flex track on the straight runs as well as the curves? I read that it eliminates a lot of joints being 3 feet long.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Atlas is just about the only way to go and is ussually the only flex track that hobby stores carry. It has been around the longest and has been perfected the most out of them all. They offer both wood and concrete tyed rails now as well and has been the easiest to work with so I would recomend going with them.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

wmsuggs said:


> I went with atlas flex track after doing some research on price versus quality. So far i am pleased with the results. I have a question: Except for my turn outs or switches can you use flex track on the straight runs as well as the curves? I read that it eliminates a lot of joints being 3 feet long.


Yes you can do that and I am thinking that would be even nicer to use as a straight because then you can include prototypical small, almost invisible curves in the rail so the train sways back and forth like in real life and it does also iliminate rail joints so it looks better and has better conductivity.


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## wmsuggs (Feb 15, 2011)

That is an awesome idea as I was planning to put my straight runs perfectly straight. With putting a slight curve in the track back and forth this would be a great effect. Thanks for the Idea.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

GC,

Nice idea for realism. :thumbsup: Don't go too far, though ...












TJ


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

well atlas makes only wood ties track AFAIK. if one desires concrete ties he will need to shop for other brands. PECO for example (and a local guy even carries it in this part of the woods). 
i don't consider myself a rivet counter, but i find Code83 much better detailed, code100 unfortunately somewhat lacking. micromark is better detailed yet, but it is hard to bend and somewhat expensive. haven't seen it in retail around here.

just my 2 cents


PS, TJ that pic is hilarious. but i'm sure that way maintenance didn't found it so, lol


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> GC,
> 
> Nice idea for realism. :thumbsup: Don't go too far, though ...
> 
> ...


You know that is a photoshopped image right TJ? It could be an earthquake but the rails would not look like that.

Anton and his silly texting slang that I have no clue what it means. So what does AFAIK mean by the way. I have seen the Atlas Concrete flex track both on their products section, in stores, and in use.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I pulled that photo off of Google / 'net. As far as I know (AFAIK !!!), it's a real scene, following a significant earthquake.

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Oh so thats what AFAIK means It makes some sense now as to what he meant. It could happen but I am thinking not as those rails are still level and are also still in gauge which is unlikely to be the case in an earthquake with the way an earthquake moves. Their should be some missalingment and tipped rails because with those kinds of bends it would have needed to pull the rail from some place at least 10 feet worths to allow those bends and then their is nothing around those rails in the picture that ahs been damaged and if it was a signifigant earthquake I have a feeling those telephone poles would have fallen over as well as the ground not looking as straight. Thats just my 2 cents on the matter.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, they'd still be the proper spacing because they're nailed to the ties, so that part isn't surprising.


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## mr_x_ite_ment (Jun 22, 2009)

My shop, where my layout is located, experiences extreme heating in the summertime. The heat has a similar effect on my rails, causing all rails to expand some, although not quite to the degree that the picture indicates. I wouldn't think heat would cause it to buckle to that extreme, but I wouldn't rule it out either.

Chad


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Well, they'd still be the proper spacing because they're nailed to the ties, so that part isn't surprising.


I was thinking that a few spikes would not be able to hold the rails together if it was an earthquakes as they can't even hold together if a train derails.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, an earthquake isn't like a train derailing. It moves in a bigger area, and I can see that that might happen. OTOH, I'm wondering where all the excess track length came from to allow all those curves with no breaks in the track, so I'd have to agree that it is quite possibly photoshopped. 

I did a search, and it appears it may be real.

Here's a link to one with a description: http://www.neatorama.com/2010/11/10/earthquake-twists-railroad-tracks/

There are a few too many cases documented for all of them to be fake.

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...3l6359l0l10922l16l16l1l6l6l0l180l1301l0.9l9l0

How about this one?


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

That one seems more real then the other and it looks like the rails did break in that one later down the line, it also looks more desolate and destroyed like after an earthquake then in the other but who knows.


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## jzrouterman (Nov 27, 2010)

gc53dfgc said:


> Yes you can do that and I am thinking that would be even nicer to use as a straight because then you can include prototypical small, almost invisible curves in the rail so the train sways back and forth like in real life and it does also iliminate rail joints so it looks better and has better conductivity.


I agree. About the only time that straight SECTIONAL track would be a better choice, would be when there were a lot of turnouts or switches along the way where the track length between them would be better suited to sectional track rather then having to cut down flex track. Other than that though, I have to go with gc on this one. Flex track would be the BETTER CHOICE.

Routerman


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