# How do you replace a piece of track after your layout is complete?



## Bigfoot21075 (Aug 7, 2021)

Hello,

After you have everything glued down to the board (foam in my case) what if something like a switch dies, how to you replace it without destroying your layout? The Kato track I am using seems to have pretty big connectors and would need a fair amount of movement to come out of there. 

THANKS!

Rob


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

I use Atlas track. I carve out one or two of the plastic rail "spikes" on the good side, then take the point of an Xacto knife and push the rail joiners toward the good side. The it's just a matter of lifting out the bad piece. Reactivate the glue in ballast by spraying it with warm water and letting it soak in to soften it up.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

I use Kato Unitrack but I didn't glue it down so I can lift it then push out the track at the rail joiners and it will pop loose.


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## The Southern Railroad (May 22, 2021)

Bigfoot21075 said:


> Hello,
> 
> After you have everything glued down to the board (foam in my case) what if something like a switch dies, how to you replace it without destroying your layout? The Kato track I am using seems to have pretty big connectors and would need a fair amount of movement to come out of there.
> 
> ...


Upload a photo - so we can see what you did ? Here a couple photos to get you thinking 
I make all my own tools - yes I buy most but machine them to what I need . The nippers are small I have my other tools that I designed can't list them - Corporate raider's might steal the idea - [ I'm working on get Pat.s on some of my stuff ] 
Moving on - pop a photo of your layout


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

Well, it looks like things are gonna have to _"come unglued"..._

I also use Kato Unitrack for my layout (4x8 with a 60" L-shaped extension).
The surface is 1/4" birch plywood (yep, kinda thin!).
I just laid the Unitrack on it, and connected all the feeders from underneath.

I've never "fastened down" the Unitrack (using glue or anything else), and, it doesn't "move around". The Unijoiners hold everything together so well that it just doesn't seem to move. The feeders help to keep things "anchored in place".

I'm happy I never tried to fasten it down, because it leaves me free to make changes when needed (and I've made several of them already).

To get individual pieces apart, I gently "pry into the joint" using a _VERY_ small screwdriver, the kind that come in "eyeglass repair kits". The blade is small and _THIN_, so you can work it into the joints (again, the UniJoiners hold everything together very well).

I think that NOT fastening down the track seems to reduce the noise that would otherwise be transmitted from the track to the layout surface.

Doing it this way might not work for everyone.
But it seems to work _"well enough for me"..._


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Dremel tool with a thin cut-off disk, and take your time. Try not to let the disk snag the 'good' end of the rails to which the turnout is joined. Then, a soaking of the glue for maybe five minutes, then a butcher knife under the turnout. Remove the old joiners, put new ones in place on six rail ends (if the turnout isn't gapped at either exit), insert new turnout (hoping it fits), slide back joiners, and you're in business. Don't glue turnouts.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

J.Albert1949 said:


> Well, it looks like things are gonna have to _"come unglued"..._
> 
> I also use Kato Unitrack for my layout (4x8 with a 60" L-shaped extension).
> The surface is 1/4" birch plywood (yep, kinda thin!).
> ...


I have to agree, I don't see a need to glue or fasten Unitrack.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)




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## Bigfoot21075 (Aug 7, 2021)

OK so will not glue my track down, even easier! I will just make sure I use solid surfaces or plaster over woodland scenics risers.


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## The Southern Railroad (May 22, 2021)




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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Or use a thin layer a caulk, then to take it up use a long thin bladed knife to separate the track form the base. Some use screws, so you can remove them easily.


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## Bigfoot21075 (Aug 7, 2021)

The Southern Railroad said:


> View attachment 565261


ummm I AM planning ahead - that is why I asked the question. What if an important switch dies......


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I've taken enough back up now to fix, redo or otherwise retrofit... that I'm resigned to the notion it's simply never done. Not really.

Anyway for track I've used gray colored latex caulk to hold it down, also a few other things. And I've found I can wedge things back up using a scraper, maybe a razor or "cutter" style knife. But I'm sure there's a lot of tools one can be misused to bring to bear on the problem.

And in tbe case of glued down ballast... Vacuum. That's for the mess created ... In fact yeah you need a vacuum in general. No doubt about it.

Anyway tbe real point is... It can be undone and put back. Over and over again...


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

When I decided that a station siding was needed at the newly built Oberrittersgrün station on the second level it was very easy to install a turnout for the siding.

It was only a matter of measuring the length of the turnout, marking the track that needed removal, and cutting the track out with a Dremel. Old track was removed and the turnout was installed and then soldered, and a drop was wired for the diverging leg.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I try to slide the joiners all the in, so the new track fits in then slide them half way back to connect them. The I can put some dummy ties back in to cover up the space. Sometimes, if I need a gap on the diverging route, I put the insulated joiner on the rail coming into the turnout, then slide the turnout on to the insulated joiners and then drop the turnout down and slide the the other joiners to connect everything back up. I typically don't solder any of these joiners, but since I make my own turnouts I connect power to the rails and frog under a PC tie and run the wires completely hidden.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Bigfoot21075 said:


> ummm I AM planning ahead - that is why I asked the question. What if an important switch dies......


Bigfoot;

Your concern is quite legitimate. Kato turnouts have their switch machines buried inside their roadbed base. The only way to get to them is to pull up the whole turnout, flip it upside down, take out six screws, and pull off the bottom cover plate. Kato turnouts are reported to be very reliable, but a lifetime of repairing stuff for a living, and being a model railroader, has ground into me that anything can break down. 
If you have not yet glued any track down, I wouldn't do so. If you need to keep the assembled track more stable, then a dot of caulk in a few locations on the plain track, not the turnouts, should be sufficient. 

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Bigfoot21075 (Aug 7, 2021)

traction fan said:


> Bigfoot;
> 
> Your concern is quite legitimate. Kato turnouts have their switch machines buried inside their roadbed base. The only way to get to them is to pull up the whole turnout, flip it upside down, take out six screws, and pull off the bottom cover plate. Kato turnouts are reported to be very reliable, but a lifetime of repairing stuff for a living, and being a model railroader, has ground into me that anything can break down.
> If you have not yet glued any track down, I wouldn't do so. If you need to keep the assembled track more stable, then a dot of caulk in a few locations on the plain track, not the turnouts, should be sufficient.
> ...


I appreciate your advice. You have a broad knowledge base that's for sure! THANKS FOR SHARING IT HERE! I think I will do daps of caulk here and there just to make sure nothing slides around. I have to go to the hobby shop to place my track order (I know I can get it online, but would like to support Star Hobby, a great family owned shop). The Great Scale Model Train Show is October 2nd and 3rd. I may wait to lay track until I go there.


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I don't know exactly what your doing but on the caulk, you don't need all that much. It's not like sealing a window or anything of that nature. I know this because I've put too much down here and there. Which one can always trim or even redo but it's nice to have less to do.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Bigfoot21075 said:


> I appreciate your advice. You have a broad knowledge base that's for sure! THANKS FOR SHARING IT HERE! I think I will do daps of caulk here and there just to make sure nothing slides around. I have to go to the hobby shop to place my track order (I know I can get it online, but would like to support Star Hobby, a great family owned shop). The Great Scale Model Train Show is October 2nd and 3rd. I may wait to lay track until I go there.


Bigfoot;

You are welcome! If you ever want to access any more of my "broad base of knowledge" LOL 😄 All my files for newbies are in the "Beginner's Q&A section of the forum. They are in a thread called "Help a new modeler to get started."

Dabs of caulk should do the job just fine. With sectional, or flex, track I usually recommend one dab spanning the ends of the mating sections. For the longer flex sections, a few more dabs at 6-12" intervals along the middle. Since you're using Kato unitrack, none of that will be needed. That track locks together, so caulk across joints would be pointless. Also, the rigid roadbed base keeps things very stable. There is no chance of it behaving like Atlas flex track, which springs from curved back to straight track, unless restrained.
So as they said in the Brillcreame TV commercials many long years ago, "a little dab L do ya."

Supporting your local hobby shop is a great thing to do. So many of them have gone out of business, its important to keep the few we have left going.
You might wear a mask when you go to that train show. Yes I know its inconvenient, and looks a bit odd, but even if you have been vaccinated, as I have, the Delta variant of covid is already hospitalizing , and killing, a whole lot of people. Model railroaders, like local hobby shops, need to be preserved. 😄 At my age, I'm considering formaldehyde ! 

Traction Fan 🙂


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