Trackwork Begins, Or, A Better Approach to Flex Track

Track laying definitely is a religious subject in model railroading.  While many insist, and I would not disagree, that hand laid track is the best  approach, I admit that the time and skill required for hand laying track are beyond me.  Flex track is the most common means of laying track on layouts.  I have looked carefully at the main options for flex track - namely, Atlas, Peco and Micro Engineering. Because each has its strengths for specific purposes, my layout uses all three for what I see as each's best use case:

• Yard, hidden track, hidden track, off the shelf switches:  For all of these uses I chose Peco Code 83 flex track.  Its ability to hold its shape, movable rail and solid construction make Peco the best choice for the parts of my operation that need to be bullet-proof.  Because most of my grade track is hidden (a design choice on my part, driven by the prominence of passenger terminal operation and city setting), the combination of Peco track and #8 switches (illustrated below) make for smooth running and reliable operation on consistent track.
  
  
  
  
• Local urban freight operation:  For this I chose Micro Engineering Code 70 (branch) and Code 55 (spurs) weathered flex track.  Since this track has not yet been laid, I will return to this topic in a later post.
• Mainline and Terminal:  Although Peco flex track and switches are solid, reliable, relatively easy to work, it has a distinctly modern look to it.  For the 1950s look to which I seek absolute (my friends say dogmatic) fidelity, Peco's modern precision stands out to my eyes.  Atlas, with its noticeably more slender, lighter and more grained tie profile looks more authentically 1950s to me, so I chose it for the mainline.  Because of the ease with which its movable rail works, Brad swears by it, which I have seen amply demonstrated in many local layouts and now my own.  The Mainline uses a combination of Peco and custom switches, which will be discussed later.

I suspect that many model railroaders will scratch their heads at my approach. Fair enough.  My technology background has taught me that the use case - not technology religion - should drive the decision of which track to use (the same point is made in an earlier post on DCC architecture).  Since the layout has multiple use cases, I chose the best track for each of these use cases and carefully integrated them into the overall operation.

The Dark Side of Flex Track - Installation!

Convention has maintained that flex track - Atlas is a good illustration for my purposes - should be laid as follows:

• Should be laid on cork roadbed
• Should be glued down (I've heard so many preferences on glue too - hot, cold, wet, dry, scented, unscented, etc. - none of which are important here)
• Should have two ties at each end of the rail removed to accommodate the fasteners
• Should have the rail ends cut even at each connection points for 'consistent joints.'
• Should have the 'spikes' removed on these rails in order to be glued back in place to 'look' realistic

I recently saw a video that best illustrates all of these points as the accepted method for laying Atlas flex track.  Here is the link: A common approach to laying flex track

Because this method approaches flex track not unlike the concept of snap-track, I often call it the "snap track method of installing flex track" or "snap track method" for short.  Snap track is fine for toy trains, but it has always struck me as incongruent with believable model railroads.  Most people I've talked to swear that this is the ONLY way to lay Atlas flex track.  But every time I hear these commandments for laying flex track I smell a rat - especially when those advocating this method tend to start ranting when questioning the merits of this method (Edith Wharton stated it this way: "Why is it always the people with the worst cooks at home the ones who scream the loudest when dining out?").

But There's Another Way to Approach Flex Track

Other methods of laying flex track can be as effective, if not more so, if one has an open mind to the characteristics of flex track that enable them.  In these pictures Atlas flex track is installed in my interpretation of Utah's Echo Canyon (worry not - the paper canyon walls are just mock-ups for refining the scenery possibilities later).  What happened to the joints?

Here is demonstrated a different approach to installing Atlas flex track on a layout - an approach that looks and operates better than any other method I have seen or tried.  The method is pretty simple - even if counter-intuitive to the prevailing religion of flex track installation.  It starts with a simple fact of flex track design and construction. 

The Sliding Rail is Flex Track's Best Feature. . . 

Yet most 'experts' instruct us to negate - even obliterate - this feature in its installation.  Both Peco and Atlas flex track have this feature, although each maker implements it in a different way.  Both have their advantages for particular applications, and utilizing their different approaches yields the best possible results both aesthetically and operationally.  As this photo shows, a spare section with missing rail is ready for the rail to slide into place, and the movable rail slides into the new section with ease.  

Atlas flex track's rail slides in and out of its connections very easily, which makes it ideal for staggering rail connections for better operation and more realistic track work. For this reason, the rail from one section can easily slide into the ties of any adjoining section for optimal continuity, as shown here:

Sliding the rail onto adjoining track leaves only the question of how to fasten the two pieces of rail together.  That also is easy with Atlas and Peco flex track.  Here's how it's done: simply slice the spike heads off the ties where the fastener is required (it is important to keep the ties in place for this operation, since it maintains the track's structural integrity and realistic appearance).  Once fastened together, the connection is far less conspicuous than the "snap track" method commonly used.  

In this approach only two ties need to be so modified to accommodate the rail fastener, and it is only on one side of the track.  Because there is no joint directly opposite, the connection is stronger and looks better.  (This principle is widely accepted in construction - staggering of joints in siding, shingles, flashing, masonry in building construction, and staggering of rail joints in railroads accomplish the same purposes of strengthening connections and maintaining continuity of appearance.  (Also note here that the track is nailed down, allowing adjustments to be made without destroying roadbed and track in the process - flying in the face of another myth of track-laying. Once ballasted, the effect of fixing the track is fully achieved when the track is fully tested and run-in and all adjustments made.)

This method is best described as the "flex track" method for laying flex track, precisely because it uses all of the track's best features to their best advantage.

Why Install Flex Track Against its Nature?

I cannot understate the fact that the movable rail is Atlas flex track's biggest asset; yet conventional wisdom advocates destroying this asset in order to make it behave just like snap-track - especially where the joints all have to line up with each other.  Why do this? Prototype railroads stagger rail joints for a reason.  That reason also holds for model railroads.  Lining up rail joints multiplies the chance of failure just as it would on the prototype.  As these pictures show, the connections are staggered so that no rail joint is directly opposite another rail joint.  

Also, there is no good reason to remove ties to make joints work.  The heads of the spikes can be cut in place (as illustrated) to accommodate the fasteners and keeps ties in place for a more even appearance and smoother operation.

Why glue the track down?  I have read many letters to the editor of various publications from frantic modelers asking how to pull up glued track when they make changes to the layout.  All of that seems completely avoidable when track is shown its proper respect (listening to Otis Redding as I write this and cannot miss the reference).  If the argument for gluing the track down is to keep it in place, can't nails accomplish exactly the same purpose with the advantage of being able to pull up the track more easily to make adjustments? The benefits of waiting to glue track down should be obvious: every layout, no matter how well designed or built, needs to be run in and have adjustments made.  Once the track gets detailed and ballasted, the ballast glue achieves the same ends when one is ready for them (after the operation is fully run-in and the nails can be removed at that time).

What about kinks in the rail?  All methods of laying flex track potentially can have kinks.  Proper attention to rail alignment prevents most kinks (which is another argument for staggering the joints like the prototypes do: doubling up joints doubles the kinking in the same spot precisely because it doubles the size of the seam across the working surface, thereby doubling the chance of failure. Staggering joints is axiomatic in any form of good construction because it maximizes the strength of the joint itself.).  Once in place, the minor buckling that can occur with our method of laying flex track is easily treated with a warm soldering iron massaging the joints. 

Staying Open-Minded Yields Better Results Through Innovation

From the moment I first played with flex track forty years ago I thought that the movable rail had real possibilities for better operation and more realism than snap track.  Until I started this layout, however, every 'expert' on track laying to whom I have listened, or from whom I have taken instruction, has insisted that it be installed as if it were snap track.  Then I was reminded of Layout Rule #1: It's MY layout.  Brad shows exactly how the sliding rail method works better than what I have seen until now, confirming what I have thought from my very first encounter with flex track.  

More on track laying as it develops, and updates will be provided on how to make adjustments once operations have begun.  As the track laying progresses, more detail will be provided on this method of track laying, along with various related topics, such as switches, blocking and districts, CTC operation  support and other issues as they develop.  My layout is being built with the intention of being fully tested and run-in before scenery goes into place so that damaging scenic detail is minimized once it is down.

Stay tuned.