19" radius sectional tracks

nolink5750

New Member
Ok, this is wierd. I am working in a confined area. I soldered my corners together (6) 19" rad. and put a 5" str. at each end. Hoping that I can set it in one piece. After soldering is done, I can actually move it, like it is flex track. Not as much, but I can move it. Is this normal? I mean in a way I like it because when I put (4) together to make a oval they didn't line up right. But I just realized that I can move them. And when I do it's not the joints are coming apart either. It just moves. I hope this makes sense cause I'm ready to start laying the track.

P.S. can someone tell me where the radius is located to? I want to make a templete so I make sure every thing is right on. I mean is it to the center on the rails, the inside or outside???? Thanks..............
 

Nomad

Active Member
AS long as the movement is not excessive, it should be ok. But don't let the track move to much or it might warp, changing the radius and bending the rail joiners, causing the track to be bumby.
The track radius is located to the center between the rails.

Loren
 

nolink5750

New Member
It is not excessive I would say. But it does move some. I mean enough it could throw a complete circle off. Being I will have plenty of straight between the corners I should be fine. Thanks for the info on the center of the rails. That should line me up for the templete I want to make.
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Radius is always measured to track centerline. Otherwise you couldn't draw plans properly.
However, you can draw circles +/- 4.5mm of the radius and put the rails over it. Or even at the ends of the ties.
 

baldwinjl

Member
There is going to be a good bit of movement in that much track hooked together. You are going to want to be very meticulous about getting it down right. You also want to make sure every joint is smooth in all directions, a little offset is going to be magnified. In a lot of ways, I'd say flextrack is easier to lay.

Jeff
 
Agree with what's posted thus far. Normally sectional track does not flex (I know because I cut notches into the tie strip under the rails to enable it to flex in certain situations.)

I use 19 inch radius sectional track and I've found that I do need to be careful when laying it out to ensure that the track is completely aligned. This is more critical than with say, 9 3/4 or 11 inch radius track (the other Atlas Code 80 choices).

For one thing, there is more track! Twelve pieces of 9 3/4 or 11 inch radius is needed for a complete circle whereas twenty-four pieces of 19 inch radius are needed. That's twice the number of joints that can get just slightly out of alignment, which is harder to notice since the radius is larger.
 

nolink5750

New Member
George, I totally agree with what you are saying. That's why I'm not rushing into this toooooo fast. I wish I could get my camera to down load some pics I have takin'. I'm still working on that problem.
What I have done is make a templete which allows me to lay the roadbed at a precise 19" radius, and tack it in place temporarily. Then I am going to glue the track to the roadbed. Then I can set the whole corner in place. I'm hoping:confused:.
Being I'm working in a very confined area I wanted to have all the solder joints done, before I put it in it's final resting place. A picture is worth a thousand words. I need to find out why my camera is not down loading to my computer. What do you think of my idea?
 
I've never actually glued track down so I can't say much about that.

(I have cork roadbed over the two inch thick styrofoam, so I can just push track nails in. The track is permanently fastened down when I add ballast using the traditional "bonded ballast" method.)

I do think you're being careful, using "due diligence" as the auditors might say.

I would also "try out" the curve by pushing a few cars up and down the track.
 

nkp174

Active Member
A template with glue is fine.

It is quite common for layouts in Model Railroader (or at least it used to be) to have hand laid track. They almost always involve some gluing. Here's the basic procedure:

1st A template is drawn (like you're doing)
2nd the roadbed is glued down to the template
3rd the ties are glued down...then painted/stained/sanded
4th the rails are usually spiked down...but commonly glued if the rail is small (such as HOn3 with code 40 rail)

I wouldn't worry about gluing it down...aside from the potential mess!
 

nolink5750

New Member
Got to run a partial test run late last night. Had the loco and about 8 cars hooked up. I had a derailment problem on one of the corners. I was only running 40' cars so this really sounds wierd being with 19" curves I should be able to run 80' cars. I haven't had time to research the problem yet, but It looks like it might be a rerailer causing the problem. Or it could be I haven't checked all the cars to see if all the wheels are alined properly.
 

nolink5750

New Member
Hey Jeff, Like I said, it was real late last night when I did the test run. I should have been in bed a lot sooner as I had to work today. I've been soooooo waiting to get home tonight to check out the problem. Found out on one of the cars the wheels on the front were out of the axel hole. I bought all my cars from a dealer who is into trading stuff and sells used stuff, And also off of ebay. Looks like what I need to do is really inspect everything real good before putting it on the track. Some of the cars even have dirty wheels. I need to get them off my new track and clean them. Also, I need one of them standard gauge "things" to check wheel alinement and stuff.
 

60103

Pooh Bah
nolink: if you get a vernier caliper, you can check the back-to-back distances on the axles. If you like machining, you can make a solider gauge that will let you space the wheels on it. Can't remember the exact figure, but it should be on the NMRA ste.
 

nolink5750

New Member
Three (3) fairly LHS and no one had a NMRA Standards Gauge. So I called another HS and they had 3. It was a 45 minute drive but well worth it. The guy has a nice selection of stuff. I ended up spending more than just $12 on the gauge. Well I got home and started checking things. On one car, the wheels where way off. It was made in hong kong. Plastic wheels and axles. So I put some Atlas wheels and axles on and it seems to run ok now. On another car, I realized I had a problem with the coupler. It was sticking in a down position all the time. Can I put oil or something on the spring? Then I started to realize as I was checking more wheels, that none of them fit in the groove slots on the gauge. It's like whoever set them, set them short on purpose. Do you suppose he did it on purpose? The cars seem to run ok. Is it ok as long as the tire don't come off the rair, to set them a bit short? What do you think guys???
 

Nomad

Active Member
I would set the wheel gauge to NMRA standards. Then check your track. Usually wheel gauge is set loose or tight to compensate for bad or out of gauge track.
If your careful the wheels can usually be moved on the axle to get them in gauge.

Loren
 

nkp174

Active Member
I would set the wheel gauge to NMRA standards. Then check your track. Usually wheel gauge is set loose or tight to compensate for bad or out of gauge track.
If your careful the wheels can usually be moved on the axle to get them in gauge.

Loren

To clear up potential confusion...Nomad is referring to the gauge of the wheels...not the NMRA gauge.

So people dislike the NMRA track gauge standard...and use the flangeways instead...the "wheels" and "track" are actually a scale 2" different...while the "wheels" and "flangeway" are exactly the same.
 
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