[mikeyone]

am just starting building an N Gauge track layout. My difficulty is I am finding extremely difficult to
fit the track joiner onto the rails.

Can anyone tell me if there is an easy way to do this

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

 

[Edwin]

My layout must be getting towards a hundred yards of N gauge track and I've not found the secret yet! All I can suggest is:

When breaking the strings of four into single joiners, if like me you bend them up and down then keep them below the "horizontal" if you see what I mean. Otherwise when they break off the broken bit may be bent upwards and blocking the place the rail needs to be. If it is bent upwards it can probably be bent down with small pliers.

Make sure the rail is not burred, especially after cutting it and especially underneath.

If they won't go on by hand pressure try either pushing them on with a small piece of wood or fitting them with small pliers. But use the pliers to grip the very end of the joiner where it is only a single thickness of metal, otherwise you'll squash them together and the other rail won't go in.

Put the joiners on each piece of track before you fix it down. Slide the next piece of track into it horizontally not down from an angle, otherwise the joiner will be bent upwards which may cause a dip in the track. It may help if you make one rail end stick out a mm or so more than the other one, so you can get one joiner correctly aligned then worry about the other one. You can use the small pliers to align the joiner as the rail goes into it.

And finally, if you haven't already, then invest in some small pliers!

 

[upnick]

QUOTE When breaking the strings of four into single joiners, if like me you bend them up and down then keep them below the "horizontal" if you see what I mean. Otherwise when they break off the broken bit may be bent upwards and blocking the place the rail needs to be.QUOTE

As Edwin has said here i keep the joiners on the horizontal when bending as it were ... fitting the strip of four on to the rail end and breaking off as i need them not individually this way you have more purchase on the first three joiners adding them to the rail, finally a touch of solder on the rear of the joiners once the track is in place holds it well.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi Mike.

I think Edwin has found the source of your problem, i.e. the bottom lip of the joiner. I find it helps to run a very fine, flat file over both sides of the flat, bottom end of the rail joiner to remove any burrs or distortions which occur when you break it off the from the string.

 

[Edwin]

QUOTE (upnick @ 30 Jan 2009, 22:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...finally a touch of solder on the rear of the joiners once the track is in place holds it well.

Probably best to do this on one end of the joiner only, and leave half a millimetre between the rail ends when laying in cold weather to allow the rail to expand when it heats up.

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (Edwin @ 31 Jan 2009, 11:46) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Probably best to do this on one end of the joiner only, and leave half a millimetre between the rail ends when laying in cold weather to allow the rail to expand when it heats up.

True Edwin on one rail only with a slight gap for temperature diffferences.

 

[Grahame HHC]

There seems little point in soldering the fishplate even at one end only;

1) they are only there to keep the rail aligned.
2) they won't dissappear up the rail because chairs/sleeper fastenings will prevent them moving that far.
3) and because you shouldn't reply on them for electrical connectivity due to movement caused by temperature expansion and contraction.
(as a result an electrical supply wire should be soldered to the underside or outside of each piece of rail.)

And some modellers choose not to use them (being unsightly), simply relying on the track being fastened securely to the baseboard (pinned or glued and ballasted) having ensured it is laid with the rails accurately aligned.

G.

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (Grahame HHC @ 3 Feb 2009, 07:57) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>There seems little point in soldering the fishplate even at one end only;

And some modellers choose not to use them (being unsightly), simply relying on the track being fastened securely to the baseboard (pinned or glued and ballasted) having ensured it is laid with the rails accurately aligned.

G.

If anyone looks at the track so closely to spot joiners they are welcome to help lay track on the next layout

Seriously though i found the easiest way to attach rail joiners this afternoon turn the track over so the flats of the rails are showing and fit ..... its a lot easier to see where they are going.

 

[Grahame]

QUOTE (upnick @ 11 Feb 2009, 16:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If anyone looks at the track so closely to spot joiners they are welcome to help lay track on the next layout

Have you never noticed that some N gauge layouts use etched cosmetic fishplates stuck to the side of flexitrack to maintain and represent 60ft track panels, yet don't use the Peco track joiners as they are considered unrealistic and unsightly. Some people will go to quite extreme measures to get their layout accurate and looking right. Others are happy with a toy train set approach. Most are somewhere between. But each to his/her own I suppose

G.

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (Grahame @ 11 Feb 2009, 22:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Have you never noticed that some N gauge layouts use etched cosmetic fishplates stuck to the side of flexitrack to maintain and represent 60ft track panels, yet don't use the Peco track joiners as they are considered unrealistic and unsightly. Some people will go to quite extreme measures to get their layout accurate and looking right. Others are happy with a toy train set approach. Most are somewhere between. But each to his/her own I suppose

G.

I have never noticed people representing 60 ft panels i must admit ..........