Woodyncarlyle said:
Hi everyone tonight my girls and I scetched out our railroad on paper. We are going to be 36 by 40 inches to start our layout. We measured and figure we will need approx 200 inches of track, we decided to go with atlas code 80 track ( thankyou to all who provided us with some input on this). My question should we use nickel or insulated conectors, or should we soilder them. Our other question is can we use flex track for all our track needs other than switches? One last request, does anyone know of a supplier that builds dam supplies? More specifically the gates for a water dam.
Thank you all.
Woody
Glad to hear of the progress.
As stated by 2-8-2 and you surmised, you can use just flex track and turnouts.
You only need insulated connectors where there is a need to stop electrical continuity of the rails. How many and where these should be located depends on your control scheme. If you are using DCC or just one train and power pack in DC, you don't need any insulated joiners. If you are runnig two trains, or need to "park" a locomotive in DC, you can use insulated joiners to create electrically isolated blocks of track controlled by toggle switches. Many folks have given up on insulated rail joiners - it's hard to get smooth trackwork with them - and just make saw cuts in the rail where the isolation is needed. The saw cuts are filled with a piece of plastic glued in place to maintain the insulation. The plastic is filed to the shape of the rail after the glue has dried. I recommend one of the easier wiring books to get an idea of where to place these "gaps".
Most folks use the metal rail joiners, and solder the track joints on curves when using Atlas flex track. This is because the natural spring of the Atlas track will create kinks at the rail joints on curves if not soldered. Soldering is not necessary at joints on straight track; leaving an almost imperceptible gap between rails at the straight track joints provides for expansion and contraction. And soldering of joints at turnouts is generally undesirable because of the difficulty in removing the turnout at a later date. However, I have found soldering a joint at a turnout is sometimes necessary to prevent kinks in the track (kinks will cause derailments sooner or later). When laying track, put your eyeball at rail height and sight across the rail joints. You will be able to see any kinks very easily, and adjust before gluing the track down.
Most would caution against the use of any real water on a model railroad for the following reasons (there may be others too):
- water has to be treated and cleaned to prevent growth of mold and organisms
- presence of water raises humidity levels close by and could cause expansion and/or warping of wood
- any paper-based products do not do well with long term exposure to water.
- real water seldom looks realistic in a model setting. It's too clear, and the dynamics are not to scale.
- water has to replaced due to evaporation. Dust has to be removed from it.
my thoughts, your choices
