I recently purchased 200.00 worth of gargraves track,when laying this track i noticed gaps in the track connections,i called gargraves and they said to use a piece of wood and hammer them together i didnt understand the method so i pushed the pins in, so the tabs on the pins went inside the tube,the pieces fit more snug now,is this wrong to do?I also have a old lionel crossing gate with the track hook up ,that when the weight of the train goes over it ,it activates it,how do you install this on gargraves without the track shorting out?

I can't address the "hammering on the track with a block of wood" advice. If the track is now snug, I would say that you have accomplished the goal.

As far as your concern about shorting out the GG track, please note that the bottom of GG track is made of wood (the ties) and that the ties rest on the 145C contactor. Wood does not conduct electricity, so you have nothing to worry about.

An easier way to operate the crossing gate is using an insulated track section. Then you don't need to have the ugly contactor, nor do you need to worry about setting up the weight-actuated contacts to be reliable under all different weights of your rolling stock. Do a search in the archives for "insulated track" and you'll see how to do it.

Thanks art im going to look into that insulated track section,i knew there had to be a better way then using this lionel contactor.

Are you using Gargraves Flex Track, i.e. are you bending your own curves? If so I have some photos I can send you how to do this. And yes, you should use a block of wood to tap the tracks together.
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Dennis

Im not using the flex track,but pushing these pins in seems to work,i suppose the little tabs on the pins are ment to hold the connections in place,but if the track is screwed down i dont think it would matter.Is it cheaper to by the 3 foot section of flex as compared to 3 sections of like 72 radius?

Yes. Gargraves Flex Track is cheaper in 36" sections. Here is a photo. I made a whole photo primer of how to lay flex track.



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Dennis

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dennis,

The block of wood doesnt bend that track? thats shocking you would think it would.

Dennis (and Sidehatch) -

I consider myself to be at the upper end of the do-it-yourself crowd, and can model anything I put my mind to. I can do electrical, carpentry, plumbing, flooring, mechanical repair of just about anything. But I'll be d***ed if I can bend a smooth radius of Gargraves track. It has been explained to me, but for some reason, the tips don't work, and I have at least three pieces of track to prove it.

What is the secret? I would appreciate any tips you could give me on how to accomplish this. I have some gaps in my track sections that would probably make some guys chuckle, and many times I have issues with inserting the pins properly, so if you ever decide to give a course on track bending and snugging up the rails, please let me know. My first layout was done with MTH Realtrax, and I liked the solid rail and the minimal gap once you finally get the sections mated, but I'm using Ross & GG on my current design. Everything works fine, but it isn't a pretty sight in some places.

Sidehatch, I think it would be a good idea to try your hand at bending track before you dedicate your budget to using straight sections and bending them yourself. I hope you will be successful at it. Most modelers I talk to won't even consider bending their own track.

Thanks and good luck!

Mike

Dennis is using the wooden block to drive the rails up onto the pins of the trailing section of track which has been fastened with screws in a curve[the staggered position of the rails tells you that that the trailing section is in a curve].

Unless you have old or long stored track with dried out ties, the rails drive up very easily and a wooden block does no damage to the rail ends.

Dennis has bent his flex track "in place" by aligning the center rail to the center joint in the cork roadbed as he advances and bends the leading end of the track and places fasteners about every 8-9 ties in the trailing track.

If you are not using a cork roadbed simply align your center rail to the marked center line of your curve arc as established on the plywood, homasote, foam,etc, when you swing a radius.

On joints in curves, leave the screws out near the track ends each side of the joint and ease the joint in by pushing on the tie ends on the outer side of the curve, with a hammer handle laid flat, to align the center rail at the joint with your marked line or cork center. Then install screws on each side of the joint in the second tie back from the joint to hold in place ---makes a perfect curve at the joint.

If you glue ballast your track you will be able to remove the screws later. You can fill the tie holes and color the tie/hole with a black and/or dark brown Sharpie.

Take advantage of Dennis' photo offer by all means.

Sorry, I didn't reply last night. I watched the World Series then fell to sleep.

Dewey got it right. We use the same method, that is: bend and screw it down as you go. You can see the screw heads in the photo. You can cover the screw heads later with one of those paint pens, or a black ink Sharpie Pen. You can work with dried out Gargraves if you spray it well with WD-40 and let it soak for awhile, say overnight, before you use it.

Mike: one secret is to keep readjusting the ties that get skewed when you bend it. That helps hold the rails in a neat arc and not kink. It's also is easier if you have large radius curves. The ease of bending Gargraves yourself is directly proportional to the size of your layout. I wouldn't bother if I had 031 curves.
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Dennis

River Forest, IL ? My wife grew up in River Forest.

I know of a man with a large two rail O scale layout in that town, but I have never had the chance to see it. I have been told that if given the chance, go see it. His layout was one of the stops on the layout tour of the two rail train show held by the Hills in at the hotel in Arlington Heights, in March. The Hills used to own Hills Hobby, formerly of Park Ridge, now way up north. I was unemployed at the time and worked for the show over the weekend, so that would have been in 2003. Since working the whole show was a requirement of employment, I couldn't get to his house.

Thats interesting mike,i remember hills, it was by the railroad tracks there in dwntown p.r. i would like to see that layout sometime sounds nice,im thinking of going to the midwest train show in wheaton there this sunday,hope its a good show.

Dennis/Dewey -

Thank you both for enlightening me on the subject. I was trying to bend the radius before screwing it down, as I had been told to do - bad idea. I am using the cork roadbed, so following the pattern of that shouldn't be a problem at all. I think I am going to pull some of my track and use the wood block and hammer to tighten up some of the gaps. I am also going to try curve forming again by screwing the track down as I go along.

Thanks for your help guys.

Mike

Dennis, any photos you have would be appreciated. I like to learn new things in this hobby, so I am open to ideas and suggestions. Thanks!

There was a decent article in one of the recent issues of either OGRR or CTT that gave a pretty good description of how to use Gargraves flex track and how to get smooth curves without gaps (I apologize, I don't even remember which of them had it, nor the issue...I am at work as I write this, so I don't have access to them).

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned so far...

Gargraves has an excellent DVD on working with their track products, including the dreaded bending of flex track.

A firm template against which you bend the track makes all the difference.

Most of my layout used the sectional curves. However, there are lots of places where transitional or more complex curves could not use the sectional pieces.
I made a simple template from a 2'x4' piece of plywood (>1/2" thick) and a 1/2" wide strip of lath. By using 1-1/4" drywall screws inserted only about 1/2" into the plywood, you can force the thin lath into any arc necessary. Put a screw about every 6" behind the bent lath, and you'll have a sturdy formed template which will support bending the flex track.

Generally the track will spring back a bit after its bent, so making the form a tad sharper in radius than necessary will get the track close enough to do the final positioning as its fastened down to the cork or whatever.

I'm also curious about the need to 100% eliminate rail gaps. Gee, I thought the sound of wheels clicking across rail joints was part of the railroading 'music'. I use the wood block to ensure each section is driven up to the pin barbs, but not over them.

But, to each his own, I guess.

Oh well, FWIW.

Pardon me while I go back downstairs to run trains.

KD

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis:
Yes. Gargraves Flex Track is cheaper in 36" sections. Here is a photo. I made a whole photo primer of how to lay flex track.
Dennis

Dennis,
I am considering re-doing with GG track. Would it be possible for you to send me your photo primer work on how to lay flex track?
You can send to oldtrains@verizon.net
Thanks,

quote:

I consider myself to be at the upper end of the do-it-yourself crowd, and can model anything I put my mind to. I can do electrical, carpentry, plumbing, flooring, mechanical repair of just about anything. But I'll be d***ed if I can bend a smooth radius of Gargraves track. It has been explained to me, but for some reason, the tips don't work, and I have at least three pieces of track to prove it.

WOW ! just three? You must be good cause I had more! A decade later... no worries! Only piece of gargraves that I will be using is the special gantry crane version.

When I was a kid Gargraves was the best scale track available and pretty pricey. Now with all the Atlas and other semi scale track available. Gargraves has really come down below or equal to tubular track. And I love it. Nothing live the smell of wood ties in the morning!
The biggest secret that I have found in bending nice 072 radii with nice transitions is to draw the radii out on the plywood, factor in your transition at each straight piece the radius needs to mate up with. Start in the center of a large 37 in piece of GG flex track. I use a 0 54 gargraves section piece layed upside down and I work a heat gun over the ties (this is the secret of not kinking the rail) I keep working the radius out, I over bend the radii to meet 054, when the track relaxes its almost a perfect fit for 072. Cut rail ends of with a dremmel cutting wheel and your good.