Real Beginner Stuff - Track

I've had a Z scale setup for some years - all Marklin and am just now starting to get it setup, so I have some pretty basic starter questions concerning the roadbed/track.

1. I have a mixture of Peco flex and Marklin fixed track. Can the 2 types of tracks be interconnected using standard Z joiners? (Peco recommends SL-210 joiners)

2. I originally tried to attach the track to the Marklin layout using nails, but this turned out to be a b____h. So instead, I'm trying a new method. I purchased strips of ballast - they're kind of like thin shingles. I was going to glue them to the roadbed and then attach the track to the ballast. I read a comment that it's best to 'float' the track. Questions: a) Does the gluing sound feasible and b) how do I 'float' the track.

Thanks in advance... Nick

Nick, Welcome back. I will let someone else solve the Peco-Marklin track issue. The way you describe 'floating' track is a bit bothersome to me. I would suggest buying some cork preformed track bed from Itty Bitty Lines. You will always get different answers to this question because it seems each of us has a different way to do this. Cork is the simplest solution I think. Lay the cork down on a predrawn track plan (using your Peco-Marklin mix) Then using white glue (Elmer's or Woodland Scenics Scenic Glue) simply run a bead of glue down the track outline let dry over night. I use stick pins to hold it down and well as weights. The next day glue the track ontop of the cork. Ballasting is the final process. Check back when you get that far and we will have 50 ways of ballasting track for you! I think the 'floating' term comes from mounting the track on an artificial surface such as the cork. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Hi Nick and welcome. The IBL cork is good stuff. To hold it in place on curves I tack it down with those blue steel tacks, but don't drive them right in. In the morning you just pull them out and you'll be ready for track laying. If you want to temporarily lay track (eg to see how well your trains run on it) you could secure it to the cork roadbed with double-sided tape.

Good topic for me....

My track is going to have a pretty small radius, about 4.5", though I haven't gotten that far yet IBL doesn't make cork bed for radii that small. I have an unused 2.5 mm thick cork placemat and was thinking of just cutting it to size and using it under my track. Is this idea okay? If not, what thickness of cork should I look for?

The IBL cork I've got is about 2 mm thick, or maybe a bit less, and it looks to be more or less in proportion (perhaps 1.25 mm would be better). Your cork placemat would therefore raise the track a bit more. While the purists might decry that it mightn't necessarily be a bad thing, depending on the ambience (for want of a better word) you're aiming to create.

Hi Nick,
Can't tell you much about the Marklin-Peco thing, but I do know that one Z scaler here in Chicago told me that she used Peco flex with Marklin switches, so my guess is that it would work with Marklin sectional track. I personally can't use the Marklin rail joiners, I use Atlas N Scale Code 55 rail joiners for Micro-Trains Flex track and Micro-Trains rail joiners to join the flex to Marklin switches and any sectional track I'm using. The Marklin joiners are just too darned fragile for me.

Now on to cork. Itty Bitty lines is great stuff, but I needed a lot of roadbed, so I used Quartet corkboard cork sheet from a local home center. It is about 2mm thick, which works out to be about 18 scale inches, quite acceptable for mainline track. It is very easy to cut and very flexible. I would cut the cork into 12mm wide strips for curves, and lay them double wide on your centerline. Glue and tacks is the way to fasten it down, and I remove the tacks like the earlier post, but another trick is to buy a narrow wallpaper border roller and use that to roll out your roadbed after you glue it down. You can also sand out any bumps It does a great job in getting nice, flat roadbed.

I personally use nails to hold down the track because I am laying things out on the fly and there have been more than a few occasions when I have had to redo a few sections, and the nails make that a lot easier than glue. There are more some folks here that don't like track nails because of the appearance, and I would agree with them if I used Marklin track nails, which I don't. I use Walthers Code 72 track spikes to hold down the track as they are longer, thicker and a little less visible than the Marklin spikes. I did glue down a section of my track that was put in a tunnel and that worked out well. I put some Woodlands scenics tacky glue in one of those hypodermic glue applicators and squirted a little bit between the ties every few inches or so. Seems to be holding pretty well, and I plan on glueing down the rest of my track after I'm certain its where I want it. Hope this is helpful.

Todd

Ah yes, the wallpaper roller. I used that too - in fact I think it's suggested by the IBL people.

Does anyone have close up photos of track that has been nailed down that they could post?

Bev, Hold on a minute. We don't really nail down track. Yes, there are nail holes, but nails that work are hard to find. Also, when nailed down the nails are difficult to remove. Virtually all of us use some form of "white" glue. ie. Elmers or Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement. Do you have a railroad hobby shop up there? I would get there or call and ask them if they have the Woodland Scenics Scenery Manual. It will answer all your questions from start to finish in our hobby. If they say they don't/can't/or won't, send me $11 US and I'll mail you a copy. There are hundreds of ways to build model railroad, I like the simplest and easiest. Now if you are building a tight little circle of track in a box you may have put your track down a little by little using 'brads' to force the track in a circle. I would recommend that, but not into the ties. Use some weights for over night drying. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Jim,

Okay. No nails. Glue only. That's what I thought, but you guys got talking about nails and I thought I'd missed something You're right. I really should buy a good book on the subject. Or find a great website that explains a the nitty gritty.

Thanks for your straightening me out

Bev, No worries. There are a few gifted modelers in our hobby that may nail down their track. I've just not met them. I just noticed Todd nails his track so there is one. Also the nail heads are just sitting there looking dorky and staring back a us. Not to mention the skill one needs to precisely nail track with bending ties or distorting rails. The best thing about white glue is that when soaked with water for about 20 minutes, up everything comes! Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Jim,

Can you use CA glue and what type of glue is this?

Robert, CA glue, is the shorter version of the glue known as 'Super Glue'. It is made by every company it seems. But, super glue is CA and CA is super glue. Would I use it to lay track? No personally. I like the idea of being able to "rebuild" a mistake. With CA it is one and done. You can't really get the track up without major damage. Go with Woodland Scenics Scenic Glue and you can't go wrong. All my track on all my layouts I build for myself or others are laid down with WS Scenic Glue. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Hello Beverly,
Beverly56 wrote:

you guys got talking about nails [...] Or find a great website that explains a the nitty gritty.

I'm also had doubts about nailing down tracks, but then I found the "Nailfix" (free translation from the original German name), and I nailed down the track on my layout with it.

The point if you nail the track is that you have to keep your eye on two points:

If the nails have their head up to high, the engines will hung up on them.

If you push the nails in to hard the ties might break. Also then the track might warp.

So if you use nails like those from Maerklin then you have to set them with a wee bit place to let the track "float". This is also in the manual from Maerklin for their nails.

Besides, on the website I like above for the Nailfix you can also see a tool to remove those nails again. And the Nailfix is used without a hammer.

Beverly56 wrote:

Jim,

Okay. No nails. Glue only. That's what I thought, but you guys got talking about nails and I thought I'd missed something You're right. I really should buy a good book on the subject. Or find a great website that explains a the nitty gritty.

Thanks for your straightening me out

Might a mistaken impression have been given when I said that I tacked down the IBL cork roadbed? I certainly pull out the tacks before laying track!

Okay now,
Let's get this nailing thing clarified. I am laying Micro-Trains flex on cork roadbed glued to pink foam or Woodland Scenics risers, not into wood or homosote, or anything like that. If I were laying track over wood, there is no way in the world I would try and nail it down. I can't even imagine the difficulty in trying to drive those Marklin track spikes into wood with a nail set punch, even if you could keep them from bending.

I don't use those big ol' shiny Marklin track spikes with heads that are about a scale manhole wide. I use Walthers code 72 track spikes with L shaped heads, and you can't see them at all since the L shaped head is really small and they are pre-weathered dark brown. I press the spikes in with my finger, and if I've done my roadbed and support structure correctly, I have smooth trackwork that I can move or rearrange very easily if needs be.

That said, I'm still going to glue the track down before I ballast it. A little belt and suspenders is not a bad thing here.

Todd, Show us a picture of this operation. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

For example I used screws to hold down the trak on my briefcase layout. The small screws are placed between the ties and then painted over. This way, the ballast is under and around the tracks, but the tracks can be removed (leaving their 'footprint' behind). Originally I did this because I've built the layout with two manual switches and since then replaced them with remote ones. The size of the screws are the same that hold down the chassis of many maerklin steam locos (around metric 1).

KVP, A good example of "nailing" down track. I never thought about screwing the track down. This way seem especially handy when layout tight circles for layouts in small places. Good post. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

KPV, do you keep the screws in place as a permanent part of your layout?