Post by boxcarwilly on Feb 7, 2016 11:46:48 GMT -5
I've been reading with great interest the thread on track cleaning and pretty much all the ideas expressed there, I have tried and most seem to work extremely well. However there is another issue that I have not seen addressed in any thread and that is of uneven track joints.
On my layout I use MTL track exclusively, with the exception of Rohukan expansion tracks to span modules and one Marklin turnout. I have noticed that many pieces of my track differ minutely in height. This came to light after running one of my 35 car trains and observing it's performance over various sections of my layout. Much to my delight, I was getting the traditional clickity-clack of the cars as in the real thing, which is cool, but I also noticed that in many places over my entire layout, there are uneven joints which cause engines and cars to bounce or jump. Not enough to derail, but enough to make it noticeable. I took several pieces of lose track and joined them on a flat surface and then ran a car over it while looking at it from ground level and sure enough, some joints or rails did not meet evenly. Since these track come already equipped with rail and roadbed joiners, I would have assumed that if the manufacturing process in carefully controlled for quality, that all track sections would be identical. Seems that this is not the case. There is a micro-millimeter difference in the height of some track sections, specifically the rails, and if you run your finger over the joint, you can feel it.
So the question I pose is this: Is there something on the market today that I can use to even out these joints, without taking up the track and test fitting endless sections to get a perfect fit? I have thought of using a nail file or some other tiny file like tool in an attempt to even out the joints but in many sections of my layout, this would be too awkward as there is not enough room to work. I seriously considered using a Dremal Tool with an emery wheel, but something like that requires a very delicate touch and with my Parkinson's, that's not an option and we have the space thing to consider as well. Besides, all my track is ballasted into place and taking up the track would make a huge mess and I'd have to re-ballast it all again and that takes a great deal of time.
One other thing about MTL track. I have noticed that the ends of some sections are not perfectly in gauge and again it brings in the problem of perfect fit. The ends of the rails could be out by a hair which in most cases is enough to snag the flange of an engine or car and derail it. Many times I've had to very gently bend the rail in either direction to get it to line up with the rail of the next section. I find that the rail joiners don't help much as there is a tiny amount of play in them. Any thoughts on this?
On my layout I use MTL track exclusively, with the exception of Rohukan expansion tracks to span modules and one Marklin turnout. I have noticed that many pieces of my track differ minutely in height. This came to light after running one of my 35 car trains and observing it's performance over various sections of my layout. Much to my delight, I was getting the traditional clickity-clack of the cars as in the real thing, which is cool, but I also noticed that in many places over my entire layout, there are uneven joints which cause engines and cars to bounce or jump. Not enough to derail, but enough to make it noticeable. I took several pieces of lose track and joined them on a flat surface and then ran a car over it while looking at it from ground level and sure enough, some joints or rails did not meet evenly. Since these track come already equipped with rail and roadbed joiners, I would have assumed that if the manufacturing process in carefully controlled for quality, that all track sections would be identical. Seems that this is not the case. There is a micro-millimeter difference in the height of some track sections, specifically the rails, and if you run your finger over the joint, you can feel it.
So the question I pose is this: Is there something on the market today that I can use to even out these joints, without taking up the track and test fitting endless sections to get a perfect fit? I have thought of using a nail file or some other tiny file like tool in an attempt to even out the joints but in many sections of my layout, this would be too awkward as there is not enough room to work. I seriously considered using a Dremal Tool with an emery wheel, but something like that requires a very delicate touch and with my Parkinson's, that's not an option and we have the space thing to consider as well. Besides, all my track is ballasted into place and taking up the track would make a huge mess and I'd have to re-ballast it all again and that takes a great deal of time.
One other thing about MTL track. I have noticed that the ends of some sections are not perfectly in gauge and again it brings in the problem of perfect fit. The ends of the rails could be out by a hair which in most cases is enough to snag the flange of an engine or car and derail it. Many times I've had to very gently bend the rail in either direction to get it to line up with the rail of the next section. I find that the rail joiners don't help much as there is a tiny amount of play in them. Any thoughts on this?
