Peco flexi track.. No holes for track pins..

[TRAILRAGE]

I've always pinned the track drilling small holes in the sleepers as a temporary measure and once ballasted remove the pins. Any holes can be disguised with weathering or extra fine infill ballast dependent on your era.

 

Cheers Trailrage   

[The Johnster]

I just pva mine down and only use pins where alignment is critical e.g. clearances on double track bends.  And I glue the bottom of the track direct to the baseboard, having never seen the point of underlay except for carpets.  Where I do put pins in, they are done in 2 ways, a half-driven home type which is only to hold the track in place until the pva goes off, and a fully driven home version where things are particularly critical.  Sometimes I simply 'halfpin' outside the sleeper web to stop a curve springing outwards.  

 

Anyway, I use Gwiwer's method of holding the pin in place, and give it several gentle taps rather than one big wallop because that causes less disturbance to everything else.  I reckon gentle taps with a biggish hammer are better than battering it with a small one, and use my normal woodworking quarter pound claw hammer.  When the pin head is down to pin vice/pliers level, about half a dozen taps if you are doing it right, that is usually fine for the temporary ones which are going to be prised out in the morning when the pva has gone off; this approach will ensure that they hold the track firmly overnight but still come out easily and not pull things around.  When you prise them out with the claw, put a thin piece of batten offcut or something similar (thick card will do) across the rails to protect them as you lever the hammer.  Some heavy objects to sit on the track overnight to make sure it stays down flat do no harm.  The 'permanent' pins have to be driven home all the way, and in order to ensure that the pin does not bend or the hammer comes into contact with the railhead, I use an old upside down watchmakers screwdriver as a drift (I never throw worn out or damaged tools away, they are useful for all sorts of things where you don't want to abuse your good tools).  The slight doming of the top of the screwdriver, which is now at the bottom of course because it's upside down, will prevent you driving the pin in too far and distorting the sleeper; extreme cases of this will pull the rails out of gauge.  

 

At this point I liberally apply track colour and wipe the rail surfaces clean, and ballast using the conventional dilute pva/washing up liquid spray method, wiping the rail surfaces clean again, working the tiebars every half hour or so to ensure the spray hasn't gunged them until it has gone off.  Brush/vacuum off the surplus, taking care at turnouts to make sure no lumps of ballast have got into your flangeways or are stopping the stock rails from making proper contact (if they have, drift them out with the hammer and the old screwdriver, right way round this time), and you are ready to test run and snag as you go along.  The pin heads will have disappeared under paint and ballast, and may be forgotten about.  No need to faff with drills at all!

 

This may not be suitable for attics, sheds, or other layout homes where the temperature varies by any sizeable degree, and especially not for outdoor layouts; track needs to move slightly in order to accomodate expansion and contraction just like the real thing.  One of my early layouts in an uninsulated attic ripped itself to bits because of this; pinning in very slightly oversize drilled holes without glueing is better for this sort of situation, but means you can't ballast by the usual method.  My current layout is in the heated part of the house.

 

Look at me, giving advice as if I knew what I was talking about!!!

 

I am not claiming that this is the best or most definitive advice, but it works for me and produces level track, smooth transition curves, and reliable running.  I try to make it a rule to not use curves of less than 3' radius with flexible track, and anything sharper uses setrack or rigid turnouts to keep things under control, and I reckon this helps the reliable running as well.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited December 15, 2016 by The Johnster

[workington-main]

Hi Guys, I may be new to this forum but since 1970 I owned a model shop and built layouts professionally.  I am passing on my experiences and techniques I have used for the last 46 years.  First with Peco code 100 and now with 4mm fine scale track like Peco code 75 and Scaleway EM Gauge track.  Oh I forgot to mention Peco N Gauge I use on my award winning layout of bangor North Wales back in the 1980s.

 

I use a mini drill such as  Mini Craft or similar low voltage modelling drill.   I use a surplus and cased Kent Panel Controls feedback controller to vary the speed.  I prefer a 0.8mm drill bit in a 3-jaw mini chuck.  I calculate the depth of the hole and slide a piece of wire insulation onto the bit to ensure the hole does not go too far into the baseboard.  The depth of hole depends if I use Javis cork roadbed or nor.   I only pin the track on the outer section of the sleeper and slightly countersink the hole in the sleeper with a 3mm drill bit before driving in the track pin.  Prior to ballasting I fill the countersunk hole with some Wilko no nails adhesive that I thinned down slightly with water and coloured with track colour acrylic paint.  I always spray paint the side of the rail after pinning it down then apply a dirty rail colour to blend in any PCB sleepers that I may have added.  In the past my customers have noticed that there are no visible pin heads and I explained what I have written above.  I discovered almost 4 decades ago that pinning flexi track in the middle between the rails would distort the sleeper profile and effectively reduce the gauge by upto 1.0mm.  That is why I pin the extremes of the sleepers because I hate derailments. 

[yelrow]

interesting post this. I have never used pins. Always use tiny brass screws, having pre drilled a hole . I am one of those who constantly changes layout, and have found this the best way of making sure it moves easily. john

[John Tomlinson]

Hi Guys, I may be new to this forum but since 1970 I owned a model shop and built layouts professionally.  I am passing on my experiences and techniques I have used for the last 46 years.  First with Peco code 100 and now with 4mm fine scale track like Peco code 75 and Scaleway EM Gauge track.  Oh I forgot to mention Peco N Gauge I use on my award winning layout of bangor North Wales back in the 1980s.

 

I use a mini drill such as  Mini Craft or similar low voltage modelling drill.   I use a surplus and cased Kent Panel Controls feedback controller to vary the speed.  I prefer a 0.8mm drill bit in a 3-jaw mini chuck.  I calculate the depth of the hole and slide a piece of wire insulation onto the bit to ensure the hole does not go too far into the baseboard.  The depth of hole depends if I use Javis cork roadbed or nor.   I only pin the track on the outer section of the sleeper and slightly countersink the hole in the sleeper with a 3mm drill bit before driving in the track pin.  Prior to ballasting I fill the countersunk hole with some Wilko no nails adhesive that I thinned down slightly with water and coloured with track colour acrylic paint.  I always spray paint the side of the rail after pinning it down then apply a dirty rail colour to blend in any PCB sleepers that I may have added.  In the past my customers have noticed that there are no visible pin heads and I explained what I have written above.  I discovered almost 4 decades ago that pinning flexi track in the middle between the rails would distort the sleeper profile and effectively reduce the gauge by upto 1.0mm.  That is why I pin the extremes of the sleepers because I hate derailments. 

Your point about distorting the sleeper and hence the rail gauge is a good one, and I have found this can easily be done.

 

Working on cork tile underlay, I use pins inserted through pre-drilled holes, a tedious process ( the drilling that is), but one that reduces the likelihood of damage. I have a tool marketed as something like " track pin pusher", comprising an outside thin cylinder which sits on the sleeper astride the hole, and a moving part inside the cylinder that pushes the pin in. This tool roughly resembles a middle size screwdriver and has an orange handle, unfortunately bought many years ago so I can't remember the manufacturer.

 

Even with this distortion of sleepers is possible - I'm talking OO Peco code 75 here - and so I don't push the pin in fully but leave it slightly proud, then tap carefully with a light hammer on a fine nail punch. You can see when the head of the pin has reached the top of the sleeper and there you stop, if you do go too far and compress the middle of the sleeper it is possible to carefully lift the pin and the sleeper can be straightened. Even using a track system such as this with tolerant standards, I've found that sleeper distortion can easily lead to poor running and derailments so, as ever, care in track laying is repaid by years indeed decades of trouble free operation.

 

John.

[BlackRat]

Use mapping pins or the chunky plastic ones, the flange sits between the sleepers........

 

So once ballasted and glued, the pins can be removed and there's NO holes in the sleepers!

 

I do know that some folk pin the OUTSIDE of the sleepers, pinning on alternative sides.

Edited December 16, 2016 by BlackRat

[jc1992]

A tool appears to be on everyone’s favourite action site recently, anyone tried it? Searched peco track pin aid

[workington-main]

Ever since PECO introduced code 75 Flexi Track I have been drilling holes where I choose when laying this track.  I use a 0.5mm drill and track pins from Javis of Stockport or similar ones.  The very fine Peco track pins were intended for soft insulation board which was never a sucess anyway.   I never drill the middle of the sleeper as too much pressure when tacking down may distort and narrow the gauging.  Instead I dril through the chair on the outer part of the sleeper.  I use the same principle for sleepers made of PCB copper clad.  A dab of acrylic track paint blends in the track pin.

Edited April 6, 2020 by workington-main

[gordon s]

 Be very careful of using track pins with copper clad. It took me days to track down a short. I could track down the short to one specific turnout and once lifted it was fine. Put it back and the short returned. It took ages to realise the track pins were connecting on the back of the double sided copper sleepers and causing a direct short.  Needless to say once the pins were removed it was fine.........

 

Never again.

[workington-main]

Thanks for the reminder about double sided PCB.  I encountered this in the 1980s and got around it by countersinking the top and reverse of the sleeper.  Never had this short circuit problem again.  Cheers Tom

[russ p]

My method may seem a bit crude but my last two layouts I've covered the baseboards in B and Q laminate flooring underlay boards and track on top of that

With the flexi track I make a hole in the sleeper with a map pin then pin the track to the underlay with a Hornby track pin pressed in with a  pin push 

This is a quick way of doing it , I had 200yds to lay.

When I dismantled my last layout 99 percent of the track was reusable and that was after ballasting with  PVA 

[Sol]

4 hours ago, gordon s said:

 Be very careful of using track pins with copper clad. It took me days to track down a short. I could track down the short to one specific turnout and once lifted it was fine. Put it back and the short returned. It took ages to realize the track pins were connecting on the back of the double sided copper sleepers and causing a direct short.  Needless to say once the pins were removed it was fine.........

 

Never again.

 

I also fell into that trap as I didn't create a gap on copper underneath  like it is done on the top .

Edited April 6, 2020 by Sol
removed emeticon

[The Johnster]

I glue track down with PVA, but pin it temporarily to hold it in place while the glue is going off.  Drill pin holes through the sleeper and into the baseboard or subsurface, and don't push the pin home more than to the level of the top of the sleeper.  If you have trouble removing any when the pva has gone off, file or deburr the head down rather than apply force to your track.

[GeraldH]

I just use Hornby flexi track which has pin holes provided.  A bit of ballasting mostly covers up any holes that weren't used.

[Pete the Elaner]

I think every reply has assumed wooden sleeper track is being used.

Pin heads/holes look a complete eyesore with concrete/steel sleeper track, leaving gluing as the only way to achieve a decent finish.

If you've spaced sleepers out a little (which improves the look of flat bottom immensely), then the extra strength of having each sleeper glued is very useful.

 

What glue? PVA takes way too long to go off. You can use some form of temporary fixing, but then this need to be removed later. Impact adhesive can be too quick, grabbing virtually instantly.

So something in between these 2 would be useful.

Copydex fits the bill. It has a little hold straight away but also allows a enough time for re-positioning before it grabs properly.

[GDR]

On 13/11/2016 at 22:03, 40034_Nick said:

Anyone have any ideas of how do tack the track down? The double sided tape i am using temporarily looks bad.

I am thinking to maybe drill holes but the only drill bit a have seen is a 3mm.. Is there maybe a boring tool?

Or any other ideas ?? Thanks

 

Nick

Not tried it on Peco sleepers but works on other plastic:  pin/nail in pliers, hold over lighter/candle. Insulated thumb needed to push in (or use end of the lighter). Smelly, you need a few pins, but precision drilling.