Securing track to wood

[davecar]

Hi All,

I am in the process of building my track which is an oval of about 23 metres long. For various reasons, Including keeping my wife happy as I indulge in my new hobby I have built all the track on a raised wooden platform about 6/7 inches from the ground - bit of a pain really but needs must. I am now about to secure the track to the wood and I bought panel pins for this job, then I thought should it be anything special ie brass pins or very small screws. Obviously the panel pins I have bought will rust in time.

Any help or advice really appreciated.

Kind regards,


Dave

 

[mike]

ive used small philips screws, yes the heads visable, but its ajustable, and keeps said track in plasce,

 

[stevelewis]

Panel pins are fine, couple of tips:

Coat them in vaseline or grease before inserting keeps them rust free longer, and when inserting them careful not to compress the sleepers and suggest that you may wish to leave a tiny amount of the pin proud of the sleeper ( say 1 to 2 MM) to allow easy removal if required!

 

[ntpntpntp]

I've used black japanned roundhead screws, and pre-drilled the sleepers to avoid splitting the plastic. The black treatment seems to make them reasonably unobtrusive. A few have gone a little rusty, but still fine and not as obvious as steel or brass.

 

[Bram]

Try and use coated/plated screws which don't rust and dull down over time and are then not noticable

 

[Alec K]

B and Q passivated zinc coated crosshead c/s screws used here, sleepers drilled first but not the decking roadbed as the screws bite into this with ease. I may (if I really have nothing better to do) paint each screwhead with a matt brown enamel. They're a bit bright at the moment.

Alec K

 

[bobg]

I used brass panel pins from Wickes. These have been in about 6 mths now and as you can see have patinised (tarnished) nicely and are almost invisible. I pre-drilled the sleepers 1.5mm so the pins would hold before knocking into the wood and allow careful track alignment. If any should go green then a wipe with engine oil will shift it. None of mine have but then I only run steam, so there's plenty of oil about.

I only use six pins per 1 yd length and find that sufficient when the track base is good.

 

[Wobbleboxer]

I used brass panel pins from Wickes. These have been in about 6 mths now and as you can see have patinised (tarnished) nicely and are almost invisible. I pre-drilled the sleepers 1.5mm so the pins would hold before knocking into the wood and allow careful track alignment. If any should go green then a wipe with engine oil will shift it. None of mine have but then I only run steam, so there's plenty of oil about.

Exactly what I do, except I got my pins from Screwfix in a bigger bag. I use 2 pins per sleeper, every 5th or 6th sleeper. I find that they hold the track well enough but are not difficult to remove if I need to.

 

[Glengrant]

Well I just used B&Q screws, yeah they rust, but sort of gradually merge in with the track. I did drill holes in the sleepers tho to prevent splitting. However, here's something to think about. I don't know how firm your baseboard is, but mine was laid on to a newly terraced area designed for the railway. Now, of course, over the years the backfilling has subsided in places, and drags the track down with it, so after some time I realised that I the track was becoming distorted. I began to take out screws at various points and let the track "float" to a better profile, and then a little bit of judicious ballasting kept it in the correct position. Just a thought. My experience is that just as with the real thing the track requires constant attention. I also remind you that if you are using flexitrack try to organise the joins especially on bends are staggered, I'm sure you've already thought of that

 

[minimans]

On my raise wood sections I used 2in steel panel pins about 3/16 in hammered in the holes that come supplied in LGB track and leaving about 1/8in showing. I just removed all of that section after about 7 or 8 years and the pins came right out with a pull from a pair of side cutters 90% of the time.............

 

[adverse camber]

I have tried most methods

Brass will not rust steel always will so I have gien up using it

Screws are fiddley, using 1.25inch no 6's which are the correct lenght damage the hole in LGB track which is a bit too small and nees drilling out more of a fiddle, and if you want to move the track its screw drivers all round (or power drill)

Much the best into wood is escutcheon pins. These are brass plated, have a reasonable size head and are usually about 1 inch or a bit longer. They work great, are easy to remove and reuse and dont rust and are not at all expensive

I have bought them by the box from our local very good hard wear/tool shop

Lots available on line like here: http://www.toolfastdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Escutcheon_Pins_Self_Colour.html

AC