Fast Tracks

I want to keep the gaps in my Fast Tracks turnouts as small as possible, yet functional. I will probably use the Fast Tracks gap fillers in the rest of the layout. I cut the gaps using a jewelers file, .010 thick resulting gap. I have tried the styrene method and the CA glue seems to make the styrene brittle and doesn't stick well. As I am trying to contour the styrene to the rail it frequently becomes dislodged and/or breaks where I do not want it to. Does anyone have any other ideas or methods that are not too difficult or time consuming but are effective? Would something like JB Weld work or is it too difficult to work with? I am going to test some for conductivity.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Hi,

I found I had the same frustration trying to fill gaps with styrene, and forming the piece to the shape of the rail was a boring. I did not like the bright white of the filler either.

I ended up developing a simple laser cut item to do just this job.

📷 Image no longer available Originally hosted at www.electronics-supply.com — the host went away before this archive was made.

These inexpensive gap fillers are designed to work with a gap cut using a thin Dremel ceramic cut-off wheel (p/n 409), and slip down between the rails to sit on the roadbed. The material protruding above the railhead is simply cut off with a knife and the gap is filled.

More on these can be found here...

http://www.handlaidtrack.com/item.php?i ... &partno=SG

_________________
Cheers!

Tim Warris
Fast Tracks
http://www.fast-tracks.net
service@fast-tracks.net

Could you use a thin strip of styrene that is the same width as the narrow section on the gap fillers?? Cement that in place and not worry about shaping to match the rail??

I did wind up with just a small piece between the web in several places. I do not know if they will stay put or not. I added a droplet of CA on the bottom of the rail where it would contact the remaining piece of styrene. The bigger problem is the CA doesn't stick well to the rail, most attempts to trim the bottom of the styrene will break the brittled styrene or make the CA turn loose. I think it may be the smoothness of the ME rail (non-weathered). I may try some of the Fast Tracks stop-gap wood fillers but was hoping to have narrower gaps in the turnouts.

Thanks

I tried the JB Weld. The type I have is non-conductive, soft sets in 4 minutes and totally hardens in a few hours. It worked well, didn't take long, looks good and is VERY inexpensive. It is an epoxy that, when mixed, turns dark grey/black. I only mixed about one match head quantity total. This will do about 6 gaps if you are quick enough before it sets too far - each gap took less than a minute to apply. Application was with an Exacto knife and very little was applied to the bottom of the rail base, working it up into the gap with the knife point. Then I filled the top very carefully. It is important to remove ANY extra filler above the rail base after 4 or 5 minutes. I still works easy at this point and did not create a mess. Again, I used the knife point to shape and remove the excess, then ran my fingernail along and under the rail head to get the rest. I still want to use some of Fast Tracks Stop-Gap fillers. They look good and appear to be very accurate.