Up the Creek Column - 9
11
11. This simple tool from MLR Mfg. costs only a few
bucks and makes shaping ME flex track into curves easy.
flex track, I figure out where I want the feeders and mark that
location. I solder feeder wires to the bottom of the rail join-
ers or rails to hide them – these lines show me where to drill
feeder wire holes [12].
Next, I set the flex track to the side and drill holes for the
feeder wires. I use 22 gauge solid wire for feeders, color-coded
red and black. I strip the wire ends, make a 90
o
bend about
3/8” from the upper end and thread the wires into the holes,
being careful to match the color-coding to rail polarities [12].
I keep the holes small, but big enough to have the wires slide
through them. Having a little slack here will help prevent the
solder joint from failing if track expansion doesn’t match the
roadbed. I leave the wires poking out well above the roadbed
at this time. When I apply the caulk, this helps keep the stuff
off the stripped wire ends.
12
12. Putting the feeder wires in place before fastening
the track serves two purposes. First, it lets me avoid
getting caulk too near the stripped end of the feeder
wires. Second, I drill holes for the feeders directly below
the rails and solder the feeders to the bottoms of the
rails or joiners). In the past I have glued down the track,
then realized I’d forgotten to install the feeder wires.
Putting the wires in before the caulk helps to prevent
that sort of thing. If you look carefully, you can see red
lines marking the sides of the rails above the holes.
Gluing down the track
I use gray latex paintable caulk to hold the flex track securely
in place until I get around to applying ballast. This interval is
sometimes measured in years.
MRH-Sep 2014
