Up the Creek Column - 10
13. I use paintable latex caulk to glue down ME flex
track. I prefer gray because it more or less matches
the ballast color. I got this tube from a local big-box
store. Once the track is bedded in this stuff I have
about 10 or 15 minutes of working time.
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I start by running a bead of caulk down the middle of the road-
bed, then spread it with a homemade notched trowel. Using
too much caulk is a problem. When the flex track is bedded
down, it can rise up over the top of the ties, making a mess.
Using too little is also a problem, letting the track pop up out of
the caulk’s grip.
My little notched trowel lets me spread the caulk very evenly
and avoid excess glop syndrome (EGS), but still have enough
to hold the track in place. I make sure not to get caulk on the
14. I use this homemade itsy-bitsy notched trowel to
spread caulk. After almost 15 years of use, it may be
getting to be time to make another one. It started as
a small scrap of .060” styrene. I sharpened one edge
like a chisel, then made notches with a tiny triangular
jeweler’s file.
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feeder wires or go past the ties at the end of this piece of flex
track. I clean any excess off the sides of the cork.
Bedding flex track in caulk
Once the caulk is spread, I push the feeder wires down until
their 90
o
bent tops are on top of the cork and slip the end of
the new track into the adjacent track’s rail joiners. Then push
the track into the caulk. Don’t wear long sleeves while doing
this. You’ll likely end up with gray caulk all over ‘em.
Then I work the track with the MLR track tool, finalizing its
alignment while pressing it into the caulk. This is a place where
MRH-Sep 2014
