Very helpful

Great article, very helpful.

thanks

Bill Michael

Shims

Years ago, while poking through the brass shapes assortment rack at the local hobby shop, I found some thin strips.  I procured some 1/8" wide, 0.020" and 0.015" strips of brass 12" long, that I have used as shims for everything under the sun since then.

One use is to shim Code 70 rail, while using Code 83 rail joiners (Similarly:  Code 55 rail & Code 70 joiners).  I find that it shoves the rail up in the tapered sides of the joiner, which helps align the rails.  Filing consists of taking a couple thousandths off, instead 13 or 15 thousandths.  I find it works really well, even when the joint is not soldered.  (This is especially true now that I've graduated from a using variety of reading glasses' strengths to using a magni-visor even for trackwork!)

Reinforcement

Charlie,

Thanks for the informative article. Back in 2005 (a newbie) when I was building my 2nd layout, I planned to use Peco code 83 turnouts with Atlas Flex track.  I purchased 14 #6 turnouts and later discovered their incompatibility with Atlas. Not all code 83 is the same, a subtle point lost on most. I then tried building my own turnouts which was a disaster for me.  The big cost was the huge waste of time. I'm not one of those who thinks of track as a model.

My Lesson Learned out of all of it was simple, "CHOOSE A SINGLE TRACK MANUFACTURER WHO HAS MOST OF WHAT YOU WANT AND DON'T STRAY."  i chose Atlas and have been a happy camper since.  

Here is a link to my 2009 track clinic.  

Joe Baldwin aka Joe Daddy

Very timely and informative

I am working with my brother on a helix for our layout. The main tracks inside the helix are Atlas code 83 flex, we will be transitioning to ME code 70 on Fast Track twist tie curved number 8 turnouts creating a pair of crossovers. The other issue I have found besides rail thickness is the difference between the tie strip thickness. So not only do we have to manage the rail but now also the ties at the same time. Once we are past the turnouts we will continue to use the ME code 70 rail but this time on Central Valley tie strips. Once again a significant difference in the thickness of the ties.

Thanks for a very informative article.

Mark Schroedle

I wouldn't dismiss Walthers joiners

It's true that the Walthers joiners are more expensive, but they are relatively small, have joint-bar-like detail, but most importantly, they can be squeezed down to grab dissimilar brands of code 83 rail.  Atlas, Peco, Micro-Engineering rail can all be joined tightly.  I also put a very slight bevel on every rail end, which has been effective at keeping flanges from finding the different rail head widths.  All of the rail products have advantages, using the Walthers joiners allows me to use them all.

Atlas joiners are much larger and stiffer - They work well at expansion joints between Atlas rails. 

Micro-Engineering joiners are inconspicuous.  They work well, but only for Micro-Engineering rail.

Good information in the article - the pictures make it all clear.  Thank you.

Atlas and ME together

Nice tips, but one I do, not mentioned, to join ME C70 with Atlas C83, is slide the smaller ME joiner onto the ME track all the way, then slide this into half of the Atlas joiner, with the other half on the Atlas C83 rail. No soldering needed, and a nice, tight joint with well aligned rails. Just paint the joiners the same color as the rest of the rails when you weather, and they are very hard to spot. It's almost too easy. Well, almost. 

Scale size

Yes, some of the article applies to all scales.  But most of it only applies to one scale.  SO PUT THAT SCALE IN THE OPENING SENTENCE!

"PUT THAT SCALE IN THE

    I doubt many people had a problem figuring it out by the 2nd sentence when he mentioned code 83 track? and certainly by the next page where he showed photos of HO flextrack? I think the broader value in this article is showing how different rail sizes can be connected which works for all scales. One method I didn't see mentioned  is making your own compromise bars ( stepped rail joiners) by putting a rail joiner on a couple of short pieces of rail , laying them on a flat surface, and hammering the bottom till the rail heads are lined up. Another method that works for rails of very different code( say joining code 148 to code 100 O scale) is to slit the end of the code 148 rail vertical web .10" below the head in this case and insert the code 100 joiner into the slot (above the code 148 base) then solder the joint....DaveB

Size

The track gauge and scale don't matter, as far as I can see.  Only the relative rail sizes and maybe the height of the ties.

Scale...

Well... Oops!

It completely slipped my mind to mention the scale I was working in (which was HO).

Sorry about that.

Charlie

Picture 13

If you cut the top half of the joiner with a razor saw, perpendicular to the rail of the code 83 rail, the side that you squish will lay flat.

Joiner tool

Simple tool for making transition rail joiners......Micro Engineering code 70 to code 55.......code 70 rail soldered into a brass tube......slide code 70 rail joiner in place.....and using a small saw cut thru the top on the joiner.

After the saw cut is made, remove the joiner and flatten with a pair of pliers.

Photo of a transition joint in place on my layout.

Atlas code 83 to Micro Engineering code 55

Code 83 to code 70

Code 70 to code 55

Pretty Much

The article was great and mirrors my experience in building my HO layout. I did fabricate the joiner tool described in another comment and found it most helpful. I pretty much used Atlas joiners throughout even though I have a mix of Atlas 83 flex track and ME code 83 rail in some hand laid sections and custom turnouts. I used caulk to glue down sections of rail and found in places like my helix that over time the Atlas would creep and distort the curve. So places where this was a serious issue (like a curve leading to a bridge) i fabricated a section of track and bent the rail to the shape needed before soldering it to the PC ties.

But I had far more grief with insulating rail joiners from either Atlas or ME -- their plastic was far less forgiving. What I ended up doing where ever feasible was to cut the rail with a narrow Dremel wheel, then CA a piece of styrene into the gap and file to smoothness.

greg latiak

BQR

Interesting article

I use code 83 throughout and change the look for sidings and spurs by removing and spacing ties.  However, great and informative article on the use of different track.

Joe

Great Trackwork

I've always admired Jack's trackwork as well as his entire layout.   Much good info. here.

Jack?

How the prototype does it