Fran McM posted:George,
I have also found that I have two different radii of wide-tie early track: don't have enough of either to make a complete circle of either to get a measurement, but if I take a section of curved track from each, and put them rail-to-rail, lining-up the end of say the inner-rail, and pinching between thumb and fore-finger tightly, to keep them aligned, the difference in radius is obvious at the middle of the rail.
This has caused me a little difficulty in assembling a floor loop: it is supposed to take eight sections to make a circle, but the ends do not meet ( about an inch + gap), and I have to kind of force things together.
Without the slide-on track-locks, it would not stay together. My Christmas loop has two half-sections of straight track at 12 & 6 o'clock, so that eases the geometry a little bit.
Have you found any ties with a slightly raised circular area around the crimps for the center rail ?
Fran McM.
I believe the original track was all STD 42 (42" diameter). MTH made STD 42, STD 72 and STD 84. USA Track now makes 42", 57", 72", 84" and 87" curves. You can get several different varieties of the number of ties.
I am actually making 5 rail tubular track that can run either Standard Gauge or O Gauge trains. I'll post some pictures in a bit. The ties get wacky when you are making 5 rail track, because there is no 5 rail track tie. You have to mix both standard gauge and o gauge ties.
I'm not sure what you mean about the raised circular area around the center rail connections. Also, the center rail should not be crimped. It will just have tabs that bend over to hold the insulator to the rail and center the rail.
George
