Please forgive me if I missed something, but all the forums that I have read about MTH RealTrax comment on how hard it is to snap two sections of track together. I have not seen anyone make a suggestion on how to make it easier.
The problem is caused by trying to slide dry plastic to dry plastic parts together. If you can lubricate the parts of the track that slide together then putting RealTrax sections together becomes much easier.
I have tried three processes to make the job of snapping RealTrax sections together easier.
1) Use a Q-Tip just saturated with Vaseline (no globs) to lubricate all plastic parts that slide/snap together. Use the Vaseline sparingly. You are just trying to coat the plastic that slides together.
2) Use Liquid Soap to lubricate the plastic parts that slide/snap together.
3) Use a wax of some type (I tried Beeswax). It was difficult to apply unless I melted it and applied it while still liquid. I found this option to be messy unless I was really careful. I found paste wax difficult also but it works.
I prefer the Vaseline method and I'm pretty sure Vaseline will not attack the plastic. The only down sides I can see are that the Vaseline could attract dust and dirt over time or the Vaseline could stain anything the track is sitting on if it was not applied sparingly.
I found after using any of these methods that I could put together sections of track that I could barely get together, if at all, quite easily and only had to bend the two pieces up slightly (sometimes I can push the track together without bending them up at all. By keeping the angle to a minimum or flat, the copper contacts went together well (99% of the time).
Let me know if anyone thinks this is a bad idea. I'm sure someone must have thought of this before as RealTrax has been out for a long time, but I couldn't find any tips on it.
LAD
