Gargraves Track Questions

3' sections that are just straight have two metal tiny rails on the underside. They do make them but the flex type is very more common. 

I haven't had it wear off but yes if you want to take some sandpaper to it. 

I have only had on a few cars the flying shoe to hit on switches, otherwise, all has been fine

you will need to connect the two outside rails as they are separated electrically by the wood/plastic ties. you can run a wire from one to the other or as I do when setting up drops I wire one, oneway the next the other ( ie I will wire outside rail and middle then inside rail and middle )

Before you asked, I never even knew that Gargraves made 37” Straight rigid sections.  From their site, it looks like the rigid track has a plastic piece under and outside the outer rails to hold them straight.  If you cut the plastic, it could be curved.

I’ve been using Gargraves phantom line track it since the mid 80’s.  The black does not wear off.  You could remove the black by sanding with fine grit, but that would expose bare steel (not good unless it’s stainless).

Prewar may have a problem running over Gargraves or Ross switches if the pickups are not spaced widely.  On my 751E, I had to run a wire from a vestibule to the loco to make it over switches.

A link to a previous Gargraves track question.  Click on the underlined phrase to link.  

If you plan to use the non derailing feature be sure that the sensing rails are not shorted together by the rail spikes on Ross switches. You may need to pull out a couple spikes where the rails come together. , Dave

Don't buy old Gargraves track! As the track ages the wood ties dry out. This makes bending the track difficult as it becomes harder to slide and adjust the tie positions. The flex track has no struts on the underside to keep it straight. The blackened third rail does not wear off. My layout was built in 1987 with Gargraves flex phantom rail track,Midwest cork roadbed,  Ross Custom switches and Tortoise switch machines. No better combination has come along to beat it. Buy new flex track only. You will not be sorry. It's easy to bend and cut either with a Dremel cut off wheel (Always wear safety glasses), or a Zona fine tooth saw. 

Plus one to what turbgine said. Don't buy old Gargraves track. Learned from experience. Unless you only want straight sections uncut and unmodified.

@rtraincollector posted:

...you will need to connect the two outside rails as they are separated electrically by the wood/plastic ties...

Don't the wheelsets make the connection to the other rail through the axles?  A 12 car train would have at least 48 connections to the other rail.

If you don’t connect the outside rails, you can have power problems on sidings.  The frog rail isn’t connected on most switches.

If you have some old gargraves that you must bend try this. First I would buy 36" or tighter curves. Get some dawn liquid detergent ,mix it 50/50 with water, spray the track till it is really wet wait maybe 5-10 minutes ,do your bend, trim the ends, rinse the mixture off screw the track down in place, at least 4 screws. 

I was going to use Gargraves track on my layout......But after I put some tinplate trains from the 20s on the track I decided against it.....The flanges on the wheels hit on every tie. I would stick with tubular if your going to run tinplate.

Thanks for all the information everyone! I learned a lot. 

@Dwayne B posted:

I was going to use Gargraves track on my layout......But after I put some tinplate trains from the 20s on the track I decided against it.....The flanges on the wheels hit on every tie. I would stick with tubular if your going to run tinplate.

Interesting. What in particular were you running? I tested a piece that I had (forgot I had it) with a Lionel 529 passenger car, and it was fine. That being said, my future layout has an 0-31 dogbone on a shelf above the layout that will be tubular track for prewar trains. It will be finished in a prewar style (right down to cloth wiring on accessory posts), then will transition down a hillside to the scale layout. This way, anything I can't run on the Gargraves, I could run there. I just wanted to make sure that at least some of it would be okay, in case I do an all Prewar operating session. 

@ADCX Rob posted:

Don't the wheelsets make the connection to the other rail through the axles?  A 12 car train would have at least 48 connections to the other rail.

Not always, what happens if you have a break in a block. ( ie wire comes loose. ) if you have both rails powered you don't have to worry about that, do you?

Switches and crossover can cause problems also

Bottom line what does it hurt to be safe. How much harder is it to do one lead outside rail and the next on the inside rail. 

My first layout used Gargraves track and Ross switches.  I run only prewar American Flyer O.  First issue that cropped up was the early electric engine wheels have wide/fat flanges that did not fit through the Ross switch frogs and derailed every time.  I tried to modify the frogs, but this did not help the issue, so I finally removed the Ross switches and later sold them.  

I have to say that I was generally displeased with the Gargraves track and the prewar trains.  About 5-6 years ago I had an issue with a dehumidifier in my basement and did not catch it, until the wood ties had mildew all over them.  That was reason enough for me to get rid of the Gargraves track.  Ran Lionel tubular track and am much happier with how the trains run.  Still don't have any switches on the layout and did not even consider adding them.  

@triplex posted:

 It's easy to bend and cut either with a Dremel cut off wheel (Always wear safety glasses), or a Zona fine tooth saw. 

I bought this for $30 on sale at Harbor freight last year.  Turns out it works great with a cutoff wheel for cutting Flex Track.  I thought it might not produce clean edges, but way better than I expected, and the three rails are 100% parallel cuts.

Hit the ends with my little file to take off any flash and job done.  It's way faster and more precise than doing the rails individually with the Dremel.

6 in. 5.5 Amp Cut-Off Saw at Harbor Freight

I'm with GRJ on the use of a mitre saw.  I absolutely love my DeWalt.  It's smooth, quiet, and does a great job of cutting everything (including GarGraves track) cleanly.  I've used a Zona or hack saw to cut track; this is easier.  I've not had good luck using a Dremel to cut track - too much bucking and bouncing for a clean cut.

George

I can't say mine is quiet, but for $30 it does a great job, so I'm not complaining.

Working with Atlas track, I needed a chop saw that worked with the track in place. So, I made a jig for a Dremel Ultra-Saw. The only short coming; it doesn't include a spring. Dremel now has a proper blade for cutting metal, unlike what you see in this picture.       

We have been using a mini cut off saw to cut track for many years. Works great even on hard to cut stainless O and G scale track!, Dave