LGB rail attachment

[Nigel B]

Happy New Year to all

Soaking wet here on the FeckHallBahn but I did manage to run a few trains.
I’ve got quite a few gaps where the plastic sleepers have pulled free from their rails and in places where secondhand track had more rail than sleepers. I want to replace them with wooden sleepers (I have the wood) but am wondering how to fix rail to them. Lifting/splitting the track to slide anything on isn’t an option so I’m looking at attaching in-situ.

This bit, down to my heavy handedness, is probably the worst.

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Advice on products and where to get them please!

[Old Man Aaron]

I handlaid a lot of track using panel nails as spikes. I ground the round head to a half-moon shape to improve the appearance. Cheap, effective and looks okay.
My track was assembled on the bench (or concrete floor!) but with some care, you could install your new timbers in-situ.

I'd get the sleeper positioned where you want it, then mark it with a pencil, remove the sleeper and pilot-drill it for your spike.
Then spike one rail down, before drilling and nailing the other side in-situ. You'll need to ensure your new sleeper is well-supported with something solid when you hammer on it. A metal bar or thin piece of timber you could slip beneath it would work.

I've used this method for spot repairs in track many times and it works quite well.

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All the best, keep us posted.

[Nigel B]

That’s almost exactly what I ended up doing but with M2 self tapping screws for the first bit. I used panel pins for the next bit but without the half moon shape (because I didn’t think of it). Two more places to do still

I’ve now sorted out the warp visible in this

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The sleepers here are about a foot long and extend under the siding embankment. Their job is to try to pull the kink out of the joint. Partially successful, I’ve no way of fixing them to the slabs so I’m relying on friction

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[philipy]

Nigel, you need to get some heavy duty preservative ( preferably old fashioned creosote if you can get any) on those wooden sleepers very quickly. Otherwise they will rot in no time flat. Especially where the small screws are because they will allow water into the grain and then it will sit in there and you've got no hope.
About 5 yearsago I mounted wood lineside fence posts in 3d printed sockets and soaked the wood in creosote substitute for several months first. The post bottoms have all rotted, as have some of them also where they were drilled for the fence wires.!

[Nigel B]

They’re soaked in yacht varnish, hopefully that will do the job.

[dudeface]

I wonder if it might help to attach a 2x4 under the problem area?

[Nigel B]

It would, but there isn’t room. It’s not a massive problem though, it’s only a headshunt extension and at the end of a baseboard. The track is floating nicely on ballast and I’ll reconfigure the station when I replace the plank it’s sitting on.

Headshunt

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I had to take the main line lot out again this morning as they had slipped out (I thought they might) so not only was the kink back but the hump that appeared was working better than my actual uncoupling ramps!

Main line before new sleeper removal. You can see the hump that was working as an uncoupling ramp.

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Main line now

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[GAP]

If I was faced with that problem I would bite the bullet and replace the section with a new piece of rail.
The issue I see is that there is a straight piece in the middle of a curve that has to be bent to fit the curve.
If you put a straight edge down the middle of the track at the end of the curve and the straight on the opposite side you will see that they do not line up which if trying to put a straight piece in the middle will give a kink.
I would cut the rail near the buffer remove the piece back to the joiner near the end of the curve and insert a piece of rail that is bent to continue the curve into a transition.
If I have to join rail in the middle of a curve I solder a joint in place while the rail is straight then bend it, when I fit it I secure the rail on both side of the joint to help relieve any tension at the site.
Sometimes lifting track even though it is a pain is the best course of action for permanently solving a problem.

As for using wooden sleepers I have had success with drilling through the web of the rail and using small brads to secure the rail to the sleeper (I use 1mm brads) them using track spikes as well this helps stop sideways movement.

For a preservative I use decking oil and let it soak in to the wood.
I do have a piece of plywood that was soaked in sump oil and diesel and was on the ground out in the weather for about 7 years and is still OK.

[dudeface]

It would, but there isn’t room. It’s not a massive problem though, it’s only a headshunt extension and at the end of a baseboard. The track is floating nicely on ballast and I’ll reconfigure the station when I replace the plank it’s sitting on.
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I had to take the main line lot out again this morning as they had slipped out (I thought they might) so not only was the kink back but the hump that appeared was working better than my actual uncoupling ramps!
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I meant the kinky part, I didn't realize they were different places..

[Nigel B]

Ha!
It’s smack in the middle of two flexible track sections and also smack in the middle of a granite slab! I can live with it; it doesn’t cause any problems. Just looks messy. We had literally just had the (tiny) garden extensively remodelled and landscaped to what we’d wanted for 20 years when I was given an LGB starter set. I have to work round what’s there. Of course, if the railway had come first…