Garden Railway Forum

I am finding SM32 track, is a lot less 'forgiving' than code 332 45mm track.
Possibly not helped, by it all being 'of an age' and second hand, it has a tendency to twist, lift, and not hold a curve, so well..
Re-mangled rail-joiners, do not hold so well, either.

I had hoped to roughly lay some track, but it is looking more reminiscent of a badly laid peat railway!

I wanted the track to 'float', but it is looking a bit choppy, at the moment.


There does not seem to be a lot of (ready-made) track available, at the moment?

Thank you for the input.
Phil.P

Hi Phil,

bit late to this discussion but the picture below shows part of my portable layout featuring a run round loop and head shunt siding. The points are Peco small radius sm32 and the track the peco flexitrack. It's not easy to flex but will take a curve if firmly fixed down. I think the radius needed from the nearer point, which is the only curved bit, matches a set trackcurve.

The whole thing is 7ft long.

Phil

Thank you Phil..

I was beginning to get a little disheartened by very large radius curves. - I have a square area (about 10 foot) which it would be nice to get a return loop in, but still have decent access for foot-traffic..

It looks like I will be able to follow the hedge, and get a return loop in the area I have.

Time to get the tape measure and graph paper out.

I struggled with dodgy flexi-track curves for years before investing in a rail bender. It's a lot of work, particularly if the track's old and the sleepers are stubbornly sticking to the rail (Lots of WD-40's the answer!), but worth it, I think. The very ends of the rail can still be a problem (they can want to stay straight), which I've mitigated by staggering the joins on my sharper (3'6"-ish radius) curves - they did the same thing in full size when they were re-building the Welsh Highland.

Despite the above, if I was going for a tight radius to fit a small space, and if the budget I had available at the time stretched to it, I think I'd invest in Peco 2nd radius set track, with matching points - I reckon you could be pretty confident of a smooth ride that way.

By the way, love that station scene GIlfach Phil, I'd like to see more, looks like a lovely railway!

Andrew.

Phil.P wrote: ↑Tue Mar 29, 2022 1:56 pm Re-mangled rail-joiners, do not hold so well, either.

Useful tip I was given was to use G45 rail joiners. Especially good on curves (I still use SM32 joiners on stress-free straight sections...)

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 1:03 pm By the way, love that station scene GIlfach Phil, I'd like to see more, looks like a lovely railway!
Andrew.

Thanks Andrew,

I heard yesterday that an article I have recently written for SMT magazine will be appearing next week. There you will see more photos. Once that is in print I may well launch a layout thread here.

Phil

gilfachphil wrote: ↑Sun May 08, 2022 11:11 am
I heard yesterday that an article I have recently written for SMT magazine will be appearing next week. There you will see more photos. Once that is in print I may well launch a layout thread here.

Brilliant - I look forward to both!

Andrew