Loosing the gaps between Carrera track piecess

[bigman]

[dw5555]

First off if your track is not sitting level attaching 2 flat pieces together you definitely have a binding problem. The rails should be flush or even a little back from the edge of the track. If it's sticking over the edge it needs to be filed or pushed back. The rail just pops out of the track but if not done carefully you can bend the rail. Are you using the track clips to hold them together? If you want to fasten the track down I would just fasten the curves down because that's where your pressure is gonna be and let the rest float. That's what I've done with mine and it works good.

Dave

[mattb]

You will have no gaps if your track is properly assembled and is a proper plan. Be sure that one of the rail extensions is not misaligned, not fitting inside the rail of the adjacent track rail. Sometimes pieces are hard to get completely seated. A block of wood and a hammer (lightly tapping) will fully seat two pieces of track. Gaps are common if you have a big track and maybe it isn't exactly a perfect combination. You can make track fit a little loose and end up with a track plan that works, but the fit is not perfect. You also end up with some gaps if you force banking into flat curves. You can't do extreme banks but you can do a little banking of flat curves.

In the 60's Monogram recomended using vaseline to lube the track joints, this does work good.

[bigman]

Thanks Guys for your replies :text-thankyouyellow:

Dave, yes I'm using the Carrera red clips,
My track is laying flat on 3/4" plywood, with 2x4's around the outsides and also the bracing.

Matt
No banked turns on my layout at the moment, right now everything is standard track, 1/60's and standard Straights, I was surprised how bad the alignment was right out of the box.

Thanks again for your replies :handgestures-thumbup:
I'll bet the lube will help as well. :idea:
I'll be looking closer over the joints to get a better fit. :idea:

[32lbking]

Check the male pins that go into the female rail of the other piece of track to be sure the tabs are going into the rail. There are 3 fingers on each male pin [1 on top and 1 on each side]. They sometimes get bent outward and go to the outer side of the female rail [instead of inside the rail] and the track will not go together all the way.
If you have a couple joints that just pull apart a little [maybe due to being just a hair off on the angle but they are close] try using the older horseshoe clips as they give a much tighter joint than the newer snap in clips.
I use these on my track where I have slight misalignment issues due to not using a track designer program. They are harder to remove sometimes but there will NOT be a loose joint.
Randy

[bigman]

Randy
Thanks for the reply
I have fasteners coming, may try your idea about the old clips.
I'm hoping the track clips will help, the track is set up but I'm still having problems with the track staying tougher.
Thanks for all the reply's

bigman