# American Mainline Flex Track



## jguerriere (Feb 28, 2009)

Hello all,

I am setting up a 300 foot layout and have a few questions about the AML FLEX track.

For starters, I have one box of the EURO 6' style and one box of the 6' USA style. I was told the only difference was the spacing of the ties, and before I get too far into it, I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts or hands on experience mixing the two. 

I have never used flex tack, but I assume the I am supposed to cut of the rail(s) at the end to make each rail end point even. Then I add the xtra ties to finish it off. 

I do not plan to securing the rail to the ground with anything. It's being laid on top of small loose gravel, so I hope that's all I need to do. Does anyone have any experience here? In my testing, the track seemed to want to bend back, so if I do have to secure it, I am at a loss, as there is just gravel then dirt. Nothing really firm to tack into.

Any thoughts, tips, suggestions, or other web sources you can point me will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

-John


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

*I have been preaching flex track for some time, I like the idea of making it fit as needed. To mix the two types of ties is up to you, how picky are you on the looks. I have always used a bender to get a good fit. If you get the correct bend laying in ballast is no problem. I keep the ends of rail even witch means cutting the longer rail off, I have seen some stagger the joints. Using the dual rail benders is a joy to see how easily you can make adjustments.*


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## jguerriere (Feb 28, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. Regarding the track bender, do you use it with the AML Flex track? From what I could gather, one of the benefits of the pre-fab'd AML Flex track is no bender is needed. 

Am I correct in assuming a bender is not needed, but can make the job a bit easier? If so, which bender do you suggest?


-John


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## Manco (Jan 5, 2009)

You shouldn't have to cut the ends of the rails if you stagger the joints. Try to get out of the sectional track mindset when dealing with flex track. I always leave one rail as is, then grab the other and drag it half-way out of the tie strip. Feed that dangling piece of rail into the next tie strip(s) and so on and so forth. This forces the joints to be staggered, and keeps you from having to trim rails. Try to think of it the way a real railroad does as two seperate things... an endless string of ties and the rail gets placed on (or in our case in) the ties rather than thinking of rails and ties as one unit together, that's the sectional track talking. People seem to think you can't put a rail joiner in the middle of a tie strip. If you slice the tie plate details from the ties with a razor blade you can allow room for your joiners. Trains will run better and you won't be wasting valuable rail material.


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

If you bend without a bender it is going to be harder to get the curve you want to hold in place.The Train Li bender works great but is not cheap, I just got in a Massoth and have not tried it yet. The adjustment mechanism looks like it will work real well. As in many items you get what you pay for.


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