# Filling rail gaps?



## gdancer (Feb 19, 2008)

My Dad always accused me of having all the skill of a cub bear playing with his privates. Thus, when I have to cut and fit stainless I find I've managed to incorporate gaps between rail joinings which are exacerbated (!!!!) by our winter expansions and contractions. (Just the Old Exacerbater from the Far Away Hills!) Does anyone have any good ideas on how to fill those gaps so as to eliminate the minute drop of wheels into the gaps? 

Yeah! Thought you'd say that! That's what my Dad used to say, "Do it right the first time!" 

Aside from that.....????


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

One way to eliminate the problem is to use SJ expansion joints. Another is to remember to lay rail in the hot part of the day. You did not memtion what part of the country you are in so the best best is go with the expansion joints. Later RJD


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The only drawback of laying rail in the hot part of the day is that the rail is, well, hot. It's a good theory, but very hard on the hands. It's mitigated by wearing gloves, but the fiddly bits are often hard to grasp. 

A few other suggestions - clamp the joints tight, and let the curves float in the ballast to compensate for the expansion. They'll move in and out as needed, but the joints will stay tight. If you've got long straight sections, you'll want to look at slip joints on the straights to compensate. 

If you've got some joints that are just wide, grab a small section of rail and file the sides of the base off, leaving you with essentially a "T". Drop this into the joint to fill the gap. If the rails expand, you can simply pull it back out and set it beside the joint for use on colder days. 

Later, 

K


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Some of the clamp companies have wider clamps, just cut a piece of track to the right length and put it in the middle, the ends clamping to the rails.


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

if after all your fiddling, you still have annoying gaps, then just fill it with a chunk of styrene and a drop of CA. Then file the result to match the rail profile.


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