(N Gauge) Baseboard/track joins.

[andruec]

My baseboard is going to be in three pieces and there will be three additional pieces that sit on top (one is a run of elevated track, the other two are a collection of sidings). I've been looking at the techniques used to allow track to be separated and it all seems fairly straightforward but I'm wondering about the gap between the rails.

I was thinking I could just use a Dremel to cut the rails where the boards meet but that will leave a small gap between them. What size gap can n-gauge trains tolerate? Will I have to be more clever and cut a slightly longer piece so that I can butt the ends together?

Thanks.

[Brian]

Use a Razor saw to cut the rails where they span the baseboard joints. The cut width from a razor saw is at least half of what a Dremel slitting disc produces!
Razor saw example... https://www.expotools.com/acatalog/7354 ... 73544.html

[Steve M]

I used to have four tracks over a lift out section in N - no problem.
I laid the rails across the joint and soldered them to copperclad sleepers to keep them securely in place. I then sliced them with a very time cutting wheel in a Dremel leaving about a 1mm gap which all my stock cleared easily.
A word of warning - some discs are quite coarse/thick so make sure you use the finest you can find.

Or a razor saw as Brian just suggested - careful not to apply too much force or the rails may bend or pull out of the sleepers (been there, done that).

[andruec]

Thanks for the quick answers. So 1mm should be fine - well that's good to know

[Brian]

I would not rely on the plastic sleepers to retain rails at any cross board joint! Ideally on each side of the baseboard joint you should remove one or two sleepers and replace them with copper clad PCB glued and pinned to the baseboard. Then solder the rails to the copper of the PCB, then once cooled slice through the rails in line with the board joint. If using copper clad you must cut through the copper between rails of each track soldered to it and also where two tracks are soldered to one strip a gap is needed in the copper track between the two tracks too = 3 slits in all for two tracks.
The alternative to copper clad strips is to use very small brass countersunk wood screws, installed directly under each rail (4 screws per cross board joint) and adjust the screws up or down until the top of the screw head is just under the rails bottom edge. Then solder the rails to the screws and once cooled slice through the rails in line with the baseboard join.