By the way, I discovered something about Kato Unitrack and it's that there are four tiny crimps on one end only of each piece. These hold the rail fast to the plastic ballast. If you find yourself needing to cut a track piece to a specific length, leave this end intact and make your cut at the other end where there are no crimps. Doing this will make sliding the rails out from the cut end much easier. If you expect to slide the rails out in this end, you'll have a tough time of it.
Great info & photo! I wonder how recent this feature was implemented? I'll have to check some of my older Unitrack pieces to see. It's not specifically clear from your directions, but it is best to cut the necessary length to be reduced out of the "middle" of the piece, and sliding the remaining roadbed ends together on the rails. You want to ensure that the section of roadbed to be removed does not contain those crimps either. Naturally you want to take the end that is not crimped, and slide it along the rails, toward the end that is crimped. Then cut off the excess rail length on the slid end. This method lets you keep the roadbed end pockets for the Unijoiners on both ends of the modified track piece.
Your ability to explain the process exceeds mine. Try as I might, I can't explain the process in words. Thank you. We're doing it the same way. I've done four custom cut pieces now and they've turned out really nice. If you make your final roadbed cuts with an eye to make them between crossties, the result is nearly invisible on the finished piece. Oh, and I write the custom lengths on the backsides with a marker, so if I set them down in a pile with other track, I'll instantly know that it's a special piece and how long it is.
You are better at it than you think: VERY good advice on marking the length and/or intended use of such modified track pieces! I've written (and re-written) too many instructions to remember for technicians to repair or modify circuit boards I designed. As the old adage says, "A picture is worth a thousand words" but words convey order and purpose, not just the before and/or after conditions. Often enough, an experienced technician would suggest an alternate means or order of making the required modifications, and even if I could not accept their suggestions, I made sure to let them know their inputs were appreciated. I would modify the instructions in writing so their actions were covered. It also helped for both of us to mutually understand and agree upon the same thing. Thankfully videos can combine imagery and verbiage: Google "making a custom length of unitrack" for a few example videos of modifying unitrack lengths.
Never used Unitrack before, but always wondered how the rails were secured to the "ballast" and ties. Now I know!
Wow. For all the years I have used their Unitrack, I have never noticed this feature. You have a great eye!
Worked up eight "homemade" Unitrack Unijoiner feeder pairs today. I plan to use these on my oval and reversing section, the primary portion of the layout. I want to get it up and running before I move on to the rest of the layout with its raised track. I'll drill holes for the turnout leads while I'm at it and drop these under the layout too. I got better at making these feeders, but it's tough, quite unlike the YouTube videos that make it look easy. To get the wire soldered to the joiner and have it all fit in the tiny confines of the Unijoiner housing is a challenge for me at least. However, at $4/PR for the Kato product, the DS&N RR saved some capital. Each feeder will terminate at a two wire barrier strip as seen, making it easy to power them up and to link them together when they feed the same block. I want to make life easy under the layout.
Yes, it looks great. I kind of miss constructing a layout more in a modular way (my current layout is not at all - it's as the crow flies) but the last major one I built in the seventies was and it was so easy to connect all the blocks together before they were separated with switches. I could at least run trains all over the layout. Doug
One simple thing I've learned to do is to toss a part number tag into the bags and jars I keep my parts in. This saves me from taking time to look up a part for reorder and from the uncertainty of mistakenly buying the wrong thing.
I still have a few, which I use in a similar fashion. They are great for track joiners, MT coupler parts, etc.
Me also have film canisters, plastic ones for me, great for N Scale nails, track joiners, misc. small parts, etc... I mean don't we all old dudes have them
Fair point! I just noticed the older, screw-on-lid canisters, in addition to the later, plastic ones.
Thanks for mentioning the seven-day pill cases. I have a couple big ones. Wish I would have kept the film cases. I was into that after the army. Even had some of the metal ones. Lately I was saving smaller pill bottles and labeling them as suggested. But I had to leave the junk in them when I turned them in. They want them clearly labeled.
I'm still (barely) on the young side of 60, but I don't want to start using medication containers for anything but medication. There will come a time when that won't work out well... Come to think of it, baby food jars are probably not that good an idea either, depending on how long I live. "So, Mr. Jones, your ER doctor and I need some more information to be able to help you. Were you trying to hurt yourself when you ingested the screw, two washers and a nut?"
