Custom Length Bachmann EZ Track

[@stevehughes5810]

I did a small layout in Bachman track, but was about 3 curved sections short that went into a tunnel to finish. I had some Kato Track and did the same thing. Cut One Kato curve in half and one Bachmann curve in half and used regular rail joiners to connect the two halves. This gave me two curved pieces that had a Bachmann connection on one end and a Kato connection on the other end. The Kato Track is not as high as Bachmann so in the tunnel I added a few layers of masking tape on the deck to raise the Kato track to the right height. I also glued in the underneath of the adapter track pieces two short pieces of bamboo wooden skewers to act as stiffeners. Probably over kill, but you can never over engineer anything. The Fact that Kato track and Bachmann track looks a little different did not matter to me since the tunnel hid that.

[@blu958]

Great … Right at time your video popup. I was facing same problem. What a great time. Thank you so much

[@markswiatly9613]

I could have have used this about a year ago as I was putting together my layout. I ended up buying a couple of packages of their short track bundles in order to make things fit. Like you I can't stand the extra connections. In those areas I ended up hot gluing the sections to my layout to keep them steady, but I really like what you did here. Thanks.

[@Spawned-in60]

Well done …helpful. I seem to have a growing collection of EZ track & this helps with larger , more complex layouts.

[@garyolsen3409]

I have this exact problem right now and a very expensive miter saw, so with your video I'm in great shape. Thanks.

[@davidking3918]

Neat that the rails will slide out to cut to custom length.i have atlas track I cut and file a lot and place ties where needed,your video was very helpful, thinking about going to track with road bed built in.thank you.

[@beetle442002]

I understand the "adding an extra inch" to your tape measure or some call it "killing an inch" I often do it to make measuring easier. The movement in the tip of the tape measure is on purpose to account for the thickness of the metal tip. If it is "hooked" on something the tip slides out and the the measurement is from the inside of the tip. If you are measuring "against" something the tip slides in (supposedly the with of the tip) and the measurement is from the outside of the tip and includes the thickness of the tip. I hope I explained it in such a way that it is easy to understand. Thanks for making your video!

[@tommurphy4307]

just ignore the tip and use measurement from the 1-inch marking. i hope i explained that simply....

[@TheNorthwestWind]

good info

[@KrC-1207]

Thanks for posting your video. Now I know I can customize my Bachmann track to any lengths.

[@trainsthings8363]

I am like most, I do not balance my bachmann track. But because of constraints of my train room I have ran into issues with trying to get my layout to fit correctly. This is a great explanation and I think I will give it a try.

[@elleryparsons2433]

I Would Balance to Be On the Safe Side and Yes I Have no problem. I never Used a Ruler Every thing Goes Smooth.

[@deepsleep7822]

Tried this recently and it worked great. - except. 😊 The first section of track, the rails slid easily, made my cuts, etc, no problem. Second attempt, couldn’t get the rails out of section of track. That’s odd. Tried a 3rd, a 4th and so on. Finally found a section where the rails would slide out. The take away: you may need to go through a few sections of track before finding a “volunteer”. I also used plastic glue/cement to rejoin the new sections. - worked great. Thanks for the vid.

[@tim8166]

Excellent idea, thank you!

[@CamperJohn]

Very informative...thanks for sharing.

[@djjoeydpr]

Thank you very much for this tutorial!

[@iannarita9816]

I would like to think this will also work with Atlas TruTrack and Kato UniTrak I've been thinking about this for some time with Atlas TruTrack. Thx

[@Pauley_in_GP]

Great job! Looks like this method would also work on Kato Unitrack. My one suggestion would be to use a good steel rule for stuff like this. Save the tape measure for longer measurements where you can hook the end over an edge (i.e., measuring plywood).

[@johnyvico]

How long or far can you extend the tracks before losing power

[@randywright6285]

Nice! I'm getting ready to do an EZ Track layout and can see where this would be useful. Will this work on curves? I have a situation where I need a 1/3 length of 22" radius track and Bachmann does not make that.

[@kellerrailroad8670]

I think so. I am in the process of making a video showing if radius corners can be done.

[@VintageRoadRail]

Great video, very helpful. Was thinking while watching you use the tape measure, for such a short length of track wouldn't a ruler be easier?

[@kellerrailroad8670]

You are absolutely correct. A ruler would be a lot easier. But since I am in construction, I use a tape measure all the time. So it's kind of my go-to for measuring. I need to use a ruler more often. 🙂

[@coky5617]

excelent

[@MichaelJordan-cn3rr]

would you use this method for 18R curve?

[@elleryparsons2433]

I Use Bachmann and I would Rather Get enough to Make Sure I have enough I don’t need To do Any cutting my Tracks are Right on No problem.

[@elleryparsons5766]

I Use Bachmann And Never Have Any problems With them.I will Never Modify Like this I am gonna Use what I Have And it Works out Perfect.My wife has Bachmann as well And She Loves it as Well.

[@tommurphy4307]

why don't you just thank the contributor rather than telling everyone what you WON'T do??

[@elleryparsons2433]

I Don’t glue My wife’s and My tracks.

[@elleryparsons5766]

Ballast On Bachmann Not Happening on My Layout.

[@tommurphy4307]

the molded-in ballast on the EZ track looks terrible- it would be simple to do a convincing paint job with an airbrush- or is that something you can't figure out?