Electrical Ties for Track Hold Down

John....As far as drilling through everything in order to run wire, I bought a few Vermont American drill bits in various diameters. They are available in 12" lengths and worked great when I needed holes for wires on my layout. Worked so good in fact that it was a good thing that my dog was laying down in her crate when the bit went through the layout and then through the top of her crate which is under my layout!

I did that with my O gauge LIONEL tubular layout.  To get a "drill bit" small enough to go thru the track tie hole and long enough to go thru the foam and the plywood platform, I sharpened a piece of heavy coat hanger and put it in the drill.  I like the zip ties a lot.  It may be a tad more difficult than narrow screws but when it's done it's done (and easily undone if need be).

Why drill a hole in the tie?  Can you just loop the ziptie over a tie and pull it down and in.  Hey Strogey I "Googled" those drill bits and could not find them.  Great idea.  Is there a link you have?

John,
I know it's money under the bridge but it was wasted on the homosote. If you've got all that foam you didn't need the homosote. Lowes has the longer drill bits you want .
Don't use the cheap wire ties with the plastic lock inside, use either 3m or Thomas& Betts(Electrical supply) with the little razor blade inside so you can get them tight.

Snug em down with your hand then give them a tug with a pair of pliers and cut the excess off.leave about 2 inches of excess as a safety . If you cut em off close later you'll find out what it's like to have stitches in your head when you get cut on one of them.
Measure the wire tie so you know what drill bit to get.
Drill on both sides of the tie it's just as easy and you won't weaken your track ties.
Before you make any big purchases ask here first .It'll save you money.

David

I've used them on my last 2 layouts, work great.

Lowes sells long shank bits, you'll probably need either a 3/16" or 1/4" bit (so the zip-tie will go thru without binding).  Drill holes on both sides of the tie you want to hold down, insert the zip-tie from beneath, loop it over the RR tie, then back thru the other hole and then into the zip-tie.

You can actually put enough force on the zip-tie when pulling it to deform the track tie (and probably the foam) so do it gently.  It doesn't have to be real snug and you can always go back and tighten them if you don't like the result.

You'll probably have to use 2 zip-ties if you're going thru a lot of foam and homasote and any other material you've built your layout from.

Good thing is you can cut them off with a pair of wire cutters and you won't split any ties like I did using screws.

I have 1 piece of Atlas flex track on my layout and I managed to pop a couple of the plastic RR ties away from the rail by tugging too hard on the zip-tie.

Just go slow when snugging them down.

Not a bad idea. You can do a lot with a construction adhesive. I currently have a Locktite PL brand on the shelf. These tubes require a caulking gun for applications.  A small amount applied to the bottom of the ties and held in place with cable ties or a weight, it should be secure by the next morning.  The cable tie could be painted over or removed at that point.