Gargraves retaining clips

Ive never tried those or screws. I drill a 1/16" hole in the ties and use an 18 gauge brad nail and sink the head just below the surface of the tie. That way when the track is painted, ballasted, and weathered, you can't see any fasteners. If you don't drill, the ties will split. Good thing is, if you need to pull the track back up, it easily pops up over the brads. It's more than secure, and once you ballast the track, it's not going anywhere. You can't see any fasteners in the track. 

That's some of the nicest trackwork I've seen.

Thanks for the reply and suggestion...   I do pre-drill the hole as you describe, but find in more cases than not, my ties still split when screwing down the track.  I will look into the brads to see if that will solve my problem with the splitting ties.

Agreed with the prior post, your track looks great!

I pre-drill and use Atlas track screws, which are black, on my Gargraves track.  They are invisible, make it easy to take up track or replace a turnout, if needed and they don't split a pre drilled tie.  The layout has been in place for fifteen years and we also use the same technique on our modular "O" layout.

Thanks Goody, I think that is the way I'll go as I already a good supply of screws like you describe!

one idea is to drill 2 holes and use the small 3M black cable ties with the razor blade
it won't split the wood tie but if you pull em down with a pair of pliers they won't go any where.
David

I've only split 1 or 2 ties in laying my GarGraves track.  Their video explains the process.  If I remember it correctly, you want to drill a 1/16" hole all the way thru the track and roadbed (cork or vinylbed) into the subroadbed (wood).  Then I used a countersunk bit with 1/8" or 3/16" bit to drill about halfway through the tie.  Then use a GarGraves track screw (black about 1" long) to carefully tighten down the track to the roadbed.  If in doubt, check their video.  The technique works.

I tried the clips - they were a major PITA.  Or (more likely) I was doing something wrong.

George

Good idea, DPC!

George, I did all of the above except for the countersink, maybe that was where I went wrong and split so many ties.  Agreed on the clips being a major PITA! 

laidoffsick, really like your idea. I never liked the track screws. I'll be using your system on the new layout. Thanks, Don

Gene,

Actually I thought about it a bit more.  You use the 1/8" bit to drill thru the tie (but not the underlying roadbed).  Then you can used the countersink bit.  Or adjust the depth of the countersunk bit and drill the entire hole thru the tie with it.

Sorry about the confusion, it's been a few years since I did this.

George

I use GG retaining clips to fasten my Ross track. Clips are mounted over stringers beneath the rails and screwed in place. No holes drilled through ties for screws, brads, etc., therefore no chance of splitting ties. Ballast covers clips.

Works great for me.

Mike

For the record, the track retaining clips worked great for me when I used Gargraves track on a prior layout.  I'm completely baffled why a couple folks here consider them a PITA.    On the contrary, they're quite straightforward to use... and as an added bonus, I found they help ensure a much quieter railroad when used with good roadbed material.

Definitely recommend them if you have the Gargraves track with stringers built it.

David

David, for me, the clips are a problem due to my hands...   they are not quite as nimble as they once were.  What I found is that if I use some needle nose pliers to place the clip in place, things work a whole better for me, but still very time consuming. 

No problem George, thanks for the followup!

Once the track is ballasted, screws are not necessary.