Flex track
Sooner or later no catalog piece fits: the transition between two track ends that don't line up, or the fitting piece that has to be exactly 137 mm long. That's what flex track is for — the only track whose shape you determine yourself.
Like any track, it comes from the quick-pick bar; the button Flex track jumps there. Not every module contains one. Freshly placed, it has the shape it had in the module. What becomes of it is decided by the Flex context menu:
| Entry | Result |
|---|---|
| Convert to Bezier | freely shapeable, with handles |
| Replace with curve… | an arc with Radius and Angle |
| Replace with straight… | a straight with Length |
Any shape can be converted back into any other.
Bending freely
The converted track shows three handles at each end:
| Handle | |
|---|---|
| Square | the endpoint |
| Circle next to it | how far the curve follows the end's direction before it turns away |
| Circle further along | rotates the direction the track runs out of the end |
Drag an endpoint onto a free track end and it snaps onto it, taking on that end's direction. So you don't have to hit the angle for a kink-free transition yourself — snapping sets it for you.
Lengthening a straight
A straight flex track — freshly placed, or made with Replace with straight… — shows a double arrow at each end. Drag one along the track to lengthen or shorten it; the other end stays where it is. The end never leaves the track's line, wherever the pointer wanders, so the straight stays straight while it snaps to a track end in line with it.
With numbers
The free-form shape has no radius you could write down. If you need a number, enter the shape via Replace with curve… or Replace with straight…. The dialog opens with the current values, so you correct them instead of typing from scratch.
A new arc is almost never as long as what it replaces. The end that's attached to another track stays put; otherwise it's the first end. So build a fitting piece starting from the side that's already in place.
Smallest curve radius
If a flex track is bent tighter than allowed, a red bar appears over the spot, in the plan and in 3D, though not on printouts.
The allowed radius is set in Plan Properties: 762 mm by default for H0, the figure for long-distance coaches. Short cars manage 360 mm too; 0 turns the warning off. Flex → Smallest curve radius… overrides the value for a single track — for an industrial siding, say.
The circle segment button doesn't draw track
New Circle Segment is a drawing tool. Its arc is a line in the plan, nothing a train could run on.
Closing a gap
Select the two rails whose free ends face each other and right-click. Two entries close the gap between them, and one undo takes the result back:
- Auto-flex lays flex track: a straight and an arc, an S of two arcs where the ends are offset, or a U where they point the same way. The entry is only offered when there is such a path. It keeps to the plan's smallest curve radius if it can; where that leaves no path, it bends as tight as the system's own curves go, and the red bar shows where. The flex comes from the active modules, or from any loaded module that has one — Märklin C has none of its own.
- Auto-close with pieces… closes with the straights and curves of the active modules only. A dialog lists the combinations found, fewest pieces first, each with how far its last joint misses the other rail; the gap is closed when that is within 3 mm. The plan shows the selected one; ◀ ▶ or the arrow keys step through them. No combination within that, and the entry says so: try Auto-flex, or move one end.
Both lay flat. Where the two ends differ in height, give the new track its grade afterwards with Embankments and ramps.
See also
- Embankments and ramps: giving a flex track a grade
- Dimensions and measuring