Fixing track down: pins, glue or screws

Benjamin | TrackDrawer.com · published 11 November 2026

Screws are the best choice for sectional track with a roadbed and for any layout you may want to take apart one day. Track pins suit track with open sleepers on wood, or on cork with wood underneath. Glue gives the quietest and firmest layout, but is the hardest to undo. Whichever method you choose: fix the track only after a few evenings of test running, work from the middle outwards and never force anything down.

When to fix the track

Fixing is the last thing you do with the track, not the first. Lay the layout loose first, run your shortest loco and your longest train, and improve whatever does not run well. How to get the plan onto the board and what to check before fixing is covered in laying track: from plan to baseboard.

A layout on the floor, or on a table that you clear away after playing, does not need fixing. There it is enough for the pieces to be properly joined. Fixing pays off as soon as the layout stays put, as soon as scenery or ballast is added, or as soon as a board is stood on edge or moved.

Screws

Many sectional track systems with a roadbed have prepared holes or spots in the roadbed for a small screw. Other track you screw through the sleepers.

• Small screws. Use thin screws with a small head that fit the hole without forcing it open.
• Not too tight. Tighten only until the track no longer shifts. A screw that is too tight pulls a plastic roadbed out of shape or presses a sleeper down. The rails then tilt slightly and the gauge changes.
• Pre-drill in hardwood. In a hard board a thin screw snaps or a sleeper splits. Drill a small pilot hole.
• Reusable. A screwed layout comes apart again with a screwdriver, without damaging the track. That makes screws ideal if you still expect to rebuild.

One drawback: a screw that is done up tight carries the running noise straight into the board. More on this in cork and sound deadening.

Track pins

Track pins are thin little nails that you drive through the holes in the sleepers. They are the classic way to fix track without a roadbed and flexible track.

• Do not drive them down onto the sleeper. Stop as soon as the head touches the sleeper. Go further and you bend the sleeper and pull the rails towards each other. The gauge gets too tight and wheels bind.
• Use a pin punch. With a small hammer and a pin punch, or a small tube over the pin, you do not hit the rails and you control the force better.
• Not every few centimetres. One pin every few sleepers is enough on a straight; on a curve or at a joint, use a few more.
• Cork alone does not hold. In cork without wood underneath a pin barely grips. Let it go through the cork into the board.
• Removing. A pin pulls out again with small pliers. That is easier than with glue, but sometimes leaves a hole or a damaged sleeper.

With flexible track, the pins also hold the shape of the curve. So only set them for good once the curve lies right; for the time being, put pins beside the sleepers, not through them.

Glue

Glue gives a firm, quiet layout with no visible fixings. You glue the track onto cork or another underlay, usually together with ballast.

• Use a flexible adhesive or wood glue. A thin layer under the sleepers is enough. A flexible adhesive passes on less noise than a hard one.
• Hold the track while the glue dries. With pins beside the sleepers or with small weights. Remove them once the glue has set.
• Ballast fixes it too. If you spread ballast and bond it with diluted glue, the track is fixed afterwards as well. On a ballasted layout, separate glue under the sleepers is often unnecessary.
• Hard to undo. Glued track and ballast come loose with water and patience if you used a water-based glue, but rarely without damage. So only choose glue once the plan is truly settled.

The three side by side

Combining is fine. Many modellers screw down the turnouts and the pieces at the board edges, and fix the rest with pins or glue. That way a turnout stays accessible should you ever need to replace it.

Fixing turnouts and joints

Turnouts deserve extra care. A turnout screwed too tightly onto a board that is not quite flat gets twisted. One blade then sits slightly higher and a light wheel runs off. So fix a turnout without force, then check that the blades still move freely and that the point motor pushes them fully into both end positions. Keep glue and ballast away from the blades and pivots. More causes of derailments are listed in train derails at the turnout.

Fix joints without strain as well. A joint you pull closed with a screw pushes another one open elsewhere. Work from the middle of the layout outwards and from the turnouts to the straights, so that small differences move towards the free ends instead of staying in a joint.

Track without a roadbed usually gets cork first; which kind of base that combines with best is covered in open frame or solid baseboard.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to fix sectional track with a roadbed?

On a permanent layout, yes, even if only with a few small screws. Otherwise the track shifts when you clean it or knock the board, and joints open up. On a floor layout it is not necessary.

How do I fix track temporarily?

With a few pins beside the sleepers, with drawing pins against the side of the roadbed, or with a strip of double-sided tape under a few pieces. That lets you test run without the track moving, and you can remove everything later without a trace.

Fixing track in TrackDrawer

When you fix part of your layout, you can lock the pieces that are already fixed in TrackDrawer with the button or the L key. Locked pieces can no longer be moved, rotated or deleted by accident while you work on the rest of the plan. The check reports a closure error if the plan does not close without strain: solve that before you drive the first screw. Enter your track and let the Auto-designer lay a plan that closes without strain.