So I’m rethinking how I am building my inclines. I’ve been using 2 and 3 degree incline kits from Woodland Scenics with some success, but I really need 3.5 degree inclines to get the height that I am after, which they don’t make. I’ve seen a lot of layouts since I starting building my first layout, and people create the inclines with different techniques. I have also realized that in order to attach the chicken wire for plaster cloth to attach to, I probably need a 3.5" wide board under the 3" wide realtrax to make room for staples. Lastly, I really want to cut down on the noise, so I don’t want to set the track right on a piece of plywood that inclines. I’m thinking of using 1/4" masonite (hardboard) cut to the curves of the track layout, and a ceiling tile on top of that, and then the track. The tile and hardboard will be the same size, just stacked. The supports will be 2x4s spaced every 12" or so. I already have 2 sheets of the hardboard, but I guess just about anything with some flex and strength will work. The masonite that I have is super sense and hardened. I haven’t really seen it around the box stores since I picked it up a couple of years ago. Does anyone see a problem with this technique? It seems like a good way to get rid of my skewers too…
Three and a half degrees is getting a little steep. That’s 6.1 percent. Even 3 degrees is 5.2 percent. The conventional wisdom is that 4 percent (2.3 degrees) is the most that is generally practical. Are you sure you want to go that high? Is it possible that you are confusing degrees with percent?
I just looked on the Woodland Scenics website. Their inclines are specified in percent, not degrees.
My mistake. I did mean 3.5%, which is under the 4% cap. 4% is very steep in my mockup tests. 3.5" is enough to get a rise of 6" on my short layout.
Wes
Wes,
You should be good. I’m using 3/8" ply for my base and where I get ‘flex’ I just put a 1x3 on edge for ridgidity… works great. I’ll post some pics tonight of how I got everything attached. Also make sure you adhear the ceiling tiles to the base… I’m using Contact Cement I picked up at Home Despot. It says ‘low odor’ but this stuff made the whole house smell like contact cement for about 12 - 14 hours. It wasn’t real bad but it was enough to spark complaints from you-know-who. [;)] So I have to put off using this stuff till she goes away on business or it warms up to where I can open the windows over night.
Why not just use liquid nails or silocon, or even spray adhesive to hold the tiles to the base? Knowing you, there was a reason!
I don’t have the plywood sub-layer that you are gluing the tiles to, so mine will be connected right to the actual bench grid. I have 3 layers of .5" tiles, and it’s almost silent on the base level. I just didn’t want my inclines to be about the same loudness.
Wes,
Liquid nails goes on in a stream and I wanted complete coverage for a better bond. I bought a gallon of contact cement which will be more than enough to do the entire layout for $28.00. To do the entire layout with liquid nails or construction adheasive would have been much more expensive probably closer to $80 or $90. Silicon doesn’t adhere ceiling tiles and plywood. Spray adheasive… the walls are finished and I didn’t want to spend 2 days hanging plastic and covering the floor would have been tough… plus I already had track in place and didn’t want to remove all of it… spray adheasive is a real mess.
The contact cement goes on with a paint brush, so I just bought some cheap $3.00 brushes and I get very good coverage and adheasion.
I use regular wood glue, no smell. instead of ceiling tiles they have 4x8 sheets of sound absorbing board made by the same company. better deadening and cheaper
Will wood glue work for adhering the ceiling tiles to plywood? Also, any particular brand/stlye of ceiling tile you use, or is any cheap product sufficient?
Back in Pittsburgh my original layout got destroyed due to me not throwing the circuit breaker for the AC condenser. This caused the freon line to freeze up and condensation formed on the lines inside the house in the basement. These lines were above the layout and when the condensation dripped onto the layout it destroyed all the track, some of the cars, 1 engine, and 4 or 5 switches… about $1,000 - $1,500 in losses.
Well after that I dismantled the layout out, but everything - track, rolling stock, buildings, engines, accessories into plastic bins and put them into storage. Then I turned the framing into a large workbench so I could do some furniture construction.
Then I moved to Baltimore and for the first 2 years didn’t have a permanent layout, just used FasTrack to build Christmas layouts and carpet centrals.
Yes homasote would work too, but I don’t have a truck and Lowe’s/Home Despot don’t like cutting it with their saws, so I went with the easily transportable ceiling tiles. [;)]
Don,
I use Armstrong 2x4 ceiling tiles from Home Depot. They are $3.63 per sheet, or $36.30 per carton of 10. Ceiling tiles are more absorbant than homasote so I wouldn’t go the wood glue route. I do know that the painted surface doesn’t adhere well to the contact cement, the unfinshed side would be better. The problem with that is the painted side is the ‘pitted’ side, and having that face up would make scenicing more difficult.
The ceiling tiles did a wonderful job of deadening the sound for me…
Babysitter called off sick today, and it was my turn to stay home with Jack. He took at nap at 1pm, so I had a little time to work on the inclines. I actually glued something down! That’s a big step for me…