Just wandering how i go about making the grade to raise my track. I see alot of people use styrofoam cut up in little blocks. So i would like to know whats the best way to do that. Thanks for your help.
Matthew:
Not having seen the same pictures you have I wonder about your little foam blocks thoughts.
Woodland Scenics (ws) sell incline strips in 1, 2, and 4 percent grades. They have curouts so they can be curved, and they should be glued down with white or yellow glue, not solvent glue which will eat them. Latex sealent also works well. From the side with cork and track on top this looks like small blocks. Then put cork on top, and then track with the same compound. Nails will not hold in foam.
For straight rises your could cut strips of blue or pink styrofoam and then rasp them down from one end to nothing at the other.
Hope this helps.
Dave
Depends on what type of benchwork and roadbed you are using. IMHO using risers coming up from the joists or cross pieces to bend the plywood roadbed up or down is the best.
If you’re going to use blue or pink foam (same stuff two different manufacturers, who use different colors) to make a ramp, there are a couple of techniques. You can cut or rasp it to make a ramp. If you do this, turn the foam over so you still have the clean, flat side to lay your track on.
Or, you can use open-grid benchwork and create risers, and put the foam on top of those. 2-inch foam can easily bridge a couple of feet of open space in HO or N.
The very best way is to use “cookie cutter” type benchwork and roadbed. You can adjust the grades by using risers and the vertical easments are built in with the plywood roadbed top. If you don’t know what “cookie cutter” benchwork is, Google is your friend.
Matthew, There is no such thing as “best”, only what works for you, because everything has its pros and cons. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is try it. The WS risers, inclines, and incline starters have the advantage of being virtually idiot proof and of ensuring a smooth grade, but they are costly, only come in fixed amounts, and are tricky to use for easements (not impossible, just tricky). And they don’t hold nails well. Extruded foamboard is the cheapest, and arguably the easiest to work with. It can be shaped to any slope desired, but it is difficult to get perfectly smooth slopes. It’s messy, too. Cookie cutter benchwork has the advantage of naturally forming easements as well as readily taking nails, however, it probably requires more skill and some real tools to do it right. Perhaps easiest of all is to purchase a pier set from Bachmann, Atlas or similar, but these need a lot of work before they look even vaguely prototypical. There are probably several methods I haven’t covered. Your layout, your choice. Hope that helped.
Thank you so much for your info. Prob best to just do the WS way. Being this is my first layout.
Yeah this is what i was talking about. I see this alot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLDXBu-CVmw
hi there
As far as I am concerned, Woodland scenic stuff isn’t always easy for the wallet. If you have the spare gold coins to purchase the risers go ahead but I would suggest 2% or 1%. 4% works, but wow it -is- steep.
Also, if you want to raise the track on a straight line it’s easier to just use plywood or MDF long stripe and make sure it has the right %. You can do the same thing for curves if you carefully cut your curve radius into plywood or mdf with a jigsaw. I like to give those raising curves a small bank degree tho, but I think it’s optional if you do not run your trains crazy fast they should stay on.
If you go for helix, there are plenty of documentations around regarding that topic too.
Thanks for the info. I think im gonna just try the WS kits. See what happens
WS kits good. I use them as well and I have no cookie cutter skills. Just keep some sanding/filling at the joints to make sure you don’t have step. Don’t put switches in inclines unless very carefully balanced.
Then you are fine.