Bob, and anyone else at the CTT homefront. On the layout you have built for the office, I had noticed you used caulk for the Fastrack. I had this same idea, on top of the “Sill Seal” blue foam over pink extruded foamboard. I was wondering how the noise level is? Do you think caulking may be a big factor in reducing the noise? Any other tid bits not published that you’ld like to share. I am at the stage of finishing wiring and would like to do as much as possible to reduce noise, and make my pike as good as it can be.
Keen observation there, Dennis. We used the caulk mostly to fill the void left between the elevated (by Woodland Scenics Track-Bed) FasTrack and the pink foam insulation board. However, we found that sealing this gap not only helped secure the track and provide a shelf for scenery, but it also reduced track noise. I can’t say there are any other tidbits to reveal, but the multiple layers of scenery also helped baffle some noise. Kent
Kent, thanks for your response and information. I believe that once I have completed all wiring, I will do the same. I will add some loose ballast to the caulk prior to it’s drying, of course that is with using a dark grey caulk.
I like the layout except I do not understand the usefullness of the siding where the log car and water stand is located. With the log car in the way the engine can’t get to the water and the siding is too short to move a car towards the water stand. A siding for the engine to get water but not good for anything else, unless I am missing something.???
I initially struggled with what to do in this area. The log dump and log pond (construction details soon to appear in CTT) are essential to any logging operation, so I knew I needed a place for these features off the main line route. But then I thought this siding could do more for the layout. I thought that adding an opposing leg to the siding would complete a section of track that could be used to expand or link the railroad to another layout or layout extension in the future (wink, wink). For now, this section of track is used as an very small engine terminal – I’ll share how to electrically isolated this section of track in a forthcoming issue of CTT, along with other insights into the construction of our Cascade & Timber Trail Ry. Although the 0-6-0 is small, we do need to first remove the operating log car in order to move the loco to the terminal. However, if we substitute an Industrial Rail non-operating skeleton log car for the operating Lionel log car, the log dump area will easily accommodate a car and loco combo. I’m genuinely curious to know – how would you guys handle this area differently? Kent
A later addition makes sense. I would have placed the switch two sections forward(page63)making one longer siding. This was not a criticism, I just could not understand the logic for the way it was set up.