Please excuse my ignorance…what is handlaid track and how does it differ from sectional and flex…thanks! Shawn
Handlaid track is simply what the name implies. First you lay the ties then spike the rails to the ties just like the real thing. The selling point of handlaid is you have more freedom and can lay your turnouts out to fit the locale. With flex or sectional you are limited to the turnouts available to you.
Weeeelllll, …not really. You can use flex-track in addition to hand-laid turnouts, and still get full flexibility. A purist might quibble, but there is no reason you can’t speed up your track-laying with sectional and fit a hand-laid turnout to suit your style.
Shawn,
First Welcome to the Forum!! I didn’t see you joining back in Aug.
I hand lay, a lot of modelers don’t because it can be slow. Laying ties, waiting, spiking rails and hoping you don’t split to many ties. However, having said this I find it enjoyable and gives me a feeling of pride. Give it a try as it allows (as stated already) many different options for your track design. Whatever you do enjoy and have FUN.
I hand laid “miles” of HO TRack. Bought ties from Clover house and dyed them in 4 differant shades, Black for new ties 2 shades of brown and some gray. Why, because most railroads track looked that way because they only replaced the rotted ties. I then made a tie laying jig. A 1 x 4 about 3 feet long to which I glued a drawing of prototype tie spacing. I then glued half tie height spacers between each tie smaller than the space. The dyed ties were put in a brown paper bag and shaken to get random colors. The rest is fast and easy. Simply lay the ties in the slots. The slots are wide enough so that all ties are not straight. The same can be said for the width. Now you have 3 feet of random colored ties at random positions end wise and length wise. Here is the best part. Lay a strip of masking tape over the ties adhesive side down and run your fingers along it to insure adhesion. Then you just pick up the whole strip of ties and lay them in what ever glue you use I used White Elmer’s) and press down to insure a level railbed. I used a Kadee rail spiker which is essentially a staple gun that cuts the staple into two spikes and drives them in to the tie. Wait until the glues before you pull of the masking tape and pull sideways, not up. I weather the rail first and VOILA, I have great looking track at a reasonable cost. Try it you’ll like it.
BigRusty,
How do you weather your rail? With Paint? With Rail Weathering Solution?