I’m still a few weeks away from laying track on the new Rock Ridge 1891. But I foresee a problem. I have to lay out a perfect smooth 18" radius turn through a mountain pass.
Any ideas? I’ll be hand laying.
What are your obstacles at present? A rock cut, ridges? Is it not as simple as a nail and thread tied around a fine felt marker? Do the centreline, and also mark the radius at six or eight points…all intersecting ideally [:D]
Then, using the marked (nail driven in when measuring thread removed) centrepoint, and the several radii, use a steel ruler and draw two dots on either side of the centreline where you will drive shallowly a tiny finishing nail into each dot separated by the width of the track system you intend to use. Outer rail surfaces, that is. Then, lay out your ties in place and glue. Place pre-bent (close) rail over the ties, and have the curve conform to the two radii of finishing nails as guides. Check gauge, of course, before you drive your spikes. You will end up with a very accurate 18" curve. Or, just buy/make some templates and mark the path driving small nails for the eventual same purposes? I don’t know if the commercial one s have tiny holes for push pins or whatever…you may have to use a drill bit and make some.
cut a template out of cardboard
Build the track first and scenery last.
Dave H.
Overhead frame with a plum- bob to mark all points?[sigh]
Selector and Dave,
The obstacles you see are the obstacles I have. That is the exact place I am referring to.
Byron,
That is the missing link I was needing. I had thought as far ahead as buying 4 pieces of used EZ track to recreate the geometry, but I thought only of marking the foam/plaster on the edges. If I first transfer to cardboard, I can cut the centerline and trace a line for my roadbed.
Johnny,
A very creative solution.
Mouse:
I vote for the template.
Once you’ve marked the centerline accurately, using a track alignment gauge while spiking the rail should help keep the curve “perfect.”
Eighteen-inch radius is pretty sharp. If possible, use a spiral curve at the beginning and end to transition between straight and the 18" curve. Your trains will thank you.
Mark
Mark,
I’ve not seen that guage before. Looks cool. Now I just need some other stuff so don’t spend more on postage than product.
About the 18" curves. That curve has no fudge factor, but I will say the old-time 2-6-0’s don’t break a sweat on them. Neither do the 36 ft, and under cars.
That equipment will run fine on 15" radius turns. At least it does on mine, and, before anyone asks, it looks good doing it. [:)]
Have you solved the quick sand problem…?
Almost lost a $200 hand cart.
Dang. Somebody’s gonna have to go back to town and get a whole ___ pot full of dimes.
I use those Ribbonrail gauges for my own trackwork. A word of caution - they’re not a panacea for laying curves. They allow quite a bit of variation in the radius (they fit not-quite-snugly between the rails, which results in a surprisingly large radius tolerance, going from binging on one side to binding on the other) of the curve, so you still have to be very careful. They work well enough on flex track, but I’m not sure they would help all that much when handlaying track, as to get the gauge to fit between the rails means the first one must already have been laid.
You might be better off just marking the radius of the outside rail on the roadbed, then be very careful in following that curve precisely while laying the rail. The inside rail will take care of itself, pretty much - at least, that was my experience when I hand laid track.
I lay both rails at once. I usually spike the rail about every fourth or fifth tie, but I do it in three stages. The first stage I spike every 16th tie. The second time, I spike every 8th tie. The third time I complete the spiking. Use two or three three-point track gauges at a time. Spiking in stages helps keeps the curve smoother/consistent. Like when driving do
Addendum to my previous note. Some things that are second-nature are easy to forget when giving advice.
Place two of the track gauges on either side of the immediate place to be spiked, with the two-point side of the gauge on the outside rail. I use the third track gauge at a point midway from the last spiking spot and the new spiking spot. This assures the track is kept in gauge when one has skipped over the every-fourth-tie spiking spot when in the early phase of the track spiking.
Mark
[:O] I thought I had weird problems.