Hello Folks,
After many posts of starting over and hiring someone to build my layout for me as discussed in previous posts, I’ve come to a great compromise…hire what im not good at doing myself and do what is fun. So the benchwork admittingly was built by someone else…but now we are finally on to the fun part…tracklaying where I get involved.
The Schematics:
HO 8’x13’
Setting: Urban modern era 90s and newer freelanced but loosely based on Chicagoland
Regg
As you can see Homasote is the sub roadbed I like…This is in my friend’s garage. Again he built the benchwork and picked up the lumber, material etc…
Now we’re getting to the good stuff…track laying
Regg05:
Looks like great progress!
If I can make a small suggestion, on the right side of the center aisle, where you go from two tracks to three tracks, you have built in an ‘S’ curve with the turnout that leads to the third track. That could be eliminated with the use of a double curved turnout installed at the end of the curve that leads into the triple tracks.
If my description doesn’t make sense let me know and I will post a track diagram.
Dave
Regg05:
Here is a track plan for the suggestion I made about using a curved turnout. No ‘S’ curve and it gives you a much longer third track:
(Sorry Regg05, I managed to delete the photo by mistake. If you want me to re-do it let me know).
Dave
Is that elevated section just homasote, or homasote on top of plywood? If just homasote - it WILL sag. Homasote is just too flexible to use by itself in sheet form - it’s OK to make splines out of it, they end up pretty stiff and need only normal risers, but flat areas should always be supported by something more rigid like plywood.
–Randy
Just wondering something, if you are using cork as the roadbed, why the Homasote???
Congratulations, I see some nice work there. I do feel, however, that you might wish to have some sway braces supporting your long legs. Blocking won’t be enough to keep you or another adult from doing some serious damage to the layout if he/she stumbles against it.
Dave
I do like the curve turnout suggestions but what radius would I need and how would it necessarily give me a longer 3rd siding as opposed to what I already have?
Randy
Hmmm didn’t really think about the Homasote sagging all that much with only a double track on top of it that weighs ounces. Will the sagging come from moisture or humidity over time and if i painted it so to speak would that eliminate that problem because I’ve sort of sealed that off from said moisture?
RRinker
I chose Homasote because that was what I used on my first layout and it makes it deadens the sound as opposed to having a table top made of plywood which even with cork as the roadbed would make the layout loud and this was when I only had DC trains…Plywood seems to makes the trains reverbrate louder IMHO. Homasote is also lighter and makes the layout easier to move should I need to do so.
Selector
Yes I will brace the legs more as the table isn’t as sturdy as I like plus I have it on wheels so I definitely want to make it able to hold up in case I, myself bump into it.
Homasote tends to sag under its own weight unless well braced. Sealing it (but remember, latex paint doesn’t ‘seal’ anything) will help keep it from weakening if you use typical water-based scenery and ballasting techniques - wet homasote is about as stiff as a wet newspaper, but when it dries out it’s back to normal.
That’s why the ‘traditional’ way to do things is first put down plywood for strength and then add a layer of homasote to make it quiet. Two different density materials togehter tend to be quieter than either of the two alone, at least as long as the layers aren’t mechanically attached (no screws or nails - glue or caulk works well). If you then put cork roadbed between the track and homasote the only noise you hear should be the motors and gears.
–Randy
Hi Regg05:
To find out what radius will work best you need to measure the track radii that you have already laid and then see how close you can come to that with a curved turnout. You will be comparing the inside curve on the turnout to the existing curve in the track. You are not likely to get an exact match so you will have to play with the track position a bit to make things fit. If you use a Peco curved turnout you can download a print of the turnout from their website so you can see where/if it will fit without having to spend any money on the turnout. I’m not sure if other manufacturers offer the same service.
Here is the Peco diagram website:
http://www.peco-uk.com/page.asp?id=pointplans
If you look at the track plan I posted you will see that the turnout has been moved to the top of the curve whereas your current setup has the turnout after the curve. The exact position of the turnout is hard to determine without actually having the turnout plan laid over the existing track. It may be right at the top of the curve as I have shown it or it might work better further into the curve. The absolute most important point is that there can’t be any kinks or sudden changes in the curves, unless you want to spend all of your time re-railing cars.[swg]
The length of the third siding will increase because the turnout leading in to it is being moved from after the main curve to the top of the curve, or there abouts.
If my explanations aren’t clear let me know and I will post a more elaborate track diagram. If you can tell me what the current radii of the curves and the turnout size are I can produce a reasonably exact track plan. I’m using 3rdPlanIt software by the way. I don’t recommend that you buy it because your track plan is already mostly determined.
Dave
As others have said, your sections of homasote should really be plywood, with the homasote laminated on top.
It looks like you can unscrew the homasote and lay each section onto a sheet of ply as a template and trace before cutting.
if I were to attach plywood underthe homasote isn’t that going to affect the grades and as for the over and under concept will i have clearance issues with Locomotives and autoracks, Superliners, or intermodals passing underneath?
Regg
It’ll change clearances, not not the grade because EVERYTHING will be raised by the same amount - not just the cookie cutter part should have ply under it, so should the flat areas. You may have to increase the grade if the new clearance isn’t enough.
–Randy
I agree with Douglass and rinker. Gotta have the plywood for strength.
ON a side note: I love that old Rusty Wallace wall hang. Looks like it’s from 91-92? 
Saw this tropic before but didn’t digest the details. It does look like the layout is homasote on an open grid bench. As others have pointed out, not only is it going to sag but I know from experience that homasote also isn’t “true” and even, or can’t be counted on to stay that way. I warps or is wavy or bowed.
Most homasote I’ve purchased wasn’t perfectly flat, so I’ve always assumed the only way I could use homasote and have the track be even and not like a roller coaster was to mounted it (Sandwich it) to a nice flat true piece of plywood. I use 1-inch #6 drywall screws to attach the homasote to the wood. I use more screws where the homasote bows up and away from the wood - that pulls the upward bow out of the homasote and flattens it down to the wood. Here is a photo showing the sandwich of homasote to wood on the upper and lower levels of my layout - in-progress:
(if you look closely at the top layer in the photo, you can see an upward bow in the homasote. The photo was taken before the homasote was screwed down flat. Even after that I did some sandning to get it as perfectly flat as I could. Bows can cause train cars to uncouple due to mismatched couplers - one of the major bad things about uneven subroadbed.)
If you have layed your homasote without an underlayment of wood, it will likely sag or not stay even under the track, especially long term. You have to have a firm foundation - thats a MAJOR element in a layout. You would be wise to rebuild it with plywood underneath or it may not go well in the future.
One of the things we did to maybe remedy this was to attach wood bracing every 6 to 1’’ apart and to screw them to the wood. Would that likely help?
Also ran into another problem. Just happen to bring my longest cars on the layout to test out the curves before they become permanently attached and the cars rub against each other. I didn’t think this would be a problem since I measured 2’’ in from center rail but then again these were Walther’s 85’ Superliners and and Autoracks. The trains didnt derail though even on the innermost passing siding which is 24’'radius.
Regg
Best solution would be to pull up the homasote and get some good nice flat half-inch plywood and cut it to fit under the homasote and re-install. I can’t in good conscience recommend anything short of that and expect the layout to remain “solid” and even/true. The nature of Homasote is that it seems to warp or bow on it’s own, so it needs to be sandwiched to make sure it is straight and even - or to pull out any warp that may exist.
As you’ve discovered, 2-inch centers in HO is really only good for straight sections. Curves in the 24 to 30 inch range need wider spacing to allow long cars to pass adjacent tracks. At 30-inches, I’d suggest a minimum space of 2 1/4 inches track centers and at 24-inches radius, it would be wise to go wider, 2 1/2 inches would be a good number to go with.
I would strongly suggest getting a copy of John Armstrongs Track Planning for Realistic Operation before going further. It’s an excellent read and includes a chapter on minimums and how track design affects various types and lengths of cars etc, as well as many other helpful things.
Just a update in progress
