ok here’s the question . When laying flex track ( not sectional) on plywood benchwork ( cork roadbed )how straight is the straight aways suppose to be. Are they suppose to be poker straight or perhaps eye ball straight where one can say ya thats a pretty straight track compared to getting your chin on the table and looking down the rail to see if its perfectly straight? I realize that coming out of switches the flex has to match the switch curve for 1-2" or straight thru of switch there too for 1-2" to keep the train from lurching and derailing. And is there a difference between a straight track in a yrd compared to a straight track on a straight away.
I know there will be different opinions on this and I’d like to hear them all. I’m wandering this because I myself would kinda think that a poker stright straight away may look unnatural where as a bit of a bob or a weave say 1/16" out ( and I’m not talking about kinks in the rail )may look more natural.
eyeball straight
When I’m laying straights, I use a straight track gauge because a straight is supposed to be straight (reference: the Department of Redundancy Department). Even then, I’m sure there are imperfections, but the result is eyeball straight for sure.
That said, if I am looking at a long straightaway in a track plan, I’ll instead use an extremely large curve or “curve by eye” to break it up and make it look better.
I would get down at eye level after I had lined up the pieces, and look back along what I had already fixed into place. If everything looks very straight at eye level, then it IS straight. I wouldn’t put any deviations that are at all visible for HO scale, unless you are talking about a secondary line seldom used, or a spur into an industrial site. That track is for slow speed movement. For the main, keep it nice and straight.
Many articles in Model Railroader often suggest a divergence from dead straight if you have a long run (probably 10’ or more). Some say to make a plausable reason for a variance such as a small hill, a body of water, a valley, a rock formation, etc. This supposedly gives the impression of a longer run and adds realism. Just another opinion.
Ron K.
CSX through my city uses laser equipment to make track straight, and boy it sure is! But your eyeball is very close to perfection if you’re typical. I once made a jig out of two yard sticks glued together so the thing could be placed over my n scale flex straights. The track fit tightly between the wood pieces, forcing the rails to be straight, and it worked great, but I don’t think that’s really necessary.
I think the same as Ron. If you have small deviations rather than real straight, I think it looks better and more realistic.
Simisal
I think if there is a “reason” for a gentle curve, that can look great. But if a track is “supposed” to be straight in the real world, I think we should work hard to make it as straight as possible on the layout. The eyeball along the rails is really good.
Even a small amount of wiggle back and forth looks bad on the model, I think.
Jon
There is something that looks “right” about a train travelling down a really straight track, with all the cars lined up correctly. Of course, my layout is only 5x12 feet, so my straightaways aren’t very long, but I do try to get them straight (with a long carpenter’s square) where they’re supposed to be.
Stop by your local, neighborhood railroad overpass and take a look down the tracks. They will look very straight to you, and even the curves will be smooth and regular.
Viewing from an overpass gives you about the same view as you get on your layout, so if the prototype looks really, really straight, that’s what you want your model to look like, too.
Yard tracks are sometimes not as straight as mainline tracks, but the railroads make an effort to get them straight. Yard tracks probably see more action than mainline tracks in terms of car movements over the rails, so the prototype railroads make the effort to avoid possible derailments in their yards.
Get the tracks as straight as possible and use detailing to give them the look of the prototype, such as well-maintained mainlines with perfectly groomed ballast and yard tracks that are buried up to the bottom of the rails with ballast, dirt, weed, etc.
You don’t want derailments any more than the real railroads do.
Darrell, straight and quiet…for now
That depends on what type of terrain you are trying to model. If you are trying to give the impression of a mountain railroad, then I feel that all track, even “straight” track, should have some degree of curvature to it. If, on the other hand, you are trying to model the flat lands of the midwest, southwest or New Jersey, then make your straight track straight as an arrow.
Like artists, we model railroaders are trying to represent a much larger reality in a confined space. Often we need to subtly exaggerate those elemets that reinforce the image we are trying to convey to our viewers.
Cheer,
George
Straight track should be straight, I use a 4 foot steel straight edge. Curves should be smooth, and even. I use the “bent stick method” for joining the curves and straights.
Nick Brodar
I model branch lines and smaller, and when I look at the prototype, it is so crooked I wonder how the trains stay on. I use eyeball straight but keep it crooked enough so it does not look like the UP main line. I have to keep the speed down, but on these logging and mining spurs it is slow anyway. I think it all looks better this way.
So, it seems as if there is a consensus that highspeed rails should be very straight for the sake of rolling stock, their contents, and for pax cars and their contents. [;)] A rail line won’t be in business for long if it delivers damaged goods late. Keep your main straight.
Do as you wish for your sidings, team track, etc. They can be a bit funky, and switchers will look kinda cool ambling along them.
it all make scence [:)]
George makes a few good points here. The first point, which I don’t entirely agree with, is that mountain railroads couldn’t lay track straight because of the terrain. Having been through Glenwood Canyon, I can verify that at least some mountain railroads built arrow straight tracks at every opportunity.
The second point, which I totally agree with, and which also modifies the first point, is that we modelers must fit large scenery into small spaces, also known as ‘selective compression’. Well, if you ‘selectively’ compress buildings, roads, distances between points, etc., then by definition, you must ‘selectively’ compress the TRACKS, too, and, consequently, the variations from truly straight. Where this modifies the first point is that mountain railroads also must be selectively compressed, thereby forcing those slight and minor track variations into a shorter span in order to look more prototypical.
That’s why I say that George makes some good points. Ultimately, because of this compression, you might want to lay a few longer sections of nearly arrow-straight tracks, and take a few liberties with some of the shorter stretches and sidings. You can strike a balance between the two, and more accurately portray your model railroad in
Darrell,
That is exactly the point I was trying to make – modification and all.
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George
Thanks guys
All points taken seriuosly
Thanks again[:)]
For the best looks AND the smoothest operations:
All straight sections should be laser straight. I use a long straight edge to keep it straight.
All curves should be intentional and purposeful. A casual wiggle in the track looks like someone did a poor job laying out the track.
All curves should be smooth and graceful. Easements combined with smooth and continuous curves look a lot better that jerky uneven curves. I use a curve template to check the curves. Jerky curves are the same as poorly laid straight sections.
Mark in Utah
Here is something else to consider if your layout is located in a room that is subject to temperature and humidity variations and your plywood is not sealed against moisture absorption. The unsealed plywood will expand and contract with temperature/humidity changes. On a long straight-a-way, this can cause either the rails to break away from the ties or the track to kink and bend out of shape. A very slight curve on a straight away will allow the track to adjust to this roadbend length variaton without any ill effect since the track will either straight out or curve slightly more to adjust.