Milestone reached in layout construction, I put down the first lengths of flex track last night. All the benchwork for the round-the-walls layout is up. Made the shelf brackets, the plywood tables, found the studs (electronic stud finder) , sank the drywall screws thru the brackets into studs. Shelves made up from 1/2" plywood and 1 by 4 lumber, glued, sanded, painted to match the room. A layer of 2 inch blue foam cut to fit the shelves, beveled, and stuck down with latex caulk. Came out level, all way round the room, and doesn’t sag anywhere. Awesome.
I wanted roadbed that would take track nails, and that means wood. Plywood is too hard, the glue layers will bend the track nails. Cork is too soft, the track nails pull out.
To get 1/4" wood for the roadbed, the newly acquired Craigslist bandsaw was able to resaw ordinary 3/4 inch pine into 1/4 inch slabs. Used a sharp blade, widest the machine will accept (1/2" for my saw). Made a fence from 3/4" plywood and c-clamped it to the bandsaw table. Feed slowly. A new blade will cut straight without drift. Straight and standard curves are simple to cut. For the fancier trackwork, easements on curves, turnouts and such, lay out the track full scale on poster board. Then cut the track shape out with sissors and use as a template.
Once cut, bevel the edges with a router, mounted in a table. Made my router table up from scrap plywood and except for amplifying the scream of the router, works well. Stick the newly made roadbed down with PL300 Foamboard adhesive. $2.99 a tube at the hardware store, and it says “Foamboard compatable” right on the tube. You get 10-15 minutes of working time, and then it needs over night to harden. Weighted the roadbed down with the usual assortment of heavy objects from the shop Paint cans, tool boxes, vise, etc.
Once dry, a s
pictures???
I enjoy all facets of model railroading, so I find your post interesting. There’s a lot of satisfaction in “doing it yourself” and seeing things start to take shape. If you have been around any length of time, you are probably aware that at one time milled pine roadbed was the way to go, especially if you were hand-laying track. I still have one or two wooden turnout pieces sitting round somewhere.
John Timm
No pix yet. I have to get a digital camera, or, get the yardsale scanner working for my classic 35mm camera. Plus pick up all the tools and “stuff” littering the layout, plus get the flood lights out and compose. Plus…
Excuses, excuses…[:D]
The main line of the Franconia branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad (HO gauge) is finished today. A car coasts clean around the train room, no bumps, jumps, lurches or derailments, even when hand pushed at a scale 200 miles per hour. Gotta do some wiring before I can run locomotives under power. One thing at a time.
Lessons learned. After cutting the flex track to size with rail nippers, clean up the rail ends with a flat single cut file. File the end square, and then file a slight bevel on the tops, bottoms, and sides of the rail. This gives a smooth-to-the-touch rail joint, rather than leaving a burr that might help a wheel flange climb over the rail head. Use fresh new rail joiners. Lay a 4 foot straight edge along the straight tracks to make sure they stay straight and kink free before nailing the track down.
PL300 foam board adhesive has the pleasant property of coming off with just a sharp putty knife pushed under the roadbed. Comes clean from the foam without destroying it. How do I know this? Just one or two places I had to move the roadbed over a bit to make things fit better.
Nailing down the flex track to wood roadbed also lets me relocate track to eliminate kinks and other bad spots. Just pull out the track nails with long nose pliers and move the track. Easier to correct problems than had I glued the track down.
The wire guides (1/2 inch holes and dadoes in the under neath of the table work) are already doing good. I started the Cab A bus (#14 solid copper house wire) in the wire guides and lo and behold, it stays in place, runs straight, and it will be obvious just what wire it is even after the usual under layout rats nest of wire gets started.