Hi All,
I just put up a small web site showing progress on my new N scale layout.
http://www.ironpeng.com/nscalelayout/nscalemain.html
Comments are welcome.
Mike Tennent
hello mike.very nice.you should be able to run long trains.i only wish my eyesight and health were ok as i love n-scale(use to be in n) and would love to start an n-scale layout again.i like your web site also.very basic and straightforward and easy to navigate.will check on your progress.terry…
Great looking layout Mike!
I did have a few questions as I am about to start on a new Layout as well and I saw you were using a few of the techniques I want to try this go around.
1.) How thick is the pink styrofoam that you are using as a subroadbed? Where did you get it and what was it called at the lumberyard?
2.) How did you attach your cork roadbed to the styrofoam? Also, what spacing did you use for your double track main?
3.) How do you attach your track to the styrofoam and cork? I have always used plywood and cork as my subroadbed and used the atlas nails to tack the track down.
Thanks
Chuck McDonald
Hi Chuck,
I got the pink styrofoam at Home Depot. It’s just the standard insulating foam. At HD it’s back in the big lumber and plywood area. I layered two sheets of 3/4" so that I could cut a river bed easily.
The cork is attached to the foam with good old yellow carpenter’s glue. I put a bead on the back, then tack it down with track nails overnight. One advantage to this method is that you can take up the cork later if you have to. If you’re very careful, it won’t even hurt the foam.
I also use track nails to attach the track to the cork. Always have, always will, so I can make changes later. As my comments on my track plan says - Track plans are like battle plans, they never survive first contact with the enemy. I ALWAYS change something before the last piece of cork is laid. I don’t care how good something looks on paper or the computer screen, something just won’t look right when you actually put it down.
Spacing of the cork for the parallel tracks? Urr, umm, let’s call it “bionic engineering.” It looks right, doesn’t it?
Mike Tennent
I think the track layout looks excellent. I also have a few questions.
What is the minimum radius? It looks like you will be able to run large engines.
You must not be married. My wife would “kill” me if I covered up a door like that [:)]
Looks like a great heavy duty line. Am debating hard on what to do. I want to do a 1906 era layout in HO but I dont think I have the room for what I want. So it might beN scale in the 60’s to 70’s not sure yet.
I would like to just blink and have it all done I will say that right off the bat!But this is the fun part right???
Uh, Mike, when you boarded up that door to the next room, your wife wasn’t still in there, was she? Just checking.
Seriously, I love to see good solid benchwork. Up here in frosty New England, the standard pink foam is 2-inch. I guess it’s different down in the Southeast.
Nothing like progress, huh? Mine is measured in small steps, now, as each bit of scenery and detail seems to take longer and longer. But, it’s not a race, so I hope you’re enjoying the journey as much as I am.
LOL.
Although I do have an understanding wife, the door wasn’t really a problem. It was one of those doors that you wonder why it was there anyway. I used more expensive paneling for the “good” side that shows in the other room.
The minimum radius in one section is 10", but the rest are more spacious. The more severe ones will be hidden or disguised with scenery elements.
And yes, MrBeasely, the journey is most of the fun. I’m trying not to push too fast just to get trains running, but since the scenery modeling aspects are one of my facvoriye parts of the hobby, it’s hard.
Thanks all for the comments. I’ll keep the updates coming as I progress. If I didn’t have a show in Virginia this coming weekend, I might have gotten started on the track laying this week. Oh, well.
Mike Tennent