This is out of curiousity, but the answer will be especially helpful for my next step on the new layout. Is it nescessary from a prototypical standpoint to have cork road bed under ALL your track that gives that nicely elevated and beveled ballast? Is there some places on the prototype where it is flat? I am wondering because I would rather not road bed my entire yard if I can be accurate without…
As I understand it, and as I modelled it, my yard is at a lower elevation than the main line, as are my spurs except for one industrial siding which required roadbed to bring the stock car doors up even with the cattle loading pen walkway (or whatever it is called. I have also noticed several spurs off the BNSF mainline here in the Phoenix area where the spur slopes down from the mainline.
On my 1st layout, I had cork roadbed on the entire layout except the yard, which rested on the foam. My current layout has cork throughout to give a more uniform appearance. Some also use N scale cork in the sidings/yard and HO on the main.
Bottom line: there’s no “right” way of how someone uses cork on a layout. After all, recall rule #1: it’s your layout!
Thanks! That will save me the headache of laying road bed for curved turnouts, and some money too.
You can;t just eliminate the roadbed - the track has to slope down gradually or you will have problems, especially on a curved turnout. A sudden transition from one level to the other is a bit like going over a hill too fast - you catch air. Having the sidings lower than the main is completely prototypical, but it has to be a gradual transition from the mainline level down to the base, you can;t just end the cork on th diverging side of the turnout. It has to extend and then be sanded down to make a nice smooth ramp.
Cork on turnouts is no big deal, you just overlap and cut through both layers with a knife, and slip out the bottom chunk that is cut free, the result is a fairly tight fit of the diverging piece of cork. It doesn’t have to be perfect, any gaps or voids will be covered over by ballast. For yards, you can buy cork in rolls - it’s used floor floor underlayment among other things. All the big box stores will have it.
–Randy
+1
I use shimming shingles for the transition between mainline and yard or industry track. They can be purchased at any lumber yard or Lowe’s etc. Just cut them to the proper length. The best part is that they are cheap. [:D]
Joe
DO NOT have a grade change in a turnout. Or nearby.
If you want to get off a raised main, the entire track switch should be at the level of the raised main. ALL of it. And I strongly recommend you have a stretch of track “afterwards” before you start a gentle lowering of the track.
Can you guess why?
Ed
What is your sub roadbed? Plywood, foam or something else?
I would add that apart from yards, many logging companies hardly used any ballast for their tracks. Many just did not bother (or wanted to invest) to ballast their tracks given the temporary nature of their operations.
Simon
I use cork under the mainline and nothing under yards. Well, under yards I like to use Homasote.
I don’t need any ramps because I simply match the elevation of the top of the cork to the top of the Homasote.
I use Midwest Cork roadbed for mains and passing sidings, and 1/8" thick rolled cork sheet from Hobby Lobby for spurs and yards. I bevel the roadbed down to the sheet cork using a Stanley Surform tool, typically over a 9" length which amounts to about a 1.4% grade. I use caulk to secure both roadbed and track.
Jim