Weekend Update 5/15/11

[BCR 570]

Tim-

Is the squishy foam roadbed adequate for handlaid Code 40?  That seems like a time where the harder cork might give better support.   
 
 
 

I am not sure that I would describe the WS Foambed as "squishy".  As for the track, it is no more fragile than Code 40 flex track once soldered together and glued to the ties.  I did lay a test section or two and it seemd to work fine:




Dave:  Nice work on yours.

Tim

[Scottl]

Nice trackwork, you did a neat job with assembly of the turnouts.

Is that a strip wood base below the foam roadbed?  Do you mind me asking what your thinking is with that?

Cheers,
Scott

[davefoxx]

Looks grand Foxey

Thanks, Chuck, you're being very generous!  Your layout is looking great, as your scenery is coming along nicely and really captures the area you're modeling.  Did I read somewhere that you replaced your trestle?

[davefoxx]

Dave:  Nice work on yours.

Tim

Thanks, Tim!  I'd say you're ahead of me on the learning curve.  I'm going to try Pliobond for my rails, where I see that you soldered yours.  I almost went that route but found that the PC ties were a different thickness than the wood ties.  Did you have any problem or just sand the wood ties down?

How are you going to finish your track?  I've decided to paint mine, to better blend it to the commercial track on the layout.  The advantage of my 24" x 54" layout is that I will be able to take the layout outside to paint the track.

DFF

[BCR 570]

Nice trackwork, you did a neat job with assembly of the turnouts.

Is that a strip wood base below the foam roadbed?  Do you mind me asking what your thinking is with that?

Cheers,
Scott

Scott:

Not sure if you are referring to Dave's work or mine; if I have assumed incorrectly I apologize.  The spline sub-roadbed comprises strips of 1/8" balsa for the mainline and 1/16" for sidings.  I saw my friend Greg Kennelly using this method and wanted to give it a try.  Advantages are as follows:
1. The 1/8" and 1/16" thicknesses provide a uniform height for the roadbed.
2. It provides sufficient elevation above the base for drainage ditches, etc.
3. The spline construction facilitates precise alignment of curves, easements, turnouts.
4. It goes together easily with wood glue and bonds well to the base and the foam trackbed with WS glue.
5.  It can be sanded easily for changes in gradient ie. ramps down into sidings.


Tim

[BCR 570]

Dave:

All of my track will be built in the Fast Tracks jigs, including straight and curved track.  Once soldered together the track will be mounted on the Quicksticks ties using Pliobond.  These are available for turnouts, straight and curved track and are easy to use.  When the trackwork comes out of the fixtures and is glued onto the Quicksticks, the PC ties are hanging in between.  The PC ties are there to keep everything together and in gauge so they do not need to contact the roadbed.  Once ballasted the slight discrepancy in thickness should not be evident.

I am planning to paint the track sections prior to installation using the methods employed for the trackwork in the Fast Tracks videos.  This includes airbrushing the track with Flquil Weathered Black, staining the ties with a mix of alcohol and shoe polish (I might substitute one of the excellent dyes available from Hunterline or Micro-Mark for this) and finally painting the rails with a Floquil marker.  I haven't tried this yet and have retained my test sections pictured above for exactly this purpose.

I would not criticize anyone going the individual tie route,  but the Quicksticks offer a timesaving result with no compromise in appearance, which you may wish to investigate.  As there has been considerable interest in this topic, perhaps I will repost some photographs showing assembly of my test sections.

I look forward to seeing your continued progress.


Tim

[Iain]

Got some work done for the first time since the tornadoes.  Working on weathering boxcars and getting some steam going.

[BCR 570]

From a few years ago, here are some photographs taken during a test of potential track construction methods.  The first one shows sections of straight and curved track soldered together in the Fast Tracks jigs:




The Quicksticks tie strps are glued onto the roadbed (or can be glued to the rails prior to installation):






The rail assembly is then glued down onto the tie strips:






The track can also be assembled prior to installation and then glued down onto the roadbed just like commercial flex track:




I hope this clarifies what I am doing.  I am eager to see other approaches and methods.


Tim

[mark dance]

Beautiful trackwork guys!

Well with the Dispatcher control sw and the phone system tested - and passed - at this week's ops session, my attention is turning back to scenery.  I hope to have the second deck's final 20 ft of scenery finished, save for structures, for the Vanrail operating event in September.  

First up are the concrete abutments for Snowslide bridge.  The bridge itself is a BLMA model which is close enough to the prototype 135' bridge for me.  

Here is the scene roughed in and photos of the abutments.









I hope to have the bridge and abutments painted and weathered and the rough plaster work done this week...

md

[Scottl]

Thanks for the balsa wood explanation, Tim.  That is a very interesting technique and I can see has some advantages.

Scott

[davefoxx]

Tim,

Your track looks great and your method is sound.  FYI, I obtained my materials from Fast Tracks, too, and I am using the turnout assembly fixtures with Quickstick turnout ties.

But, I decided to go the individual tie route on regular track sections.  It seems to me that I should be able to make my track flow better with easements and such without having to adhere to perfect radii curves and razor-straight track.  Also, I'm modeling a short line and my track shouldn't be perfect.  I'm curious to see if I will get some minor variation in the rails to get a slight rock and roll to the trains.

I was going to spray bomb mine, but I have been considering the paint markers to "rust" the rail.

Dave

[esa123]

Dave,

Thanks for showing the Code 55 to Code 40 transition. I struggled with that on my switching layout and tried using some photo etched rail joiners from proto87's website (http://www.proto87.com/) but they failed miserably and I ended up just soldering the two sets together with a track gauge for alignment.

I did have a question though - on your atlas GP engine how are you going to deal with the factory flanges on code 40 rail? I recently purchased two of their new GP15's and both have oversided "low profile" wheels which work fine on Code 55 but bounce on my Code 40 rail. In the past I've had people lower the flanges for me but I'm curious what you plan to do?

Thanks,
Erik

[davefoxx]

Dave,

Thanks for showing the Code 55 to Code 40 transition. I struggled with that on my switching layout and tried using some photo etched rail joiners from proto87's website (http://www.proto87.com/) but they failed miserably and I ended up just soldering the two sets together with a track gauge for alignment.

I did have a question though - on your atlas GP engine how are you going to deal with the factory flanges on code 40 rail? I recently purchased two of their new GP15's and both have oversided "low profile" wheels which work fine on Code 55 but bounce on my Code 40 rail. In the past I've had people lower the flanges for me but I'm curious what you plan to do?

Thanks,
Erik

Hi, Erik,

If I had any problems, I would convert to NWSL wheelsets, which I did on my Life-Like E8 to run on Atlas code 55.

But, because I'm handlaying my code 40 track, my track doesn't have spikes.  Therefore, there's a full 0.040" in clearance from the top of the railhead to the top of the ties.  So, my locomotive didn't ride the ties when I ran it over the turnout for the first time today.  I run Fox Valley wheelsets on my freight cars, so they'll have no problems either.

Dave

[Puddington]

Couldn't sleep last night so I dug into the big box of unfinished projects and played around with this oddball combo.....



The NP's haulin a "way old" PRR pup up to the Puddington Valley for heaven only knows what reason....

The Sylvan Resin pup was a project I began a year or so ago and tired of due to the damn near impossible, old and fragile decals... The NP flat was sitting around in half finished condition so, rather than watch "Million Dollar Baby" for the 7th time at 0100 hrs I "married the two" and finished the job.....

The PRR guys can sob at the effort on the trailer but I warn them to not hold out much hope for their own kit's decals.... ugh !

[chuck geiger]

DFF- I used the bigger bents on the trestle to accommodate agricultural
piping and a walkway down the line. Last week I posted a sort video
that shows the desert terrain. Working on laying out the structure
footprints. Need to find some kits and the remainder will be scratched.
I love The A&R 2.0, you gotta love 2x4 something. The hand laid
turnouts rock. Can't wait to see the track.

Mark amazing work....