Tracklaying

[rhobat bryn]

I am currently reaching the point of no return regarding laying the final foundation of the layout.  Because of the different elements involved, I am aware that I shall need a foolproof method to avoid the "If only I'd thought of that before" scenario.

I have identified the different elements as follows:

Fixing the track;
Wiring the track for DCC;
Uncoupling Magnets;
Point Motors;
Ballasting.

I should like to ask whether I have forgotten anything and also in which order should the tasks be performed.

There is also the question of underlay.  My board is made of Sundeala and my original thought was to pin the track directly to the board.  However I should be grateful to hear from other modellers who have used different ways of laying track and, in particular, their reasons for choosing their preferred method.

[Hobby]

Weathering the track... Before laying!

[gtmspyder]

Just a thought but :-

If you weather the track, before laying it, won't it make it difficult to form bends in the track with paint on the railside, and even if you do get the track to bend, won't the original position of the chairs show up as shiny bits?

Kind regards,

Brian.

[Hobby]

It can do if your curves are very sharp, but its not that noticeable with wider radii... Also its a damn sight easier painting the rail before laying! You could use Tillig plain track which is already weathered... Can't understand why Peco don't do that...

An alternative is to spray/brush the whole trackbed after ballasting which doesn't look too bad and is actually easier!

[duttonbay]

An alternative is to spray/brush the whole trackbed after ballasting which doesn't look too bad and is actually easier!

It certainly is. As well as the difficulties in curving the flex track, weathering before laying makes it difficult to attach droppers to the rails. Very much easier to spray afterwards. I also use floquil paint markers which can be run along the side of the rail easily to give the rail a nice base colour before spraying in brownish gungy muddy dusty rust (or whatever combination of these is appropriate, considering where the track is meant to be laid).

[Graeme Dunbar]

On the matter of droppers, I find it easier (when I am organised enough to do things in the right order) to solder droppers to rail sections before laying and then soldering to a hefty busbar.

I cut the web between sleepers and solder to the underside of the rail. I've even been known to solder two wires to each piece rail for redundancy when it is clear that repairs are going to difficult and paranoia sets in. Nickel-silver rail solders well so just clean with emery etc and use cored electrical solder (not acid flux). A good hot iron, tin the underside of the rail and the wire and you can get in and out before the sleepers start to melt. Many DCC users (and others) insist on every separate piece of rail having its own dropper.

If you plan to paint the sleepers then washing the track may help. I scrub mine with sugar soap, allow to drain in the bath and then dry on a radiator. Paint does not stick so well to the plastic of Peco flexitrack as it does to their set track. It is probably partly due to the plastic used but there may also be mould release agent. Possibly paranoia again on my part and a habit picked up from Warhammer model painting.

[JulienW]

There is also the question of underlay.  My board is made of Sundeala and my original thought was to pin the track directly to the board.  However I should be grateful to hear from other modellers who have used different ways of laying track and, in particular, their reasons for choosing their preferred method.

On the two layouts I have been involved with building we used cork tiles on top of the Sundela (actually MDF) to give some sound deadening, though I suppose you could add something (foam blocks) to the voids on the underside of the bords to absorb the sound.

I have also read about a system that Iain Rice experimented with that used foam sleep mats (sold for camping) as a track underlay.  He also did not use track pins to acoustically de-couple the track from the basebord / sound board (advantage of using hand-laid track) but stuck the sleepers to the foam (and stuck the ballast) using some sort of rubbery adhesive (cascamite power?).

As to the job list order how about this:

Fit underlay (if using).
Fix track.
Wire up track.
Test run.
Paint / weather track & rail,
Clean rail heads, point blade contact points, etc. and test run.
Fit uncoupling magnets and point motors.
Test magnets, point motors and running (again).
Ballast (including weathering of ballast).
Clean rails and test run (running of locos, points and magnets).

[B.Meldon]

The way we build a layout may be different to others but this is the way we do it.

Plan everything before the work starts!

Not just the track plan, but how the layout will be worked, the wiring, the location of the point motors uncoupling ramps (we use Bemo type couplings).
The location of board joints is often set by the track diagram and not the other way around, even the positioning of the baseboard cross supports is thought out so they do not interfere with the location of point motors or uncoupling ramps.

This part of the process takes a long time.

The first actual work is assembling the wood framework and the

[rhobat bryn]

Regarding underlay, does anyone have a view as to the usefulness or otherwise of Peco's foam version?

[membership]

Peco foam underlay is not very U.V. stable so deteriorates over time
using it depends on what life span you expect your layout to have before you modify/replace it

[Hobby]

I've never seen foam underlay that looks realistic either.

[B.Meldon]

As has been mentioned above underlay will deteriorate with time and it does not look realistic.

When foam underlay is used there is also the tendency for the track to get dips in it at the track fixing pins and rise up between the pins.

I was not aware that Peco did 009 underlay, and using N gauge track with underlay will look like, N gauge track and again will look wrong for 009.

If you are going to use N gauge track it is possible to alter its appearance to resemble 009 track by removing every other sleeper and making the remaining sleepers wider, but it takes a lot of work to do this.

If it is sound deadening that you need then cork sheet under the track may be the way to go, but I have never found this necessary in 009 and the effect of the cork tend to be reduced when the track is balasted anyway.

Brian Meldon

[Graeme Dunbar]

Peco foam underlay is not very U.V. stable so deteriorates over time
using it depends on what life span you expect your layout to have before you modify/replace it

I'm not even sure about the "UV" bit. I've got some I picked up cheap in a sale that has been languishing in a box at home and still turned decidedly moth eaten looking. Mind you it could have got its dose of UV before I got it.

The black foam stuff I use is not "ballast" but true underlay as in cork sheeting equivalent that has normal granular ballast added on top. The material appears to be the same sort of stuff as camping mat (also good as underlay and recommended by Iain Rice I think), but thinner .

I have not tried it but B&Q sell laminate flooring underlay that looks like very very low density fibre board. Useless for pinning into but would appear to have good sound absorbing properties. I've not managed to find an offcut and buying a whole pack on spec to try is silly.

[tedp]

One subject I haven't yet seen mentioned is superelevation of the track on a curve. Not many model railways feature this. On a model railway this is of course only cosmetic, but I feel it adds a great deal of authenticity to the layout. It is easily achieved by fitting a strip of thin card (about 1mm maximum) under the sleeper mat on the outside of the curve. Don't pin it too tightly or you get gauge narrowing. Use the transition curve from the straight to slowly increase the amount of superelevation. When using flexible track this follows the natural course of the track when it is led into the curve.

[duttonbay]

I agree completely Ted. A transition curve by itself is important to ensure that couplers don't get misaligned (and looks much better) but adding superelevation really makes the curve look right. It need only be subtle (in fact, should only be subtle) but it makes all the difference in appearance.