hey all, to complete our layout we need a second oval surrounding the first one. the problem is that we want to rise it up to one inch using 2% grade starters.plus we need the roadbed on top, did we mention we were using flextrack to make an odd sized radius (more than 22'). can someone help us please!?! how are we going to tack down the risers and roadbed and track!! me and my dad dont have a clue and we are relying on you guys. please help us
From your sig, I would guess that you're using HO scale. What kind of benchwork do you have now? Woodland Scenics is rumoured to sell a product that should help.... ah-ha! I hope that this helps.
Nothing's too hard, especially once you try it. You just have to get out and do it, this hobby was built on trial and error...and you don't anywhere if you're afraid to get a little dirty I used the Woodland Scenics subterrain materials on my entire layout and was very pleased with the ease of use and convenience of a pre-made clean cut 2% grade. I used yellow wood glue for everything except when I glued the Woodland Scenics Subterrain down to my foam base, where I used Liquid Nails. Wood glue had a lot of trouble sticking to whatever coating is on the foam i used for the base, but if you have a plywood base it would certainly work fine. 1)First I put down the centerline of the right-of-way on my base with a sharpie, 2)then I glued the WS Subterrain down with Liquid Nails on top of the centerline. To hold it into a curve, I used like 1" wire brads (basically skinny little finishing nails) to hold the WS Subterrain along my centerline. 3)After that was stable/dry enough, I glued down WS Trackbed over the Subterrain, and again held it in with the little nails. (I remove them all when the glue dries...) 4)After the roadbed dries I lay the track using the same process. Here are some pics of my layout, it's N-scale but the Woodland Scenics products work all the same for HO. There're more pictures here.
Figures I just got a 2, 7oz bags of WLS ballast not used it yet, but I would figure with all the different O natural products and items that can be used to scenic a model railway that there could and would be more instances of pest attempting to get in on a free meal and eat up some hard work and time. Has anyone else had any instances of pest problems due to model railway scenic items? Would like to get an idea before I start normally I keep the house sprayed with a general purpose insecticide from Lowe’s to keep the spiders and critters at bay the area I live is full of older built houses which can draw in a lot pest. One house I was looking at, as I am working on get our own house, got put off due to black mold being found in the walls.
when I built my former layot in HO (a move forced me to dismantle it and start over again, this time in N scale) I used WS ballast, and we lived in an older house, too (it was built in 1912). The layout was in the basement, and I had no problems with the ballast.
Ive just been thru the woodland scenic thing with a rise. Works good, onlything is working OVER it, it tends to get damaged easily, and flat spots in it cause trains to run not smoothly over it... Its not cheap, but its easy to work with. I used PVA glue to hold cork down, and then same for track. While waiting for it to dry, i used large tacks every 1/2 inch! Im in N Scale though. the first loop is down, and an RS11 went round yesterday.. Sort of, one dodgey set of points..
I would recommend going to the post on Pest problems in re: Woodland Scenics ballast. You'll find that crushed walnuts are not the problem with roach infestation, but the adhesive used to keep the ballast glued down. Walnut shells aren't tasty to roaches at all, but any starch-based glue is. As for using crushed rock ballast, there are firms that sell the stuff, and I do admit it looks darn good. I've used WLS ballast for 28 years with no bug problems whatsoever- only critters on my layout was a cat or two, but that's another story.... Just stay away from starch-based glues on your ballast, whatever you use, and you'll be OK. Do you plan on painting your track before ballasting? Not that it matters, but it does add a little realism. And regardless of the type ballast (crushed rock does sound intriguing, BTW), we'd like to see pics as you go along.
You mean WS isn't real rock? I always assumed it was just crushed rock. Who makes REAL crushed rock ballast (N scale)??
ARIZONA ROCK & MINERAL makes it. They have a website, but I don't know it. I've seen a couple other sites that sell their line, though
