Howdy, I'm ready to get started on a new layout in N-scale using a hollow-core door. I'm going to model a mostly urban setting, so I'm not interested in using foam insulation for scenery. Hey, call me boring. I'm an old city boy, so as they say, you go for what you know. Anyhow, I'm looking for ideas on securing the track and roadbed onto the door. I'm not so sure that track spikes will stay in place, given the wood facing on the door is pretty thin. Maybe instead, gluing the roadbed to the door, then using the track nails to go through both roadbed and door? I've got a number of ideas going forward from this point. I'll be using styrene for streets and sidewalks, and have already started building structures (I know I'm putting the cart before the horse, but I like building and painting). I know there are quite a few people who have used doors to build their layouts. Please let me know what you've done to get things started. Thanks, Brian
If you're going the foamless route (hey, isn't that a railroad's slogan?), you'll want to glue your roadbed to the door's surface first, then you can tack your track into the roadbed. I might be going a similar route with my NYC harbor terminal layout, since there won't be any hills or anything. But I may go for a thin layer of foam to allow for some sound deadening and a little bit of scenery (ditches, etc.). Got a track plan yet?
Why use track nails? Laytex caulk works just fine. Just use some soup cans to weigh the track down & keep it in place: That's flex right on the MFD. A thin layer of caulk is all you need.
No plan yet, but I'm working on it. I've been toying with a double-track oval, including a small yard or engine facility. I had originally started to build a double-track oval on a sheet of 36"x48" plywood, and had the track laid. But the more I kept eyeballing it, the layout was just too short. The additional 32" in length will make me a happy boy, and give me more room to make things happen.
Interesting! I see you're laying track w/o roadbed. If you remember Gilda Radner's Emily Litella character on SNL, you may reply like she did with the question, "You ask a lot of questions." Here's a few: Will you be ballasting once the track is laid? What is MFD? And finally... When using roadbed, I take it I'd use the caulk below the roadbed, and again between the roadbed and track? Thanks!
Excellent. I also spent a lot of time planning a HCD-and-a-half layout that I'd really like to build some day, but time/space/money/locust plague/etc. prevent for the time being. That's why I shifted to the portable N-trak module layout idea. The HCD layout formula is a great one, in my opinion. Gotta dig it! What he meant to say is MDF (medium density fiberboard). Unless it's giving him trouble, then perhaps it's Mofo etc. :tb-tongue: Here's more on the layout you see in his photo: Summer Shunting Shelf Project.
Do you have photos of the place you'd like to model? Because that will determine if you need roadbed or not. Most urban industrial areas have track right on the ground, or with a ballast slope that's almost negligible in N. MDF = Medium-Density Fiberboard. Basically it's a mixture of sawdust & glue that's been pressed together to form a board. The benefits include super-straight boards that don't warp over time like plywood. The drawbacks are that it's heavy &, from the dust it is made, to the dust it shall return: any tension on screws driven in works the surrounding MDF to dust. Easily compensated for by pouring CA down the screw holes and letting it soak for a sec before driving the screws in. But I'm trying to be very careful knocking it about & the wear I put on the hinges (it's a foldable layout). Maybe MDF wasn't the best choice for this type of portable shelf layout, but I didn't want it warping in all the whacky temp changes (garage, house, outside in California summer & "winter"). Yes, I will be ballasting. The far left track is the oil refinery spur, and will have cinders / dirt. Or maybe gravel. The long curving track is the SP main (this is Alameda in early 50s), and so will have a layer of fine grey ballast. The track angled towards the power pack is a team track / freight track and the long one next to it is the switching lead / main and both with be paved for in-street running. The two tracks under the cans are for the "Bella Fonte" cannery (really the Del Monte) and will be in dirt and maybe fine gravel. I'll paint some white glue on the MDF and sprinkle a fine layer of whatever around, relying on the various textures to suggest slight changes in groundform than any carving. On my other layout, I use cork roadbed for the main, but, being early 1900s & backwoods, I ballast with cinders. Here you can see the dark cinders on the main, and the sidings descending into dirt: On the other side of the layout, this (very old) photo shows the how cork-elevated main descends into a cinder-ballasted siding for the mine: [ignore the wires & the shiny loco] There's many ways to do it. A great way to start is looking at prototype photos of what you want to model and figure out how to recreate that. (i.e. there's no reason for cork roadbed if where you want to model is flat)
Oops! Talk about a MF'D slipup there (I guess the MoFoDensity got to me) Yes, I meant MDF. Not to be confused with the RDF, which is keeping our planet safe from the Zentradi and the Invid trying to get their Robotechnology back.
MC, thanks for the advice on the photos. With Google to do some research as well as my own camera, I can come up with some ideas before I get down to business.
