Looking good Dan! See, I would have found a sanding block or a scraper or something and spent hours trying to get the other sheet of foam to slope down to the lower level. You just took a bit of cardboard and instantly matched height. I cant wait to see the track get in place!
1 to 1 I went ahead and printed the trackplan out 1 to 1. I debated with myself if it was worth it. In the end I said "what the heck" and went for it. The buildings that are built I placed on the plan. I learned a few things. The Main Line loop will be laid almost as drawn. I plan to make it have a little better flow than the drawing. There were some limitations designing with sectional track. The sidings will end up quite different then the plan. In the above photo, I want to put the bigger elevator behind the smaller one. Below, I think between this big factory and a station, there wont be much room for more. We'll see. Up Next -- Transferring the trackplan to the foam and gluing down some roadbed. Dan
I've been away so am now just catching up. The layout is looking great!! I sure wish my own first layout had been even half that spiffy. Nice work.
Thanks Chaya. To be fair, this is my third or fourth attempt at a layout. I've never got to the scenery stage. I had a few running, non sceniced layouts back about ten years ago. Then for ten years I didn't play with trains. I jumped back in about a year ago with my old track and a piece of foam on a couple of saw horses. Next came some benchwork for the helix-dominated ill conceived un planed thing that I had before the current project. That was tore down, the benchwork stayed and here we are. I've tried to really stop and think and plan this attempt. You can see how the plan evolved here Help With Trackplan? - TrainBoard.com Dan
Spline Line I think worked pretty fine Ever since I've learned about spline roadbed, I've been interested in it. I think it's cool how it finds it's own easements. Curves made with splines always look good. This layout doesn't call for splines. But I thought I could use a spline to draw the center lines of my track. So I tried it. I cut a spline only about a quarter a inch tall so it's quite flexible. I found important points on the layout (like turnouts and centers of curves). I took 6 penny finish nails and punched them in the foam to hold the spline where I wanted it in those key points. I then let the spline find the curve pretty much on it's own. When I liked what I had I used a pencil and drew my center line. There was a lot of tweaking but that was fun. The pics below weren't really taken with this thread in mind (see the wrist strap?) but for reference during the tweak. I couldn't get a birds eye view so I snapped some shots. None of them are the final curves but a few tweaks before the final. You can kind of see the evolution in the first two pics and my belly in the third. All in all I liked the process and the results. I know it's not really a new concept, but I'm proud of how well it worked. Dan
A nice little spiking tool Well... I've been behind on my posts because I've been excited and have been playing trains during Train Time. I've gotten a lot done. This post will catch me up. Here goes... All the Mainline roadbed and track are laid. I glued down the roadbed with Dap Latex Caulk. It works well, you can spread it with anything (I use my finger) and it dries fast. It's really permanent on the foam so I tried to get it right on the first try. All went well. I didn't take any pics of the proses. You guys know what it entails. I didn't want to glue down the track. Track that I've glued in the past did not come up well. I don't think this will be my last layout, so I want re-use to be an option. A few pics of the last piece. ONE THING I DISCOVERED A Sharpie is a really good tool for pushing in spikes. I'm only going through cork and foam, so I don't need a hammer. But the tie sometimes hangs the spike up and it hurts my wittle fingur. The Sharpie has a nice little indention on it's tip. It works perfect. A pic of the Sharpie driving the Mainline Golden Spike. ONE QUESTION I HAVE Because of the cork and foam roadbed, the track isn't as solid and locked in place as much as I would like. The spikes can move a bit in the cork/foam. When I ballast, will it help to firm things up? Thanks, Dan
Yep. My fathers layout is just spiked through the same cork and foam as you have. Only about 5% of the track is ballasted and it's holding strong 10 years later (we spiked every other hole). (This layout is also in Lincoln! Perhaps we could set up a meet come my visit home over Christmas. )
Ya you do. Remember it's just the Mainline golden spike. It's not the end of track laying though. For one, I messed up and forgot a switch, so I have to cut out a section and put it in. And of course, second I have to lay all the sidings. I can watch a train go round-and-round though which is great. So... Naturally, when I had laid enough track, I put a loco on to run a little and check my work. Then the engine needed a car or two to pull. Then another loco. Then more cars. Before I knew it, I had every car I own on the pike (only about 20) and had tried out every loco. Oh, I also had made a big mess. So it was time to clean up and run a Shop-Vac across the pike. I gathered all the track laying tools together and put them aside to be brought back soon. I ran the Shop-Vac across it, and now it's all nice and clean. I couldn't resist taking a video with our little point-and-shoot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCCIqyci7cM Dan
While most of you guys had the weekend off, I had to work. So it's a day off today, Monday. I'm trying to decide what my next project should be. I've narrowed it down to a couple choices. Laying the storage yard is one choice. But right now, the spot is being used as a nice flextrack-cutting-bench. It will be fun and easy. The lead tapers down to foam level, so no cork roadbed to glue, just spiking track and dropping feeders. The other project is to build a shelf or drawer or something to hold the power pack (eventually packs). I like woodworking, but I really haven't figured out how I'm going to do it. Where the pack is currently won't work, that's for sure. So, I think I'll scratch my head for a while and watch some trains go around. Dan
I decided to lay some track. Laying straight flextrack onto foam with no roadbed is quick and easy and fun. I think it turned out OK. Here's the throat. Did I mess anything up? If you look close, you can see that I had to add some joint compound to level this area out and ease the transition from the cork roadbed. The yard is really not that long. It needs a couple tracks to hold my simple Con Car passenger set. One more pic because I think it looks cool. It's not wired yet. I'm resisting putting all the wires together and hooking up a power pack. I want to build my first control panel. And if I get it running it might stay that way for a while. I've been looking around Trainboard a bit for some hints or how-to's on control panels. Does anyone remember a good control panel thread? Dan
I like your layout I wish I had the space to do something like this! The first thread that comes to mind with a good control panel topic is by Fifer ACTRR my be dismantled and re-constructed. I'm really new to forums I don't know how to post links to other posts YET! I know that there are others I just can't think of them at the moment.
Setback at the Birkel Sub All is not happy in Nebraska today. Our beloved Huskers are looking good this season, but there's problems with the new yard on the pike. Last night I had a very nice evening doing something I've never done before-- building a (mock-up) control panel. I bought a new soldering iron and everything. It went well. It's pretty crude and very temporary. I had never mounted or soldered switches before and I learned a lot. When the real control panel is built I'll be able to refine what I did. Hooking up the thing took me a while and a few head scratches, but then I figured it out and it all worked fine. Here's a pic of the rats nest (don't make fun of the old trainset Life-Like power pack... it works). And the beginner soldering. It's OK. I grew up watching my dad solder and he's a master so this looks a bit sloppy to me. So, I ran a few trains on the straights of the yard tracks, fliped switches and smiled. I had figured out the very basics of soldering and MRR wiring. I went to bed happy. This morning I decided to try to do some switching in the yard, you know, put the turnouts through the paces. In a couple minutes I was crestfallen (exaggerating for affect). The locos and passenger cars are hitting the turnout machines. So... What do I do? I think I know the answer. I think I'm going to have to tear out and re-do the whole thing. I think I need to put small pieces of track between the turnouts to space things out some. That will make the track spacing in the yard greater as well. The files are pointing at two places I need spacers. Of course, I'll need them between virtually every turnout. Any other ideas? Dan
It is probably only happening with those long locos and the passenger cars. Do you have any 4 axle power and standard 40-50 ft cars? Do they make it through that area?
No they don't... I actually discovered the problem running a F unit around. I also want to be able to store the passenger stuff in this yard, so even if the shorter stuff would work, I would still want to fix it.
With some European brands, it is possible to flip the switch machine upside down. That gives you a flat surface instead of that large box next to your turnout.
Well to keep he yard laid out the way it is you would have to add small sections of track in what looks like 4 places. This is of course going to change the spacing and then you might not have enough room for 8 tracks. Your other choice would be to build the yard like this. Because of the change in angle you might be able to start the first left switch one piece sooner and still clear the curve for the main line! Your soldering looks fine but sloppy, try using more flux and less solder. Good luck!
