 |
| Caught these two on the tail end of an eastbound CSX manifest train in downtown Akron OH on Sunday 3/6/2016. LTEX 1207 (Larry's Truck & Electric) is an SW9 converted from an SW7 that was built in 1950 as PRR 9392 and was last working for NUCOR Bar Mill Group in Jewett, TX. AZER 3469 (Arizona Eastern RR) is an SD40-2 that was built in 1980 as UP 3805. |
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Wordless Wednesday #9
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Test Module construction - Part IV
Not much progress on the module lately.
I did manage to complete a pre-test module module though to see how well the Kwik Seal adhesive caulk and the Pliobond works.
I used the Kwik Seal to glue down 3 pieces of CV ties on a small piece of cardboard. The tie strip in the middle is a CV 2002 Branch Line tie strip. The outer 2 pieces are both CV 2003 Mainline tie strips. The CV 2003's have the small bend-over spike bars built in. The CV 2002 Branch Line tie strips do not have that and have to be glued and/or spiked down. The tie strip on the right is glued down to a strip of Topper Tape while the other two are just glued down to the cardboard directly.
The Kwik Seal works wonderfully, both on the plain cardboard and the Topper Tape. It sets quickly yet it remains liquid enough that you can still make adjustments for several minutes after application. It is also quite tacky so that the curved tie strips don't slide around on their own either. Below I have used it on the #7 turnout and the 36" radius curve leading into the #7 turnout (the turnout closest to the camera). You can also use a putty knife to pry up the ties after the Kwik Seal has dried, although I haven't tried this yet on the Topper Tape.
Spiking and CV ties.
Metal spikes work well with CV ties as you can see below. These are Micro Engineering Small Spikes. There are only two actual spikes in the photo below. Can you spot them? I have also attempted to bend over the built-in spikes on the CV ties with mixed results. I need to go pick up a smaller nail set to use for this because the one I have is too big. I ended up using the tip of a small flathead screwdriver for some of these and it didn't work too well.
You cannot use metal spikes on top of the Topper Tape. The Topper Tape is too spongy and you can't get a good firm base for driving the spike into the tie. You also cannot use the bend-over spikes on the CV 2003 ties on top of the topper tape for the same reason.
Pliobond and CV Ties.
Looking at the very top photo again (and the one above too), all of the rail on the three tie strips is code 70 and is glued down to the ties with Pliobond. The Pliobond works great for gluing down rail, but it is quite messy and not that easy to work with. There will be spots where there is dried Pliobond stuck to rails and ties that you have to go back and scrape off with a hobby knife. I have two kinds of Pliobond, one is the low VOC type and the other is regular type. The regular type is a little easier to work with although the low VOC type I have is several years old and might be past it's shelf life which could be why it was a little gummier than the regular type which I just bought.
Pliobond is a contact cement which means you apply it to both surfaces and let it dry, then apply another thin bead to one of the two surfaces right before you tack the pieces together. You really only have one shot at this but if you don't put any pressure on the rail as you lay it down, you can still make adjustments to it. The Pliobond works great at gluing rail down to the CV ties. The bond is very strong yet flexible enough that it can move around without breaking the bond.
Using Pliobond is somewhat messy and I now know I have to buy some of the plastic micro tips made for dispensing Pliobond on small parts such as rail and ties. I used a regular 22 gauge syringe and it worked ok, but maybe a larger gauge syringe would have worked better. The glue in the syringe started to gum up after a while and it got more difficult to dispense after a few minutes.
Overall impressions of CV ties.
I haven't tried to make a CV turnout yet. That is coming soon. I have mixed thoughts about the CV ties though, just based on this very small experiment. It is definitely more work and more time consuming to use. The Pliobond is also quite volatile and requires good ventilation to use. I found myself getting a headache after breathing the fumes for a couple hours even with fresh air coming in.
Gauge: If I were constructing a layout to Proto:87 standards, I would not use CV ties. According to the NMRA, Proto:87 track gauge should be .649" - .663". The CV ties above with code 70 rail gauge out at around .665-.670. That is, however, still within standard HO gauge of .649" - .672".
Appearance: I like the way CV ties look with the tieplate detail and the slight randomness of the tie pattern. However, the more I read about other people trying to "superdetail" HO scale track, the more I am thinking it is a lot of work for not much visual payoff in the long run since it is harder to notice the small details in HO scale.
Cost: 99' of CV ties including ME unweathered code 83 rail costs around $160 give or take a few bucks. 90' of Micro Engineering code 83 flex track is around $180 give or take a few bucks. Cost therefore is not enough of an offset to make CV ties worth the extra effort. The CV turnouts are quite inexpensive though, with a single turnout kit around $13 or two turnout tie strips alone (without the detail kit) for under $10.
In summary, based on what I've experienced so far in this small experiment, I'm thinking that for the larger layout I will probably try out a combination of Fast Tracks for turnouts and custom trackwork and Micro Engineering flex track for regular straights and curves. I may also try my hand at traditional handlaying with wood ties to see how that works out.
I did manage to complete a pre-test module module though to see how well the Kwik Seal adhesive caulk and the Pliobond works.
I used the Kwik Seal to glue down 3 pieces of CV ties on a small piece of cardboard. The tie strip in the middle is a CV 2002 Branch Line tie strip. The outer 2 pieces are both CV 2003 Mainline tie strips. The CV 2003's have the small bend-over spike bars built in. The CV 2002 Branch Line tie strips do not have that and have to be glued and/or spiked down. The tie strip on the right is glued down to a strip of Topper Tape while the other two are just glued down to the cardboard directly.
The Kwik Seal works wonderfully, both on the plain cardboard and the Topper Tape. It sets quickly yet it remains liquid enough that you can still make adjustments for several minutes after application. It is also quite tacky so that the curved tie strips don't slide around on their own either. Below I have used it on the #7 turnout and the 36" radius curve leading into the #7 turnout (the turnout closest to the camera). You can also use a putty knife to pry up the ties after the Kwik Seal has dried, although I haven't tried this yet on the Topper Tape.
Spiking and CV ties.
Metal spikes work well with CV ties as you can see below. These are Micro Engineering Small Spikes. There are only two actual spikes in the photo below. Can you spot them? I have also attempted to bend over the built-in spikes on the CV ties with mixed results. I need to go pick up a smaller nail set to use for this because the one I have is too big. I ended up using the tip of a small flathead screwdriver for some of these and it didn't work too well.
You cannot use metal spikes on top of the Topper Tape. The Topper Tape is too spongy and you can't get a good firm base for driving the spike into the tie. You also cannot use the bend-over spikes on the CV 2003 ties on top of the topper tape for the same reason.
Pliobond and CV Ties.
Looking at the very top photo again (and the one above too), all of the rail on the three tie strips is code 70 and is glued down to the ties with Pliobond. The Pliobond works great for gluing down rail, but it is quite messy and not that easy to work with. There will be spots where there is dried Pliobond stuck to rails and ties that you have to go back and scrape off with a hobby knife. I have two kinds of Pliobond, one is the low VOC type and the other is regular type. The regular type is a little easier to work with although the low VOC type I have is several years old and might be past it's shelf life which could be why it was a little gummier than the regular type which I just bought.
Pliobond is a contact cement which means you apply it to both surfaces and let it dry, then apply another thin bead to one of the two surfaces right before you tack the pieces together. You really only have one shot at this but if you don't put any pressure on the rail as you lay it down, you can still make adjustments to it. The Pliobond works great at gluing rail down to the CV ties. The bond is very strong yet flexible enough that it can move around without breaking the bond.
Using Pliobond is somewhat messy and I now know I have to buy some of the plastic micro tips made for dispensing Pliobond on small parts such as rail and ties. I used a regular 22 gauge syringe and it worked ok, but maybe a larger gauge syringe would have worked better. The glue in the syringe started to gum up after a while and it got more difficult to dispense after a few minutes.
Overall impressions of CV ties.
I haven't tried to make a CV turnout yet. That is coming soon. I have mixed thoughts about the CV ties though, just based on this very small experiment. It is definitely more work and more time consuming to use. The Pliobond is also quite volatile and requires good ventilation to use. I found myself getting a headache after breathing the fumes for a couple hours even with fresh air coming in.
Gauge: If I were constructing a layout to Proto:87 standards, I would not use CV ties. According to the NMRA, Proto:87 track gauge should be .649" - .663". The CV ties above with code 70 rail gauge out at around .665-.670. That is, however, still within standard HO gauge of .649" - .672".
Appearance: I like the way CV ties look with the tieplate detail and the slight randomness of the tie pattern. However, the more I read about other people trying to "superdetail" HO scale track, the more I am thinking it is a lot of work for not much visual payoff in the long run since it is harder to notice the small details in HO scale.
Cost: 99' of CV ties including ME unweathered code 83 rail costs around $160 give or take a few bucks. 90' of Micro Engineering code 83 flex track is around $180 give or take a few bucks. Cost therefore is not enough of an offset to make CV ties worth the extra effort. The CV turnouts are quite inexpensive though, with a single turnout kit around $13 or two turnout tie strips alone (without the detail kit) for under $10.
In summary, based on what I've experienced so far in this small experiment, I'm thinking that for the larger layout I will probably try out a combination of Fast Tracks for turnouts and custom trackwork and Micro Engineering flex track for regular straights and curves. I may also try my hand at traditional handlaying with wood ties to see how that works out.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Wordless Wednesday #8
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| CUT 25 was a 750hp Lima-Hamilton LS-750 switcher. There were only 6 LS-750's built and all 6 were bought by Cincinnati Union Terminal Co. The 6 LS-750's handled all the switching duties at the terminal, mail & express facilities, and coach yard. CUT 25 was the last one built and was delivered in 1951. (Allen County Historical Society photo) |
Friday, February 19, 2016
Test Module construction - Part III
Even though this module is only 18" x 7' and I really haven't gotten that far with it yet, I've learned quite a few things from it.
After putting the 1:1 track plan down on the door and looking at it in real life size, I decided I didn't like the way the turnouts were arranged. The two curves leading into the crossover are 36" radius on the inside and 38" radius on the outside. I flipped the crossover around to make it a right-hand crossover to ensure that a train going through the crossover will come off of or go into the larger of the two radii in the same curve direction as the turnout adjacent to the curves, thus relieving the s-curve effect of the crossover as much as possible. With the turnouts arranged as such, now the only s-curve is inside the crossover itself rather than the two s-curves there would have been going from the curve to the crossover or vice-versa. With the crossover being a #9, the effect should be minimal anyway and hopefully the 85' passenger cars look fairly realistic going through the crossover.
The next lesson learned is that I really like the Topper Tape for roadbed. I originally thought it was adhesive on both sides but as I started unrolling it I discovered it is only adhesive on one side and that the paper backing is attached to the non-adhesive side. The Topper Tape is a soft foam similar to the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed. The adhesive side of the Topper Tape is sticky enough that it stays in place when you put it down, but it can easily be pulled up multiple times and put back down again. It is also very easy to cut with regular scissors or a utility or hobby knife.
Central Valley Ties and Turnouts.
I haven't started attaching rail to any of the Central Valley products so I have no AAR comments on that yet. I am going to try using Pliobond to attach the rail to the ties although I may also try using the bend-over spikes that come about every 4-6 ties on the straight tie strips. I will probably use both methods on this module to test them both.
I have discovered one thing though that irritates me about both the turnouts and the tie strips. They are all made of injection molded styrene so you get the mold remnants sometimes along with the parts.
In the first photo you can see at the top end of each tie is what I call a "hanging chad". I am somewhat OCD and feel the need to remove these even though they will probably end up under ballast and not be visible. They come off easy enough with a hobby knife but it is just an annoying step that I'd rather not do. This photo also shows the centerline guide, tieplate detail, and the bend-over spikes (on the larger tieplates) used to attach the rail to the ties. Allegedly all you have to do is bend those over the rail foot with a small nail set tool.
In the photo below are more mold remnants that need to be removed. You can also see the difference between the spacing on the branch line ties (lower piece) and the mainline ties (upper piece). These branch line ties are the CV 2002 variety that do not have the bend-over spikes, so all the rail needs to be glued to them.
I have also discovered that transitions between crossover turnouts and also on diverging tracks from turnouts require some special tie placement. For this I plan on using Clover House PC board ties which I have in 12" lengths for cutting to length as needed. The PC ties are almost the same thickness as the Central Valley ties which is a plus. I first looked at using wood ties but they are quite a bit thicker than the CV ties. I could probably get away with wood ties though because once the rail is attached to everything it would probably just push the thicker wood ties down into the Topper Tape and still be nice and level.
I also have a supply of Proto:87 Stores scale tieplates that I plan on using on the PC ties. These things are very tiny and a pain to work with. I would not attempt to use them on an entire layout but in certain high-visibility and high-detail trackwork areas they should look very nice. The plan is to insert them under the rail and then solder the rail and tieplate to the PC ties. This should add some strength to the track in the crossover as well because the turnout strips don't have the bend-over spikes so all rail has to be glued to them. They aren't quite the same as the tieplates on the CV ties, but I still think they will look good once everything is painted and ballasted.
I think I am at the point where I will start gluing the ties down to the Topper Tape and start attaching rail and building the turnouts.
Stay tuned!
After putting the 1:1 track plan down on the door and looking at it in real life size, I decided I didn't like the way the turnouts were arranged. The two curves leading into the crossover are 36" radius on the inside and 38" radius on the outside. I flipped the crossover around to make it a right-hand crossover to ensure that a train going through the crossover will come off of or go into the larger of the two radii in the same curve direction as the turnout adjacent to the curves, thus relieving the s-curve effect of the crossover as much as possible. With the turnouts arranged as such, now the only s-curve is inside the crossover itself rather than the two s-curves there would have been going from the curve to the crossover or vice-versa. With the crossover being a #9, the effect should be minimal anyway and hopefully the 85' passenger cars look fairly realistic going through the crossover.
The next lesson learned is that I really like the Topper Tape for roadbed. I originally thought it was adhesive on both sides but as I started unrolling it I discovered it is only adhesive on one side and that the paper backing is attached to the non-adhesive side. The Topper Tape is a soft foam similar to the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed. The adhesive side of the Topper Tape is sticky enough that it stays in place when you put it down, but it can easily be pulled up multiple times and put back down again. It is also very easy to cut with regular scissors or a utility or hobby knife.
Central Valley Ties and Turnouts.
I haven't started attaching rail to any of the Central Valley products so I have no AAR comments on that yet. I am going to try using Pliobond to attach the rail to the ties although I may also try using the bend-over spikes that come about every 4-6 ties on the straight tie strips. I will probably use both methods on this module to test them both.
I have discovered one thing though that irritates me about both the turnouts and the tie strips. They are all made of injection molded styrene so you get the mold remnants sometimes along with the parts.
In the first photo you can see at the top end of each tie is what I call a "hanging chad". I am somewhat OCD and feel the need to remove these even though they will probably end up under ballast and not be visible. They come off easy enough with a hobby knife but it is just an annoying step that I'd rather not do. This photo also shows the centerline guide, tieplate detail, and the bend-over spikes (on the larger tieplates) used to attach the rail to the ties. Allegedly all you have to do is bend those over the rail foot with a small nail set tool.
In the photo below are more mold remnants that need to be removed. You can also see the difference between the spacing on the branch line ties (lower piece) and the mainline ties (upper piece). These branch line ties are the CV 2002 variety that do not have the bend-over spikes, so all the rail needs to be glued to them.
I have also discovered that transitions between crossover turnouts and also on diverging tracks from turnouts require some special tie placement. For this I plan on using Clover House PC board ties which I have in 12" lengths for cutting to length as needed. The PC ties are almost the same thickness as the Central Valley ties which is a plus. I first looked at using wood ties but they are quite a bit thicker than the CV ties. I could probably get away with wood ties though because once the rail is attached to everything it would probably just push the thicker wood ties down into the Topper Tape and still be nice and level.
I also have a supply of Proto:87 Stores scale tieplates that I plan on using on the PC ties. These things are very tiny and a pain to work with. I would not attempt to use them on an entire layout but in certain high-visibility and high-detail trackwork areas they should look very nice. The plan is to insert them under the rail and then solder the rail and tieplate to the PC ties. This should add some strength to the track in the crossover as well because the turnout strips don't have the bend-over spikes so all rail has to be glued to them. They aren't quite the same as the tieplates on the CV ties, but I still think they will look good once everything is painted and ballasted.
I think I am at the point where I will start gluing the ties down to the Topper Tape and start attaching rail and building the turnouts.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wordless Wednesday #7
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| AC&Y (now WLE) bridge over Newton St. in Akron OH. Note the clearance sign on the right... |
Monday, February 1, 2016
Test Module construction - part II
I decided to make some changes to the track plan. There were two things I wanted to change. The first was to make all the non-crossover turnouts face the same direction. I did this because I will probably add a couple industries to allow me to actually operate this tiny module ala Lance Mindheim style. With no runaround track, I felt I probably needed to have both the outer spurs with the same facing. The second change was to make the curve tracks a sharper radius that puts it more in line with what I will be using on the larger layout. The parallel curved tracks are 36" radius on the inside and 38" radius on the outside, with 2" track spacing. The curves in the first plan were 220" radius! The smaller radius curves will allow me to see what 85' passenger cars look like on more realistic curves and how they perform with 2" track spacing in the curve. In fact, all the track spacings here are 2".
I then printed the track plan on 8 1/2 x 14 legal size paper in landscape mode. The entire track plan fit on 14 sheets of paper. That's still alot, I can't wait to see how many sheets a 13' x 40' layout prints out. I put the sheets down on top of the door and lined them all up with the sighting guides and taped them together as a mockup on the door. I actually didn't print all 14 sheets here, because some of the sheets had only a couple inches of track on them at the outer edges of the plan.
Tracklaying Products
One of my go-to people for model railroading influence is Chuck Hitchcock. His original Santa Fe Argentine Division layout was featured in the December 1983 Model Railroader issue and was the first time I said "That's what I want". He wrote another article about that layout in the Model Railroad Planning 1997 issue called 12 Hours at Argentine. The focus of that article is on passenger train operations and was the second time I said "That's what I want". At some point in the early 2000's he tore down the Santa Fe Argentine Division and built a new layout called Argentine Industrial District.
Chuck used two products in the construction of the Industrial District layout that I plan on using. The first is well known to model railroaders and that is DAP general-purpose adhesive caulk. It appears that product is no longer made by DAP, at least with that name. I believe the same product is now Kwik Seal adhesive caulk. I was unable to find DAP general-purpose adhesive caulk anywhere, so this is what I got. I got the clear version instead of the white. This is what I will use to "glue" track down to roadbed. There were other adhesive caulks available but they all sounded like they were way too strong an adhesive for model railroading where I might actually want to lift the track after it has been caulked down.
Another product Chuck used for the Industrial District layout is Topper Tape. This is a soft foam adhesive tape with many uses but its most popular use is for putting under a pickup truck cap where the cap rests on the top of the bed.
This tape is 3/16" thick and comes in several different sizes but the one I got is 1 1/4" wide in a 30' roll. The cost was under $6 at Home Depot. I like the 1 1/4" width because HO scale track with 8'6" long ties is right around 1 3/16" wide. The tape is also slightly adhesive on both sides and comes with a non-stick paper film on it that peels off. Chuck talks about using Topper Tape for the Industrial District layout in another article in the August 2003 MR is titled 6 Great Layout Projects. His article on adhesive caulk and topper tape is project #2 in that article. Chuck recommends leaving the paper on the tape when laying straight sections of track because the paper keeps it straight as an arrow. Once it is down on the layout the paper film can be removed. Without the paper film it is very curvable but he says you have to be careful not to stretch it out when laying it in a curve.
So, when I printed the track plan out, I set AnyRail5 to have a 1 1/4" roadbed trace to make it the same size as the topper tape. Now all I have to do is cut out the track outlines and lay it down on the door and trace the outlines onto the door, and then put the topper tape down using the outlines as a guide. Here you can see the width of a Central Valley mainline tie section compared to the width of the tape. My plan is to use topper tape on the two-track mainline for a raised roadbed effect, and then the two outer spurs will transition down to flat roadbed to represent non-mainline track.
In Part III I will trace the roadbed outlines onto the door and start putting down topper tape.
Cheers
 |
| The green outline is the footprint of the hollow core door (17 3/4 x 79) |
I then printed the track plan on 8 1/2 x 14 legal size paper in landscape mode. The entire track plan fit on 14 sheets of paper. That's still alot, I can't wait to see how many sheets a 13' x 40' layout prints out. I put the sheets down on top of the door and lined them all up with the sighting guides and taped them together as a mockup on the door. I actually didn't print all 14 sheets here, because some of the sheets had only a couple inches of track on them at the outer edges of the plan.
Tracklaying Products
One of my go-to people for model railroading influence is Chuck Hitchcock. His original Santa Fe Argentine Division layout was featured in the December 1983 Model Railroader issue and was the first time I said "That's what I want". He wrote another article about that layout in the Model Railroad Planning 1997 issue called 12 Hours at Argentine. The focus of that article is on passenger train operations and was the second time I said "That's what I want". At some point in the early 2000's he tore down the Santa Fe Argentine Division and built a new layout called Argentine Industrial District.
Chuck used two products in the construction of the Industrial District layout that I plan on using. The first is well known to model railroaders and that is DAP general-purpose adhesive caulk. It appears that product is no longer made by DAP, at least with that name. I believe the same product is now Kwik Seal adhesive caulk. I was unable to find DAP general-purpose adhesive caulk anywhere, so this is what I got. I got the clear version instead of the white. This is what I will use to "glue" track down to roadbed. There were other adhesive caulks available but they all sounded like they were way too strong an adhesive for model railroading where I might actually want to lift the track after it has been caulked down.
Another product Chuck used for the Industrial District layout is Topper Tape. This is a soft foam adhesive tape with many uses but its most popular use is for putting under a pickup truck cap where the cap rests on the top of the bed.
This tape is 3/16" thick and comes in several different sizes but the one I got is 1 1/4" wide in a 30' roll. The cost was under $6 at Home Depot. I like the 1 1/4" width because HO scale track with 8'6" long ties is right around 1 3/16" wide. The tape is also slightly adhesive on both sides and comes with a non-stick paper film on it that peels off. Chuck talks about using Topper Tape for the Industrial District layout in another article in the August 2003 MR is titled 6 Great Layout Projects. His article on adhesive caulk and topper tape is project #2 in that article. Chuck recommends leaving the paper on the tape when laying straight sections of track because the paper keeps it straight as an arrow. Once it is down on the layout the paper film can be removed. Without the paper film it is very curvable but he says you have to be careful not to stretch it out when laying it in a curve.
So, when I printed the track plan out, I set AnyRail5 to have a 1 1/4" roadbed trace to make it the same size as the topper tape. Now all I have to do is cut out the track outlines and lay it down on the door and trace the outlines onto the door, and then put the topper tape down using the outlines as a guide. Here you can see the width of a Central Valley mainline tie section compared to the width of the tape. My plan is to use topper tape on the two-track mainline for a raised roadbed effect, and then the two outer spurs will transition down to flat roadbed to represent non-mainline track.
In Part III I will trace the roadbed outlines onto the door and start putting down topper tape.
Cheers
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Test Module Construction - Part I
I am getting tired of sitting in front of the computer almost daily working on track planning. I feel the need to get something moving down in the basement. I have decided to start construction of a test module to get my feet wet, based on an idea I picked up from Chris Ellis on his Adena Railroad blog.
I have a pair of 18" x 80" hollow core doors (actual measurements are 17.75" x 79") that I have had laying around for a few years that I was at some point going to use to start making a shelf layout with at my old house but never really got around to doing. They came in a bi-fold door pack that was under $50 for the two doors. The beauty of hollow core doors is that they are lightweight yet strong and they are highly resistant to warping or sagging.
The module is going to be a fully operational diorama-style mini layout wired for DCC. Right now I am going to build it on a tabletop but at some point I will most likely end up mounting it on the wall using shelf brackets or possibly making a folding leg type of benchwork for it.
I thought about mounting polystyrene foam on the entire module top but decided against it. I will just use the foam as needed if I decide to create some terrain features. Right now the idea is to make this a flat urban type area with little to no terrain features. So, I decided that I would try mounting 3/8" drywall on top of the door and then covering that with a 1/8" thick sheet of cork which I already have a few rolls of. I have seen some other modelers on the web that are using a plywood/drywall/cork (or other soft material) sandwich instead of polystyrene and have been curious to see how it works. Same thing here except instead of a plywood base I am using a hollow core door. I can use more of the cork sheeting layered as roadbed under any track that is to have a thicker ballast bed than flat yard & industrial track.
I used standard drywall screws to attach the drywall sheets to the top of the door. The hollow core door has a rigid wood frame around the edges so the screws were driven through the drywall and into the frame of the door. I used a surform around the edges of the drywall to smooth it before attaching the cork. The cork sheet was glued down with yellow glue spread out thin with a 9" drywall knife. I am not too concerned about the edges of the cork and drywall being perfect because to finish the module off I will attach a masonite fascia all the way around.
I have several ideas I want to try with this module. One of the things I want to test is how 85' passenger cars behave in crossovers. The plan on my larger layout is to use higher numbered turnouts on mainlines, not only because they look more prototypical but also for their performance with the longer passenger cars. For this first test, I have some Central Valley #9 turnouts that I will be using. While I don't consider Central Valley turnouts to be truely handlaid track, they will give me an opportunity to try my hand at making turnouts almost from scratch. I also have some #7 turnouts, also by Central Valley, and a couple bags of Central Valley tie strips, both mainline and branchline tie spacing, for the rest of the track. Mainline track will be code 83 and everything else will be code 70.
I like the appearance of the CVT turnouts and ties. They have good tieplate detail and the turnout kits are self-gauging. Each turnout kit comes with a set of cast metal points and a set of styrene superdetailing parts, including a target style switchstand. The best part about them is they are quite inexpensive compared to commercial turnouts.
A simple track plan is all that is necessary and is really all that will fit. In the next part, I will start mocking up the plan to see how it looks.
I have a pair of 18" x 80" hollow core doors (actual measurements are 17.75" x 79") that I have had laying around for a few years that I was at some point going to use to start making a shelf layout with at my old house but never really got around to doing. They came in a bi-fold door pack that was under $50 for the two doors. The beauty of hollow core doors is that they are lightweight yet strong and they are highly resistant to warping or sagging.
The module is going to be a fully operational diorama-style mini layout wired for DCC. Right now I am going to build it on a tabletop but at some point I will most likely end up mounting it on the wall using shelf brackets or possibly making a folding leg type of benchwork for it.
I thought about mounting polystyrene foam on the entire module top but decided against it. I will just use the foam as needed if I decide to create some terrain features. Right now the idea is to make this a flat urban type area with little to no terrain features. So, I decided that I would try mounting 3/8" drywall on top of the door and then covering that with a 1/8" thick sheet of cork which I already have a few rolls of. I have seen some other modelers on the web that are using a plywood/drywall/cork (or other soft material) sandwich instead of polystyrene and have been curious to see how it works. Same thing here except instead of a plywood base I am using a hollow core door. I can use more of the cork sheeting layered as roadbed under any track that is to have a thicker ballast bed than flat yard & industrial track.
I used standard drywall screws to attach the drywall sheets to the top of the door. The hollow core door has a rigid wood frame around the edges so the screws were driven through the drywall and into the frame of the door. I used a surform around the edges of the drywall to smooth it before attaching the cork. The cork sheet was glued down with yellow glue spread out thin with a 9" drywall knife. I am not too concerned about the edges of the cork and drywall being perfect because to finish the module off I will attach a masonite fascia all the way around.
I have several ideas I want to try with this module. One of the things I want to test is how 85' passenger cars behave in crossovers. The plan on my larger layout is to use higher numbered turnouts on mainlines, not only because they look more prototypical but also for their performance with the longer passenger cars. For this first test, I have some Central Valley #9 turnouts that I will be using. While I don't consider Central Valley turnouts to be truely handlaid track, they will give me an opportunity to try my hand at making turnouts almost from scratch. I also have some #7 turnouts, also by Central Valley, and a couple bags of Central Valley tie strips, both mainline and branchline tie spacing, for the rest of the track. Mainline track will be code 83 and everything else will be code 70.
I like the appearance of the CVT turnouts and ties. They have good tieplate detail and the turnout kits are self-gauging. Each turnout kit comes with a set of cast metal points and a set of styrene superdetailing parts, including a target style switchstand. The best part about them is they are quite inexpensive compared to commercial turnouts.
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| Note the tieplate detail |
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| Superdetailing and parts kit included with each CV turnout. |
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| Another view of the tieplate detail. |
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| What you get in each CV turnout kit. |
A simple track plan is all that is necessary and is really all that will fit. In the next part, I will start mocking up the plan to see how it looks.
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