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I have been thinking about an upcoming layout, and I am thinking of doing it in a sandbox inside. I found this sand: http://www.sandtastik.com/100-sand/101-white-play-sand which is supposed to be non toxic and 100% safe for children. I figure if it safe for a child it should be safe for me.
Anyhow I have my wood table, and I have wooden sides on it, so I figured why perhaps not go and fill the table with 1/2" to 1" worth of sand. Then I can place my track right into the sand, and just push my wires right into the sand and cover them up. There would never be a need to drill holes. My layout would be 100% changeable with easy as I plan on using KATO HO Track. To go up or down, I just plan to use some real rocks and make in a sense a retaining wall, and just fill it up with sand.
I plan on modeling On30, and regardless any sort of Western theme tree would include the desert and that would mean sand and rocks.
Anyone have a reason to not do a layout in sand? Basically doing the layout in a sandbox.
I can see you having issues with keeping your tracks clean. i can see use sand as a senic cover that is glued down but loose sand to much chance to shift if your table bumped.
An interesting idea, but here's a heads-up for you. I'm thinking that if you use sand the smaller particles WILL stick to any locomotives' and railcars' locations where they come in contact (like in derailments) with grease and/or oil on axles, in truck journals, and especially toothed gears. If so, IMO not a good idea.
Lost track of this thread for a while. Anyhow here are some pictures:
Still getting my track plan figured out, but so far I am having great success with my layout. I decided to go with Green sand, the area looks like ground. I have run a few trains now around the table multiple times and it works great. I just initially vacuumed the track before running the train, that gets the sand off the rails. I use a cordless Dyson vacuum for that. Once in a while I miss a spot, so the train stops or jerks when going through a section, but I just get the vacuum out, and fix it.
For those wondering, the Table currently has 775 pounds of sand on it, and I still have 200 more pounds of sand on order. I will have close to 1000 pounds of sand on it when done.
The track is KATO HO, the train layout is On30. I am adding more sand so I can get more hills and more of a landscape. I plan on adding in real rocks.
For those wondering the table size is 22 feet long in total. 8 foot wide for 14 feet of the table and about 9 feet wide for the remaining 8 feet. It is a little wider than 9 feet. I have been the table with the sand, the table is built solid as I had it professionally built by a professional carpenter contractor. I sealed up the cracks on the table with wood putty/filler.
I am able to change my layout very easily at anytime I desire. It takes a little bit of time to adjust the sand to make things smooth for the track in the sense of not having big dips or raises, and/or slants, but I have never had a car or engine fall off the rails. I even have super elevated curves on my outer track.
For those wondering, electrical connection between rails is no problem with KATO track, works like a charm. I even adapted the KATO track to Bachmann for the turntable. One piece just went straight into the other. I took off the unijoiners, and got an extra joiner for the one side from a cheap piece of atlas track and mated the track. To ensure a tight connection I hot glued the turntable and the KATO piece to a thin piece of PVC plastic board.
Yes. I tried this once in 1974 or so with one of my first N-scale layouts. The tracks don't anchor well. The sand is easily disrupted and gets all over everything (including the floor) as it sticks to shirt sleeves, fingers, tools etc. Things don't stay where put. The sand sticks to lubrication of the locos and cars and eventually causes mechanical problems with the wheels and couplers. Might have had better luck had it not been N-scale. Also track like the Bachmann EZ-Track and Kato UniTrack didn't exist at the time either.
I did have better luck with O-gauge trains outside on the dirt than I did with sand in a box.
Thanks guys. N scale might be a little too small, plus like you said Iron Horseman the snap together tracks were not available back then. I am not sure what sand you tried, but the sand I ordered is silica free, and 100% safe for children as it is used in hospitals and what not. Regular sand bought at the hardware store can cause breathing problems if inhaled and the silica is very aggressive which might explain why you had mechanical problems. I might still get those eventually, but so far it does not seem to be too much of an issue. I guess time will tell. I have never oiled or lubricated a train car or loco in my life. I just use them as they come out of the box. Perhaps the motors now a days are better compared to the 70s.
As for the cost of the sand, it is about $1 per pound. The sand I got came bagged in 25 pound boxes, with 2 boxes per cardboard container.
You will have to oil your locomotives eventually, they come oiled from the factory.
Use oil very sparingly because it will cause the sand to adhere to it. Many people over oil and no mater what environment they run in that can causes problems.
For me it's beagle hair for my under the Christmas tree trains. I clean them thoroughly before I put them away for next Christmas and it has not been an issue.
If you see a locomotive acting strangely, for example running not as smooth as it did just clean it and oil it and back to the sand box!
I admire your individualism.
Have fun with your trains and thanks for sharing your hobby with us!
