Building My First Layout

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I'm really torn between using foam board on the plywood, or just painting the plywood. I spent the extra money for better quality plywood that is sanded on one side, so it would look better painted. I see some advantages to using foam board on the plywood, but I hate the idea of glueing foam onto higher quality, expensive plywood.

My gut feeling is to just paint the plywood as I originally planned...
 
bigfoot13 said:
Another thing to consider is the sound. Others might chime in from experience. I've only used homosote. I like the idea of being able to cut out the foam but I also like to be able to fine tune the track with the homosote. Obviously I haven't made it to scenery yet.
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I have a box of cork roadbed, that should help with the noise.

This is my first "real" train layout, and being 56, I don't know if this is my last layout. I can build things, but I'm not very artistic, like those people out there who are excellent modelers, who can bring realism to their layouts.
 
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Marlin338MX said:
I'm really torn between using foam board on the plywood, or just painting the plywood. I spent the extra money for better quality plywood that is sanded on one side, so it would look better painted. I see some advantages to using foam board on the plywood, but I hate the idea of glueing foam onto higher quality, expensive plywood.

My gut feeling is to just paint the plywood as I originally planned...
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Their are advantages to both really, with foam it's easier to sculp if you want to give the impression of variable terrain, also planting vegetation like trees etc. is indeed much simpler, some also say it dampens the sound vibration of the track, but your going to have to caulk the track to the foam to stop it moving, something I'm adverse to doing.

I personally, just have cork roadbed over plywood, (the noise, not that I've noticed any, doesn't bother me) and use track screws to fix it in place so any alterations I want to make, however large or small, are simpler to do.

There are numerous YT videos and threads, here and elsewhere, that discuss the pros and cons of both as well as demonstrations, I would suggest you research the subject further to see which best suits your needs.
 
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I haven't made much progress since my last post. The track is tacked down with push pins, and will most likely be moved around here and there as I try to plan where my buildings, structures and landscaping will go. One of my challenges is trying to use as much of my dad's buildings and trains as possible. I added more track, but I'm waiting for 2 more right handed turnouts before I can put the 2 new spurs on the layout. In the picture below, the green area will be my Texas Gulf Coast waterfront. The yellow area looks like the spur comes into contact with the inside mainline, but it doesn't. The blue areas are where the grain elevator might go. I still have to assemble it first. These grain elevators were a major part of everyday life growing up in central Illinois, so I feel obligated to find a place for the grain elevator.

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It sports a 13.5" x 9.5" footprint
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I found a passenger depot in my 12 boxes of stuff, so I might end up putting it in the top center of the layout. The outside mainline is primarily for passenger train traffic, but the passenger depot will be inside the freight train mainline (inside mainline).

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The 5 spurs on the top left of the layout are for the "working stations" my dad bought. 3 of them run on AC power, so they will be wired to, and controlled from, my main electronics control board, which isn't built yet. They won't be used very much, which is why I put them on their own spurs.

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It seems like most of the buildings and stuff that my dad bought 20+ years ago are very old school, and it's probably stuff that serious model railroaders would never consider using on a modern layout today. But, my goal is to use what I have, and build a model railroad that is fun to operate, and one that showcases my dad's personal collection that he never had the chance to enjoy.

Thanks for following!
 
The old stuff to me is great that you have there! (Many would consider them collectors items) depending on how you look at it! I think your collection is great and would have considered the bridge part of it. I can only assume you are aware of some of the tyco collectors online?

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BigGRacing said:
The old stuff to me is great that you have there! (Many would consider them collectors items) depending on how you look at it! I think your collection is great and would have considered the bridge part of it. I can only assume you are aware of some of the tyco collectors online?

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Thank you! I'm not aware of the Tyco collectors online, but I'll look them up.
 


Marlin338MX said:
Born and raised in Streator until 12 years old, then Plainfield through high school. Before Plainfield, we spent a year in Decatur, Long Point, Ransom... we moved a lot.
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Small world!

Spent a bunch of time in Streator. Both my parents were born and raised there. Both my Grandparents lived their till there passing. I spent many summers walking up and down the BN tracks by Thatcher's, and Owens glass factories.

Ransom, know where that's at as well We were just there for one of my daughter's basketball games a few weeks ago, out by the Nuke plant.
 
migalyto said:
Small world!

Spent a bunch of time in Streator. Both my parents were born and raised there. Both my Grandparents lived their till there passing. I spent many summers walking up and down the BN tracks by Thatcher's, and Owens glass factories.

Ransom, know where that's at as well We were just there for one of my daughter's basketball games a few weeks ago, out by the Nuke plant.
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Small world for sure!

My dad worked at Thatcher's and Owens. I was born in 67, and in the next 12+ years we lived in Streator and several towns around there. We might have lived in Decatur for 2 years, 4th and 5th grades with my mom, then back to Streator. Ransom was 1st grade and Long Point was 2nd grade.

Streator had so many working railroads back then, such as Conrail, Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, Norfolk and Western, Amtrak... I'm forgetting some, but that railyard near Owens was massive (for a small city).

I haven't been to Ransom since the early 70's. I had no idea there was a nuke plant anywhere near there.
 
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Marlin338MX said:
Small world for sure!

My dad worked at Thatcher's and Owens. I was born in 67, and in the next 12+ years we lived in Streator and several towns around there. We might have lived in Decatur for 2 years, 4th and 5th grades with my mom, then back to Streator. Ransom was 1st grade and Long Point was 2nd grade.

Streator had so many working railroads back then, such as Conrail, Santa Fe, Burlington Northern, Norfolk and Western, Amtrak... I'm forgetting some, but that railyard near Owens was massive!

I haven't been to Ransom since the early 70's. I had no idea there was a nuke plant anywhere near there.
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According to Wikipedia it wasn't in operation till the early 80s. so would have been farmland when you lived there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaSalle_County_Nuclear_Generating_Station

I believe my father worked a couple of years at Owens before him and my mom married.
 


I somehow missed this thread when you first started it on Veteran's Day, but I just caught up. Here are some thoughts.
I use cork roadbed directly on 1/2" plywood. My layout has no grades, thus making it easier to build. There are places where I added elevation alongside tracks (corners for example), by just adding layers of Homasote because that's what I had on hand. Foam could also be used.

If you weren't trying to clear another track, the Bascule bridge wouldn't need quite as much elevation. Maybe a river painted directly on the plywood. It could be made more realistic with riverbanks made of 1" foam. Or a section of the plywood could be cut out and lowered to make the riverbed.

Those old Tyco structures can be dressed up and made to look much better. Honoring your father with their inclusion is a great idea.

After you determine the track plan, use a pencil and trace roughly on the sides of the tracks. It won't be as wide as the cork roadbed but it would give you some guidelines as to where to place it. There is a small amount of forgiveness in sectional track, but be careful not to kink it. Flex track would give more flexibility. I use Elmer's White Glue to hold the cork in place, and then use track nails to fasten the track. I use flex on most of the layout and all of my curves are at least 28" radius. My holdover sectional track is used on sidings. If you're planning on using mostly sectional track, be prepared to add many more feeders for power.

I'll be following along, and you already seem to know that we like lots of pictures!
 
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