Starting a New Layout--Some Questions
- Thread starter bigB
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Michael,
Im talkin' 'bout these...Willis
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/Fast-Tracks-HO-Scale-Curved-SweepSticks-s/2212.htm
Oh ooops. I misundertood, thought you won some sweepstakes and got some free track or something. LOL
You're going hardcore with the hand laid track. Nice, I don't have the guts (or time) to do any of that.
Plywood? HA! That is the least of your worries. Wait until you buy Flex Track, Switches, switch machines, cork roadbed, wire, joiners, and on and on and on.
The good thing is, nothing has to be purchased until you're ready to use them. The most flex track I've ever bought at one time, was like 12 pieces.
Thanks!
I had a nightmare the other night that my wife wanted to move. l woke up in a cold sweat...
Hey George,
So you just pigtail every feeder connection? Interesting, never thought of that.
Brad
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
Michael,
Im talkin' 'bout these...Willis
http://www.handlaidtrack.com/Fast-Tracks-HO-Scale-Curved-SweepSticks-s/2212.htm
Motley
Active Member
Oh ooops. I misundertood, thought you won some sweepstakes and got some free track or something. LOL
You're going hardcore with the hand laid track. Nice, I don't have the guts (or time) to do any of that.
Motley
Active Member
Plywood? HA! That is the least of your worries. Wait until you buy Flex Track, Switches, switch machines, cork roadbed, wire, joiners, and on and on and on.
The good thing is, nothing has to be purchased until you're ready to use them. The most flex track I've ever bought at one time, was like 12 pieces.
Just ordered alot of materials that should keep me busy the rest of the spring and right on into the summer. The orders included:
25 pieces of flex track (probably half of the total of what Ill need).
17 turnouts, all Atlas #6 Customlines and 1 curved Walthers 7.5
12 Tortoises
1 Microengineering 210' Tall Steel Viaduct
1 ME 60' Viaduct extension
2 ME 85' Open Deck Bridges
Some 3" pieces of sectional track for the turnouts
Track joiners, insulated and universal
I have a bunch of stranded layout left over from the old layout and one spool of white 14 gauge solid core wire. Ill need another spool of another color plus several DCC components later when the wiring starts.
25 pieces of flex track (probably half of the total of what Ill need).
17 turnouts, all Atlas #6 Customlines and 1 curved Walthers 7.5
12 Tortoises
1 Microengineering 210' Tall Steel Viaduct
1 ME 60' Viaduct extension
2 ME 85' Open Deck Bridges
Some 3" pieces of sectional track for the turnouts
Track joiners, insulated and universal
I have a bunch of stranded layout left over from the old layout and one spool of white 14 gauge solid core wire. Ill need another spool of another color plus several DCC components later when the wiring starts.
joe circus
Well-Known Member
Been great to see so far. Looking forward to seeing the track start to go down ...
Thanks for the kind words.
The Fast Tracks Sweep Sticks came in and I got some actual work done, mostly grade work.
The first picture will have a total of 6 tracks. The elevation of the 4 mainlines in the background is 2 1/2". This is the only point on the layout where they interchange via back to back crossovers. In the foreground is the 2 storage tracks at 0" grade.
The 2nd picture shows the two mains separating as the outer begins its climb and the middle tracks (2 other mains) begin their descent to meet the storage tracks at 0" grade. All grades are 2 percent. It was pretty easy to calculate in that I laid all my benchwork on 24" centers and just used the calculation of 1/2" rise/fall equals 2ft (24"). I found better results in drilling down into the riser from track level versus drilling up through the riser. I countersunk everything so shouldnt be an issue with the track running.
The 3rd picture shows the outer mains at 4 1/4" and will continue to climb to 5 3/4" where it'll meet the 210' Tall Steel Viaduct. You can see the inner mains meeting up with the storage tracks.
The last picture is a profile view. The mains on the right are at 4 1/4" at the end there.
All turnouts will be Atlas #6s. 2 1/2" track centers on straightaways with 2 3/4" centers on 27" and 30" curves.
Brad
The Fast Tracks Sweep Sticks came in and I got some actual work done, mostly grade work.
The first picture will have a total of 6 tracks. The elevation of the 4 mainlines in the background is 2 1/2". This is the only point on the layout where they interchange via back to back crossovers. In the foreground is the 2 storage tracks at 0" grade.
The 2nd picture shows the two mains separating as the outer begins its climb and the middle tracks (2 other mains) begin their descent to meet the storage tracks at 0" grade. All grades are 2 percent. It was pretty easy to calculate in that I laid all my benchwork on 24" centers and just used the calculation of 1/2" rise/fall equals 2ft (24"). I found better results in drilling down into the riser from track level versus drilling up through the riser. I countersunk everything so shouldnt be an issue with the track running.
The 3rd picture shows the outer mains at 4 1/4" and will continue to climb to 5 3/4" where it'll meet the 210' Tall Steel Viaduct. You can see the inner mains meeting up with the storage tracks.
The last picture is a profile view. The mains on the right are at 4 1/4" at the end there.
All turnouts will be Atlas #6s. 2 1/2" track centers on straightaways with 2 3/4" centers on 27" and 30" curves.
Brad
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks!
I had a nightmare the other night that my wife wanted to move. l woke up in a cold sweat...
More progress...
Upper level work today...
Here you can see the upper level. The mid level descends to grade while the upper ascends to 5 3/4" and crosses over and branches. The double tracks that will be closer to you in the upper level will cross over the lower level via two double track bridges that are connected by two 85' open deck bridges. The back upper main line (single track) will go to the steel viaduct.
If you look closely, you can see where the lower mains are circle under the upper mains and you can also see where the storage tracks will meet up with the lower mains.
Going to spend tomorrow am just cleaning up. I got more sawdust on the floors than I thought possible. Reminds me of the peanut shells at that one Steakhouse chain.
Brad
Upper level work today...
Here you can see the upper level. The mid level descends to grade while the upper ascends to 5 3/4" and crosses over and branches. The double tracks that will be closer to you in the upper level will cross over the lower level via two double track bridges that are connected by two 85' open deck bridges. The back upper main line (single track) will go to the steel viaduct.
If you look closely, you can see where the lower mains are circle under the upper mains and you can also see where the storage tracks will meet up with the lower mains.
Going to spend tomorrow am just cleaning up. I got more sawdust on the floors than I thought possible. Reminds me of the peanut shells at that one Steakhouse chain.
Brad
First track down
I did a truckload of work this week. Got almost all the roadbed installed (got old fast), installed 5 tortoise switch machines (for 2 crossovers and a single turnout), added leds in series to the tortoises, and installed some fascia so I could mount the switches that control the turnouts and their LEDs.
As you can see, I need to cut off the .039" music wire rods for the tortoise/turnouts. I affixed the turnouts to the roadbed with caulk, being careful to avoid the moving parts but not being so careful that the opened tube I had handy dries white, not clear. Oh well, it'll eventually be ballasted anyways.
The tortoises went in relatively easy. I did one of the two single turnouts (non
crossovers first) and wired in the LEDs and DPDT switches. I bought a radio shack 12 v 500m amp dc transformer thats routed to terminal strips to power the tortoises. I got frustrated on the second crossover install bc I botched the LED install, but after a long break, I rallied and figured out my mistake.
Enjoy.
I did a truckload of work this week. Got almost all the roadbed installed (got old fast), installed 5 tortoise switch machines (for 2 crossovers and a single turnout), added leds in series to the tortoises, and installed some fascia so I could mount the switches that control the turnouts and their LEDs.
As you can see, I need to cut off the .039" music wire rods for the tortoise/turnouts. I affixed the turnouts to the roadbed with caulk, being careful to avoid the moving parts but not being so careful that the opened tube I had handy dries white, not clear. Oh well, it'll eventually be ballasted anyways.
The tortoises went in relatively easy. I did one of the two single turnouts (non
crossovers first) and wired in the LEDs and DPDT switches. I bought a radio shack 12 v 500m amp dc transformer thats routed to terminal strips to power the tortoises. I got frustrated on the second crossover install bc I botched the LED install, but after a long break, I rallied and figured out my mistake.
Enjoy.
More work done...
This week's activities include installing 8 more tortoises and wiring their toggles and leds and building the bridge piers. Some more fascia work was done too.
Only 4 more tortoises to install and Ill be done with those. Ive installed the last crossover, so the rest should go real fast. Will start laying track, and wiring in the coming weeks.
Here's a couple pictures of the initial bridge piers being tested. I leveled them out a bit better (you can see one of the open deck bridge tilting very slightly in one of the pictures which has since been leveled) and wood glued them in. I need to paint them to look alot more realistic and permanently install the bridges.
This week's activities include installing 8 more tortoises and wiring their toggles and leds and building the bridge piers. Some more fascia work was done too.
Only 4 more tortoises to install and Ill be done with those. Ive installed the last crossover, so the rest should go real fast. Will start laying track, and wiring in the coming weeks.
Here's a couple pictures of the initial bridge piers being tested. I leveled them out a bit better (you can see one of the open deck bridge tilting very slightly in one of the pictures which has since been leveled) and wood glued them in. I need to paint them to look alot more realistic and permanently install the bridges.
NYC_George
Well-Known Member
BigB I just use wire nuts. My whole house uses wire nuts, why not the layout. It's easy, fast and any mistakes can be quickly fixed.
George
George
Hey George,
So you just pigtail every feeder connection? Interesting, never thought of that.
Brad
NYC_George
Well-Known Member
Brad that's it. I bougth a plastic bottle of them at home depot for about $12.00. I got the idea from work. We built two 50 story high rises in White Planes, NY. Everything was wire nuts. Very fast connections. On a layout it's even faster. If you make a mistake just add another wire.
George
George
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)