Track at baseboard joints on portable layouts

[Robert Stokes]

I haven't read all of the posts above so my apologies if this is a repeat.

 

There is a way that you can avoid too large a gap at the board junctions. Before fixing the track, fit the two boards together with a piece of cardboard between them that is slightly thinner than the blade of the saw that you will use to cur the track. Then fix down the track across the junction and cut it. Now release the two boards, remove the piece of cardboard, and fix the baseboards back together. The two ends of the track will very nearly touch each other. N.B. The cardboard must not be thicker than the saw blade otherwise the track ends will project a little and buckle when the baseboards are re-assembled.

[MarshLane]

Chaps,

Thanks for all the comments and feedback. @Izzy that could well be a useful tip, especially for the hidden sidings. 

 

I think my initial way forward will be to try the ModelTech boards, which will also help with track alignment - not that it should be needed once laid and ballasted - but every little helps as a well known supermarket says!  Then it will just be a case of adjustment in height between those and the code 40 rail to avoid any 'humps' at the baseboard joints.  

 

I like @Robert Stokes idea of the cardboard too - I was told thin steel washers, but its the same principal!

 

My layout thread is in my signature, if anyone wants to follow along - please dont let the fact that I am modelling the American railroads put you off   Its all standard modelling and scenics ... at least until the trains start running!

 

Richie

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by MarshLane

[Keith Addenbrooke]

A really useful thread with some very helpful advice.  I'd not seen @MarshLane's American layout thread (it's in the main Layout Topics Forum rather than the US and Canadian Modelling section) but it is definitely well worth a look.

 

Instead of starting a new thread with an almost identical question, I hope it's OK to post a variation here:

 

I've been looking at a plan also with 9mm track, though in this case HOe / 009 rather than N-Gauge.

 

It has four lines crossing baseboard joints and would also be for a portable home layout.

 

Three are straight at 90 Deg. but with enough straight either side you could lay pieces of Setrack either side up to the join and not need to cut the rails (Peco 9mm Setrack for Narrow Gauge has the same sleepers as Flextrack, unlike Standard Gauge Setrack with chunky end sleepers, so it is visually OK).

 

Q1: Will the stronger Setrack sleepers and rails be sufficiently stiff for this to work if well secured to the baseboard? (if not, the ideas here will still be useful, of course).

 

The fourth line is also straight track but crosses at 22.5 Deg. (ie: one Setrack curve out of perpendicular).  It is a hidden section, and long enough that a piece of unballasted Setrack could be loose laid across the joint with pins slotting into pre-drilled holes.

 

Q2: Might this be preferable to trying to cut and then align 9mm track at the 22.5 Deg. angle?

 

I note the Modeltech product is available for 009 track so is an option.  Any thoughts?  Keith.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Chris116]

I have used the ModelTech on my Harbledown RR layout and I am very pleased with the results.

[KingEdwardII]

53 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Will the stronger Setrack sleepers and rails be sufficiently stiff for this to work if well secured to the baseboard?

Probably, assuming that you have a means of mechanically aligning the two baseboards accurately. My preferred means is to use Cam Dowels, long a favourite of flat pack furniture companies ;-). The dowels can give very good alignment as long as you make the holes to receive them a tight fit. The Cams lock everything in place with a quick twist of a screwdriver. They can be released fairly quickly. 

 

56 minutes ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Q2: Might this be preferable to trying to cut and then align 9mm track at the 22.5 Deg. angle?

Track crossing other than at right angles is a bit of a pain. Yours is straight. In this case, one thing to consider is to "dog leg" the edge of the baseboard just where this track goes - so that the edges of the two baseboards are at 90 degrees where this track crosses. So you end up with a triangular section sticking out on one side and an equivalent triangular notch on the other side. Simply run your track up to the edge of the triangular sections. No messing about with the track if you do it this way.

 

The main thing to avoid like the plague is having a curve cross between the baseboards. It is misery trying to get this well aligned enough to avoid derailments. The sharper the curve, the worse it gets.

 

Yours, Mike.

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

The main thing to avoid like the plague is having a curve cross between the baseboards. It is misery trying to get this well aligned enough to avoid derailments. The sharper the curve, the worse it gets.

Oh dear: by the green cutters!

OK, it’s not a curve, but it is only 24 degrees crossing angle.   I will admit I was worried whether it would work and it does need accurate dowels (DCC Concepts, usual disclaimer).  It’s been separated a few times now and hasn’t given any trouble in operation.

However, I would still recommend getting as close to 90 degrees as the space allows.
Paul.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

3 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

Probably, assuming that you have a means of mechanically aligning the two baseboards accurately. My preferred means is to use Cam Dowels, long a favourite of flat pack furniture companies ;-). The dowels can give very good alignment as long as you make the holes to receive them a tight fit. The Cams lock everything in place with a quick twist of a screwdriver. They can be released fairly quickly. 

 

Track crossing other than at right angles is a bit of a pain. Yours is straight. In this case, one thing to consider is to "dog leg" the edge of the baseboard just where this track goes - so that the edges of the two baseboards are at 90 degrees where this track crosses. So you end up with a triangular section sticking out on one side and an equivalent triangular notch on the other side. Simply run your track up to the edge of the triangular sections. No messing about with the track if you do it this way.

 

The main thing to avoid like the plague is having a curve cross between the baseboards. It is misery trying to get this well aligned enough to avoid derailments. The sharper the curve, the worse it gets.

 

Yours, Mike.

 

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

Oh dear: by the green cutters!

OK, it’s not a curve, but it is only 24 degrees crossing angle.   I will admit I was worried whether it would work and it does need accurate dowels (DCC Concepts, usual disclaimer).  It’s been separated a few times now and hasn’t given any trouble in operation.

However, I would still recommend getting as close to 90 degrees as the space allows.
Paul.

 

Thank you - I agree about using DCC Concepts alignment dowels: I have fitted these and found them both very easy to use and reliable.  I also use coach bolts with wing nuts and large washers for fastening boards together.  For home made boards for home use this combination seems to work very well.  Thanks, Keith.

[MarshLane]

Hi Keith,

Interesting questions, and no problem with posting them here!  It makes sense to keep such things together, in the hope that others will find it useful in the future.

 

Thanks for your kind comments on my Rock Creek layout - at the time I started, the American section didn't look particularly well used, so went for the Layout Topics!  Once the first bit of scenery is down, I'll do an 'action' thread on the US section!

 

The only comment I would make, given the experience with the initial boards on Rock Creek is that you need to be very careful that the track coming to the edge of the board is well secured.  On one of the 'off scene' boards, I managed to catch one rail when disassembling it once and purely by accident ripped it out of eight or nine sleepers.  The entire piece of track had to be replaced.  The situation may have been different if it had been ballasted of course, but it was one of the reasons that made me look at other options for the new boards - hence this thread.  The model tech options do look good, but won't help with your curve line of course - id strongly suggest looking at the copper clad sleeper approach and soldering the rail to it just to give it more strength.

 

Richie

[Keith Addenbrooke]

4 minutes ago, MarshLane said:

Hi Keith,

Interesting questions, and no problem with posting them here!  It makes sense to keep such things together, in the hope that others will find it useful in the future.

 

Thanks for your kind comments on my Rock Creek layout - at the time I started, the American section didn't look particularly well used, so went for the Layout Topics!  Once the first bit of scenery is down, I'll do an 'action' thread on the US section!

 

The only comment I would make, given the experience with the initial boards on Rock Creek is that you need to be very careful that the track coming to the edge of the board is well secured.  On one of the 'off scene' boards, I managed to catch one rail when disassembling it once and purely by accident ripped it out of eight or nine sleepers.  The entire piece of track had to be replaced.  The situation may have been different if it had been ballasted of course, but it was one of the reasons that made me look at other options for the new boards - hence this thread.  The model tech options do look good, but won't help with your curve line of course - id strongly suggest looking at the copper clad sleeper approach and soldering the rail to it just to give it more strength.

 

Richie

 

Thanks Richie - the idea in this thread suggested by a couple of people of 'keepers' fastened to the ends of the baseboards is a good suggestion to reduce the risk of catching rail ends (I'd not thought of them for home layouts, but once suggested it's kind of a "why ever not?" idea).

 

Getting on with ballasting before too long is a good idea to help fix things in place too.

 

Just to clarify, the plan I've been looking at has an angled straight across one join, not a curve (as noted, a curve can be a different proposition).

[MarshLane]

3 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Thanks Richie - the idea in this thread suggested by a couple of people of 'keepers' fastened to the ends of the baseboards is a good suggestion to reduce the risk of catching rail ends (I'd not thought of them for home layouts, but once suggested it's kind of a "why ever not?" idea).

 

I am treating my initial baseboards as something of an 'out of the box' project and a trail.  As I am looking to store the boards in storage boxes to keep the dust off them, I am going to look at adding the 'end keeper plates' by magnets when its not in use - that way its an easy on, easy off idea.  We'll see whether it works or not!

 

Richie

[Izzy]

Ballasting the track won’t in my experience stop the rail being caught and ripped out of the sleepers. This is the problem that can occur with plastic sleeper track and why it is often recommended and frequently used that brass screws are driven into the baseboard and the rails soldered to them. In this respect soldered track is an advantage as it is more robust, but the problem then arises that usually the pcb sleepers are not as thick as that for plastic track. This is certainly the case with 2mm code40 using 2mm association parts compared to Peco N gauge track. 

[MarshLane]

1 hour ago, MarshLane said:

I am treating my initial baseboards as something of an 'out of the box' project and a trail.  As I am looking to store the boards in storage boxes to keep the dust off them, I am going to look at adding the 'end keeper plates' by magnets when its not in use - that way its an easy on, easy off idea.  We'll see whether it works or not!

 

I thought it might help to show what I mean by the 'end keeper plates'. These are them on the 3D design work for the first of the baseboards..

 

 

Showing them either end of the board, attached by magnets for storage, and clearly protecting the end of baseboards, scenery and track.  EDIT: Forgot to add, there has to be a slightly cut out or 'stand off' to allow the Modeltec pieces to overlap the ends of the board, if I use them.

 

 

A close up showing how it covers the outside of the baseboard.

 

 

And just another view from the opposite end - for the avoidance any queries, the large upright towards the rear is a scenic divider to split one part of the layout from the other.  For those following my Rock Creek thread, all will become clear when the other boards are designed!

 

Richie

Edited November 19, 2021 by MarshLane

[Crewlisle]

24/11/21      

1.   All my track is curved where it passes over the baseboard joints so it would have been unwise to use the standard method of soldering the ends of the track to copper clad Paxolin or screw heads at the baseboard edges due to the track having to be cut at very shallow angles ‑ especially running trains at scale speeds of up to 90mph on the WCML!  The slightest misalignment would be disastrous.   There are two methods which can be used to connect baseboards securely.  That is with butt hinges or dowels/bolts.  I prefer cast butt hinges for the reasons below.   Enter 'Crewlisle' to see track plan online.

2.   Perhaps the easier method is to use cast steel or brass hinges.  Don't rely on these to support the weight of the boards but only for accurate alignment.  In turn, push each board together making sure that the tops are level & screw each pair of hinges to edges of the two boards.  The cast hinges have accurate hinge pins which when replaced with removable pins keep the boards accurately aligned.  I use 25mm cast brass  hinges & when the pins have been punched out I can use a short removable length of 1.5mm steel rod. The cheap ordinary pressed out hinges have too much play in them.     

 3.   After roughly drawing my track plan on the baseboards, I glued & laid wide sections of 2mm polystyrene wall insulation secured with Evostik Resin W as the track ballast base.  2mm cork was much too expensive at the time!  Templates of any points crossing baseboard joints were cut from the 2mm polystyrene, stuck to the underside of the points & pinned them in their approximate position.  Lengths of track were then bent to fit over the baseboard joints &/or connected to the points with nickel silver rail joiners, pinned & adjusting track or points to provide smooth curves.  Ensure the track is 'set' in position, does not try to spring back straight & that any track joints start at least 150mm before you start your curve.  Cut the polystyrene to the edge of the sleepers to allow for track ballasting. The Evostik Resin W is easily scraped off the baseboard.  Don't worry about laying track or points over the baseboard joints, I will deal with that next.

4.   The foam was laid but not stuck 80mm either side of the baseboard joint.  The track was cut approximately 80mm each side of the baseboard joint with a razor saw or small cutting disc, making sure there is no 'spring' in the track when cut and the short section lifted out and reinforced with thin card on the underside & ballasted. The rail ends of this section were carefully filed, nickel silver rail connectors soldered to one end and sleeper chairs cut at the other end to allow the fitting of sliding standard nickel silver rail joiners to adjacent track.  This allowed accurate and reliable track alignment & electrical continuity every time by having the track continuously joined with normal nickel silver rail connectors.  As the adverts say, "You cannot see the join!".  After completing the track, the track will have additional strength when you glue your ballast down.

 

5.   I have been exhibiting for over 30 years & have had no trouble with this method of connection when having to dismantle/assemble the layout for exhibitions.  I have 1 point on the high level & a pair of crossover points on the mid level WCML fitted across baseboard joints in the same way.  None of the points have had to be cut as they are joined in the same way as the normal track. See photo of underside of a point. Peco point motors are clipped to the point tie bar with electrical connections via a DIN plug.

 

[Erixtar1992]

I use copper clad sleepers from DCC Concepts..

ignoring the missing paint and the fact it needs a hoover i think its as convincing as you can get.

 

those protrack rail aligners leave an overhang which is asking for trouble, i dont see a benefit to using them over this method tbh.

plus they dont work for curves

[dasatcopthorne]

For our Club layouts that get moved around a lot I prefer brass screws.

 

Dave.