paul mackay Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hello new to the forum but not new to model railways but do have a question for you all. I'm currently building a new layout which will have 3rd rail, now do I fit the 3rd rail first and then ballast the track or ballast track first then add 3rd rail. Cheers. Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted June 18, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 18, 2014 We ballasted the track before fitting the third rail as there is one less thing in the way to brush the ballast into place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnb Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Definitely, ballast then 3rd rail, much easier to get a good ballast profile done in that order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted June 18, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 18, 2014 Welcome aboard Paul I have a third-rail layout in the early stages of construction (albeit it's been stalled for some months now but that's another story) and have done a few test lengths both ways. Definitely ballast first. Then weather the ballast if you so desire. Then start on anything else above ballast level including fitting the juice rails. It's much easier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul mackay Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hi, cheers will do like you have said ballast first then add 3rd rail. Cheers for your help. Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crompton 33 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Welcome paul . I'm building a 3rd rail layout all my ballast was put down first then the 3rd rail added . What you should do before you add the 3rd rail is rust your track first as it's not so easy to get at once the 3rd rail is fitted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted June 18, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 18, 2014 Welcome paul . I'm building a 3rd rail layout all my ballast was put down first then the 3rd rail added . What you should do before you add the 3rd rail is rust your track first as it's not so easy to get at once the 3rd rail is fitted. Good point. We painted the running rails prior to fitting the third rail aswell. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crompton 33 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Some of the 3rd rail fitted on my layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul mackay Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Cheers for your help. Looks good crompton33. Cheers.Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 If it helps any further, we are having to re-lay the third and fourth rails on Loftus Road. When we tried to run the Dapol Megafret container wagons, our previous third rail would bring trains to a shuddering halt as the rail height was too much. We had used Peco insulators with our third rail. However, we are now looking at soldering pins to the underside of the third rail before reinstalling to the main track. The moral of this: make sure your stock will run over the proposed third rail before you fix everything in place! Hope this helps... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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