Tracklaying

[TimmyRaa]

Hi all.

 

Im attempting to lay track for the first time.  Ive found some cork at home, and id like your opinions on whether its the right thickness for track underlay.  Please see attached pic

[neilrh]

It appears that your ruler is not touching the table by the cork, but I would estimate that it's therefore around 3-3.5mm. This would be a perfectly adequate thickness, and if it's readily available at home no reason why you should not use it. Just remember that if you run out, you will need to source more with a similar thickness. And if it's floor tile it may not be uniform thickness.

['CHARD]

For my purposes I use cork to provide sufficient elevation to create a ballast shoulder, as these can be quite pronounced depending when, where and what you are modelling.

 

I reckon your solution looks adequate from all basic perspectives.

[TimmyRaa]

Thanks for the replies guys. Im planning on ballasting.  Its no specific era, as I have a lot of varied stock.  Ive built a room in my garage, and I was hoping to model 1/2 of the layout Late BR era, and the other half 1980s (rail blue era).  It definitely wont be one for the purists, but  hey, each to their own

[TimmyRaa]

Also what sort of width of cork strip is suggested please

[HLT 0109]

I have tried to copy a link to a useful diagram of a cross section of ballasted track giving recommended dimension but cannot get it to copy.  However, if you enter "Ballast Section Specification" into your search engine, I think you will find the image I wanted is the first on the page.  It is from armytransportation.tpub.com.  You may find that following this uses a lot of ballast so, on my extensive layout, I cut the cork along the edge of the sleepers and allowed the ballast shoulders to form from that point.  My personal preference is not to use cork at all and to lay the track straight on to the baseboard but it depends to some extent on the thickness of the baseboard.  It is a fundamental decision as one must continue with whichever method one starts with - making a transition from one to the other is quite difficult.

 

You haven't said what scale you are working in - it is assumed to be 4mm. 

 

Harold.

[TimmyRaa]

yes sorry it is oo gauge, and the baseboards are 15mm thick.  I cut out some of the cork strip last night at 1" and 3/4, and it looks too wide.  I need to get this right before I continue

[Campaman]

I cut the cork into strips 50mm wide and then chamfer the edges which gives me a top surface of around 40mm

 

 

 

 

** Edited to amend to the correct measured dimensions

[Grovenor]

I cut the cork into strips 40mm wide and then chamfer the edges which gives me a top surface of around 30mm

IMHO this is not wide enough, the Peco sleepers are 30mm long and there should be a ballast shoulder each side of about a foot, ie 4mm, making the top surface 38mm then with a 45degree chamfer 45mm overall. Cut at 45 degrees when cutting the strips and you don't waste 7mm per strip.

Keith

[Campaman]

Hi Keith

 

You are correct, I have measured my actual cork rather than going from memory and I have now edited my post above to what I have actually done, which is basically the dimensions you have stated.

 

Next time I will measure first rather than rely on my memory.

[Jeff Smith]

TimmyRaa - if you have not ballasted before you might want to experiment on a short length of track glued to cork glued to a wider piece of baseboard offcut.  If you make it about a foot long it can then serve as a display track for photography etc.

 

I recently ballasted a lot of 16.5mm (On30, Micro Engineering) track which had cork thick enough to put uncoupling magnets under the track and a 45 deg slope.  I used Woodland Scenics medium ballast which looks good for O scale but you might want to try fine ballast for 4mm scale.  Anyway I found it good to paint the sloping shoulder with white glue and sprinkle ballast onto it - the glue stops it all sliding down the slope.  I then lightly pressed it into the glue with my finger.  Then without waiting for it to dry I sprinkled ballast between the sleepers and outside the rails, up to the sleeper tops.  Then I used a small squeezable plastic bottle with fine nozzle (hair dye application bottles are ideal for this) with a mixture of about 25% white glue, 75% water and several drops of hand soap or washing up liquid - well mixed.  I started dribbling on the glue between the rails so that it seeped under the rails - this may not happen if there are webs under the rails.  Then I went down outside the rails - don't press the wet ballast with your fingers as it will all stick to them!  Try not to let the glue get on the top of the sleepers.  Any ballast that gets on the sleepers can be picked off with tweezers while wet or knocked off with a small screwdriver after it dries (about 12 hours).  Hopefully the white glue used is permanent and will not come un-glued if you apply a watered down colour wash later.....I once used 'School Glue' which is designed to wash out of clothes, and it all went soft with a water wash.....

 

Hope you find this advice useful.  It can seem daunting if you have a lot to do but goes well once you get into it.

[Jeff Smith]

If you are going to paint the track it is probably easier to do before ballasting - most old track with wooden sleepers ends up being roughly the same colour for rail sides, chairs and sleepers. I use Polly Scale Railroad Tie Brown (acrylic) but any flat dark brown will do - if you try using rust for the rail and chairs not only is it fiddly it looks odd unless you weather it afterwards. The materials that chairs and rail are made from does not form a bright rust like mild steel so dark brown is appropriate.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Pre-painting track recommendation: applies with double force to pointwork. Whereas plain track can have the colour washed on relatively easily after laying, getting the paint on neatly around the ins and outs of pointwork is soooooooo much easier when it can be approached from any angle...

[Jeff Smith]

Regarding paint on pointwork - normally I believe unmodified Peco points rely for electrical continuity on the point blade touching the stock rail. Paint can prevent this so be very careful not to paint the contact areas....

[bike2steam]

That's why it's best to 'modify' Peco points by soldering in a wire link between the stock rail, and it's nearest switch rail. As for ballast use what's marketed for N gauge, get a small sieve with a 1mm mesh, like a small tea strainer, and grade it, usual railway track ballast doesn't go much bigger than 3 inches ( 4mm to the foot remember) throw away any that doesn't go thro'. I use water based matt wood varnish, thinned down with 30% water ( plus the obligatory drops of washing-up liquid) for setting the ballast all applied with a small syringe - why wood varnish- shades of oak ( light/medium or dark) - well it means the ballast is already coloured, no painting, less messy.  Have fun.

[Jeff Smith]

Careful how you modify some Peco points. The O-16.5 Electrofrog one I have has a link wire connecting both point blades to the frog. You would have to cut this and provide separate frog switching if you added link wires from the point blades to the adjacent stock rails.