Just bought this, 4 X 8, 1/4 ply with frame. The yard, most of the track and the turnouts look good. Some repair/replacement needed. The track is mostly Peco code 80 Streamline. 12 Peco Streamline turnouts all fitted with motors 4 Peco SetTrack turnouts also fitted with motors 2 Peco diamond crossings 4 Atlas turnouts all electrified I can put legs with rollers on to get access all round. I'm wondering if I cut the plywood, say 2" either side of the track on the oval, go downgrade going down from the left and upgrade going down from the right to make a bridge at the diamond, would it distort the track too much? I have a hollow core door started that I can join with this. Options: Leave as is Modify to get bridge (I like bridges) cut lengthwise
I don't see a pic. But as a general rule, if your grade distorts the track too much, it's too steep to haul a decent size train up without slipping.
Strange the pic didn't stay attached... Not that the grade distorts it, but that it being already nailed down would it bend with the plywood, or distort because it doesn't bend the same as the ply. I haven't measured it out, but I wouldn't go much over 2%...
Interesting track design. Some of those sidings look difficult to work. There are no runarounds handy, so you'd have to have a freight facing each direction to work them all easily. There's a long enough section of double track to park one on, but it's definitely a single track main, so you can't run two at a time. There aren't straight sections everywhere I'd like for uncoupling purposes. Have you run trains on it and worked all the sidings to see how you like it?
DD99, one option is to leave the 4x8 alone and extend the layout on the top left and right. 1. Decide where you want your rivers and streams to flow through your layout. Please spend some time deciding, take as much time as you would with track. 2. I like to use 1/2 inch blue insulation foam glued to a 12 inch wide piece of 3/4 inch thick plywood using caulk as adhesive. On top of the blue foam add a layer of pink 3/4 inch thick foam and keep adding more foam to make hills or mountains. With both layers of foam it measures one and a half inches thick, which equals nineteen feel on N sçàle, enough for a small stream 3. When you carve the foam use a keyhole saw by rounding off the corners and removing foam from all surfaces. Use the blue foam as a warning track, to borrow a term from baseball, when carving out the streams so you don't go too deep. 4. Now it's time to paint and add ground foam Below is a photo of my layout that shows how much a small amount of foam makes the scene. Joe
It may be my eyes, but do the topmost four turnouts in the center look like they diverge at a rather extreme angle? If so, these are likely to invite trouble.
I decided to cut it in half, as I'm mostly interested in the yard at the bottom. This shows how it might connect to my HCD. The outer oval on the HCD climbs to a 3" platform in what would now be the middle of the layout. I'm thinking of doing some urban switching and structures on the top of the ex4X8 as shown. (this is reshaped Union Freight HO trackage from Oct. - Dec. 2000 Model Railroader, not pasted to scale). The HCD is foamed and track bed partly laid. I stopped when I laid some track and turnouts and wasn't getting good action with the Atlas code 80 turnouts. I had set up three on a test bed and everything was fine before laying on the layout. To figure it out I built a separate test bed and soldered the yard up, but same problem. Now I get the same thing on the PECO turnouts on the ex 4X8. Any ideas on what might be the problem, or what I can do to test?. I think the PECOs are insulfrog.
Getting some more of the track wired. 14 ga trunk with 24 ga feeders. Soldered onto the rail (need more practice) then using these great 2 piece connectors. The blue is like a suitcase connector, squeezes over the 14 ga. The red is a spade connector that plugs into the blue. Great for trouble shooting later on as I can disconnect really easily.
Looking good keep up the good work. I really like seeing other peoples work and how they do things. Really nice! Can't wait to see more photo's.
Learning lots about peco turnouts with this exercise. This is potentially how they'll fit together. I figure I'll get the Industrial track that's on there now working properly then back to Seaforth Harbour. The Harbour is a practice layout before attempting a full room layout, really glad I started with a practice piece. If I do get to the full layout, I'm figuring on building it in sections and these two pieces can be extensions to the sections as they are completed. Who knows, I may not even get to the full layout, in which case I could finish the industrial part, I don't think I'd be too unhappy with these as all I ever do!
