My layout is 36" x 80", so I don't have a lot of room. I will be utilizing cork roadbed atop foam base on most of the layout, but would like to do away with cork in the industrial areas and the yard and lay track directly on the foam. What is the best way to transition from roadbed to no roadbed. The only two things I can think of is sanding the cork, and using WS foam incline (would be a pretty short piece). Sanding the cork would probably give me some inconsistencies in the track laying. How has everyone else transitioned???
You could cut the foam along the RoW for the first six inches or so of the industrial track, cut it across the RoW at the joint, and then push it up from underneath and "fix" it somehow so that the top of the foam meets the top of the cork. I do something similar where I come off a helix w/o cork and have to then add cork.
Ok, this is cheezy, but it works. Stop your cork. Run flex off the end of it. DO NOT press down. Carefully ballest and glue. The natural bend of the flex is pretty gentle as long as you don't press it out of shape. If you delicately ballast and use a little extra glue the result is track that is held solid.
I am going to have a slightly different problem. I have converted an aquaduct from rail to vehicular use. The roadbed heights coming off the viaduct are exactly the same as a cork bed. I was thinking of just sanding it down to level against the board. Are there any better suggestions. I am generally aesthetically bankrupt.
Use a rasp to hand plane the end of the cork roadbed down to the level of the foam, just do not make the transition too short give yourself a good 8 inches to a foot if possible.
I use the longest wood shims I can find. The same shims you would use for framing walls/doors or kitchen cabinets. They are cheap and work pretty good. And you can always sand them down to get a smaller grade. Cut small wedges out of them for curved transitions.
I have done this on several occasions. I used to use HO scale cork on my main lines, and N scale cork for sidings, with no cork at all for yards and sidings. The lay the track and ballast is what the prototype does and it workes pretty well. I have also used a belt sander with 50 grit, causes a big mess and is hard to get the perfect transition, and once you permenatly attach the track you may have problems. The ballast in place method seems to have the most gentle transition in my opinion. Brian
You can skim a couple coats of acrylic latex caulk for a transition (thin coats will dry faster). Cheap stuff, sandable if needed, edges can be cut to conform to cork roadbed width. Alternately, you can place the track as given above and support the track at a few points by shoving the caulk under the ties. the track should just sit on top and not in the caulk so you can ballast. Alan
Great answers guys. I think you have put me onto something. I might try getting some plain styrene sheets and cutting them to the width of the track and stepping a few layers from the 1/8" or so corkbed down to zero. Then use caulk to smooth out the ramp. Then I can paint and ballast to help hide the styrene and caulk. Thanks a lot.
I have received my answers and thank you. During one of my purchases at a LHS, I purchased thin sheets of Plastruct in anticipation of being able to use them at some point in the future. I now think I can.
I just measured a wooden shim found in any hardware store. The fat end is about 7.5mm. Cork roadbed is 3mm. I'd just find the point on the shim where it's 3mm think, cut across, and that should be a nice taper to ground level.
I went to Home Depot and bought a roll of cork shelf lining for $8.00 or so and lay it out in layers where my yard is to meet the top of the road bed. The other method I saw was to cut the foam so the yard areas are separate, glue strips of cork roadbed to the base to raise the level of the foam to meet the road bed on the mainlines...sand to transition. Easy, clean and firm base to work with. Joe D'Amato
+1,I use a home made sanding block with 36 grit sandpaper..I sand all my cork dead flat,and I sand in superellevation,too..
Back in the day...when I used flextrack...I used real thin basswood. I bought a 4" x 12" thin piece. I traced along the ties through the turnout and into the yard and cut that curved piece out of the 4 x 12. I used various 'shims' of the same thin basswood to hold it up and keep the track from sagging throught the transition. Once one lead into the yard was done...I flipped over the piece of basswood left and did the other end. Once ballasted...it all looked and worked great.
I have done this. I have sanded down a ramp transition to "ground" level. First off, since you're using a foam base, protect it with a covering of painter's tape so you don't shave off the foam base.
Rather than lower the track, I used to just put everything on cork, then raise the area around the industry tracks with something. Which actually kind of looks right as well, because most buildings are going to be setup on a higher leveled area. Otherwise you can have issues with auto coupling/uncoupling and cars rolling sometimes.
I have done two of the methods already described in here. 1) Use a surform or rasp and sandpaper to sand the cork down a nice ramp to ground level or 2) Use the "cheesy" method ofjust suspending the flex on its own and ballasting around it. BUT... I do insert some little support blocks along the way. They can be little wedges of foam or bits of wood... anything. I would suggest that the ramp needs to be a lot longer than just 12" if you want it to be smooth and reliable. Remember, at 12", there is only 6" of transition at each end. In other words, the engine comes over the top (crest) and has only 6 inches of track before it has to start transition in the other direction to "bottom out" at the bottom. That will work for a 4-axle diesel, and short steam, if that's all you are running. But it's not really enough for a longer wheelbase engine like a 4-8-4. There will be wonky problems with wheels lifting and derailing. If you can work it out, I would try for double that distance, more like 24" to make the transition.
One other approach that I started using was using drywall mud. It is easily sandable, paintable and pretty sturdy. I do a couple of layers to buildup the levels and then sand it to meet the desired slope and make it smooth to transition it to the foam. I can carve it out to make it curve if needed...and if I get it wrong, I sand it down a bit and then skim coat a new level onto it. I then caulk the flex track onto it. It is easy to do almost any type of transition and any length of transition. John
This is what I have done. I have a layer of cork sheet under my yard so that the tracks in the yard are level with the mainline. In essence, the yard and its structures sit on slightly higher ground (by 1/8-inch -- it's N-scale) than the main line. This is much easier than creating a grade down to the yard, and it is barely noticeable when scenicked and populated with structures. - Jeff
