DFW Portable Layouts -- Mainline and Traction

[R.K. Maroon]

Here for reference is a photo from that last time I gave an update on the club layout project:



From left to right, we have the outside main, the shared passing/interchange track, and the inside main. All cork is down on the two crossover modules in the foreground, with some ties and rail installed as well. Here is where that same section stands today:



This area is now nearly complete. There is similar trackwork at the other end of the layout and it is only a little behind this -- the ties are all down and the rail cut, but the turnouts are not glued in place yet and the rail is not spiked.

The two turnouts shown are from O Scale Turnouts. I picked up a batch of them used on OSCALEYARDSALE earlier this year. I had never used them before. Here is a closer view of them:



These turnouts are of good quality, with the rails soldered to half-height circuit-board ties. They can be purchased, as I understand it, with just the circuit-board ties or with full-height ties. Wood half-height ties (cut on your saw or bought from RIght-O-Way) can be bonded to the underside of the circuit-board ties to make them full height. In this case, only one of the four turnouts (two at each end) arrived with a full complement of full-height ties. The other three had only a few of the ties at full height. I could have installed them that way, as it wouldn't show once ballasted, but I am just compulsive enough to want full-height ties everywhere. I mention all this only as another example of a project taking longer than predicted.

At any rate, a little cleanup here and this end is done. With any luck I will have the inside main complete next week.
Jim

[gregj410]

but I am just compulsive enough to want full-height ties

Personally I think that’s a good move giving the weight of some of the trains traveling through those turnouts. I’m astounded at some of the movement I witness across areas of my track bed. Articulated locomotives are heavy!
Nice work by the way! I’ve never hand laid track before but I imagine it feels like an eternity getting it done. On the other hand it’s probably quite satisfying once you get in the zone.

[De Bruin]

Can't argue with the appearance of hand-laid track either. Looks great! And in my experience holds up gauge wise over the years a LOT better.

[R.K. Maroon]

I am not sure I ever would have fallen into hand-laid track, but it was the club standard when I joined. More importantly, we have been upgrading the layout in relatively small bites over the last nine years(!), as we have an obligation to take the layout to a show every January and again in September/October and it has to be running (of course). That made each "new trackwork" task manageable, but also never gave us a chance to reconsider the whole approach.

To Greg's comment, there is indeed a zen-like aspect to spiking rail. It's the same task over and over, but never one that you can sleep through (unless you don't care about how your track looks or whether it is in gauge). Experience really helps, as the tricks to getting it right become second nature. Good eyesight and steady hands would also really help, or so I imagine.

And yes, it does make for attractive trackwork:



This was today's progress on the other end of the passing track. Still have some Gapmasters to install and some more spiking to fill things in, but it's looking close to done.

Jim

[gregj410]

Looks like everything will run smoothly through the turnouts from a visual perspective. I have 2 questions:

What are circuit board ties?

What is this groove or what looks like a groove in the turnout?

[R.K. Maroon]

Greg -- Your two questions are related. Circuit board consists of a insulating substrate and one or more copper layers. Most circuit boards today are have epoxy resin substrates. Phenolic was used for a long time, and one still often hears circuit board referred as copper-clad phenolic. Circuit board for electronics can have a single layer of copper on one side, a layer of copper on both sides, or multiple layers sandwiched in the board (how they solder to those internal layers is a really good trick that involves plated holes called "vias"). Single-layer board is used for model railroad ties. The tie is used with the copper layer up. The rail is soldered to this copper strip. I don't have a good photo of one of these ties without paint, but the Gapmasters we use between modules are essentially the same as the ties on the turnouts -- the insulating part is made much thicker to match the height of a scale tie:



Note the Gapmasters arrive with the copper layer pre-tinned, which is why it is silver. A gap is needed in the copper to prevent the two rails from shorting, and this is what you are seeing. I noticed the line up of gaps in the photo I posted just like you did. They are not as obvious when you are standing over them, but the camera angle of the photo lines them up and makes them stand out. Maybe I will fill them with modeling putty, but if so it will be way down the list of priorities.

Jim

[E7]

Jim, it ALL looks SPECTACULAR! I would be worried about small slivers bridging the cuts in those gapmasters! Looks like an interesting roundhouse in the background in one of those shots!

Rich

[up148]

I agree with Rich, it looks stellar and your "Zen-Like" aspect comment is something I can relate to. Back in the early 80's, I started building an HO module with hand laid track. Built on Homasote, which allowed scratching/gouging out low areas between primary and secondary tracks very easy.....I planned to add water, weeds and rubbish in those areas. Hand laying can be tedious, but you could really get in a groove sometimes and loose yourself in the process.

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen. Here is an update showing the week's progress. From the left: outside main, shared passing siding, inside main, and yard tracks 1, 2, and 3:



The two main lines are secured in place and complete except for wiring. The track for the passing siding and (most of) yard track #1 are cut to fit and will be straightened and glued in place next.

The track work is now more than 50% complete. It would be easy-peasy from here but for a couple of turnouts which are needed at the yard throat that will be in the foreground in the photo. We have to build-up these turnouts -- it's not all that hard but they do take a little time. Here is a shot from the other end showing the existing yard throat at that end:



The yard is on the left. We have a nifty three-way turnout at this end. This was built by the late Richard Moore, who was our track guy until his health started failing a few years ago. He did very good work (and was a swell fellow to boot). The three-way is the most efficient use of space, and it's thus tempting to put one in at the other end. However, we like to mix things up when we can, so the other end will have a more common ladder arrangement.

Rich mentioned the roundhouse that appears in some of these photos. This was from Lorrell Joiner's Great Southern layout in San Antonio. It's big -- really big. Our plans call for it to be rebuilt to operating condition and placed into service on the layout. However, we have a long way to go before that will happy. More on that some other time.

Jim

[up148]

Track work is the key to a great looking prototype photo and so important to any model railroad. Nothing says "railroad" more than tracks heading off to points unknown, complicated and busy yards and sidings that dip below mainline grade level.

[sleepmac]

Jim, that sure is a fine looking railroad. Thanks for sharing.

Dan Weinhold

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks again for the kind words. This thought resonates with me:

Nothing says "railroad" more than....sidings that dip below mainline grade level

No layout is as big as you might want it to be, but portable layouts have the constraint not just of the setup space but also the need to be logistically practical to move (A need all too often unmet, as anybody who has moved one of the many unwieldy portable layouts that have been built over the years knows all to well). About ten years ago, our club adopted one rule and one goal. The rule was that the layout had to fit into one 6x10 trailer. The goal was to make the layout as easy to setup, transport, and pack up as possible. We have stuck with both and are very happy for having done so. We have expanded our layout considerably since we started but it still fits into a 6x10. We built four custom travel cases for the layout, we makes loading or unloading the trailer a snap. Once the cases are in the exhibit hall, the layout goes up or down in under 30 minutes with a crew of four. You know things are good when it takes longer to put the trains on the layout then it does to get the layout setup.

One of the things we had to give up to get to this point is verticality. The "fit everything in one trailer" rule meant a choice between a larger, one-level layout or a smaller layout with trackwork that had some grades, even if they were just for sidings and the like. For better or worse, we went "big layout". A similar tradeoff was made in regards to the space tradeoff between track and scenery. The operations guys wanted "more track, less scenery" and the "layout as a diorama" guys wanted less track, more scenery. We went the "more track" route, in part because at the time we didn't have anybody in the club that was really interested in building scenery. Having said that, there will be some scenery eventually, but we all agreed to not start the scenery until all the trackwork was complete. That has proven to be a good idea, as we have had to pull up and move some track from time to time. Much easier to do with no scenery in place.

Jim

[up148]

I think your club rules are very similar to most O scale clubs. I was a member of the KC O Module group back in the late 90's and we had the same rule. Smaller scales seem to get more vertical height on their modules, but the only real way to do that on a portable O scale layout is add it after the layout is set up and with backdrops, which we had, although not always used.

It takes many hours to set up a modular layout at a show and modules are heavy.

My statement about busy/complicated track work (usually found in yards) was a compliment to the module in the last photo Jim.....you've accomplished the "look" with converging turnouts and cross-overs. You may not have a huge yard (impossible with modules), but that "busy track look" is represented.

[R.K. Maroon]

Erased a duplicate post

[R.K. Maroon]

My statement about busy/complicated track work (usually found in yards) was a compliment to the module in the last photo. You've accomplished the "look" with converging turnouts and cross-overs. You may not have a huge yard (impossible with modules), but that "busy track look" is represented.

I should have responded to this earlier. Thank you for all that. It's just bare track right now but boy does it look good when it's full of cars. Well, I should say that the old modules looked good. They also had six tracks but had lots of operational issues, from basic track plan (only one main line) to the track itself (code 100 in the yard -- not conducive to older equipment, of which there is a lot around here.)

I am out of town for ten days. Here is the status as of yesterday:



It doesn't look much different maybe from the last photos that were posted, but there is progress there. The shared siding (second from right) is in place as is most of the first yard track (third from left). Likewise we have fitted the track sections for the second yard track. Finally, work on the yard throat at the other end has started:



Nothing here is glued down, so don't spend too much time trying to make sense of the alignment of the track and roadbed.

We have a ways to go yet, but the progress to date is gratifying.
Jim