Handlaying G Scale Track

[Anonymous]

Evening Folks,
I'm thinking about building an indoor G scale (1:20.3) layout in the bonus room above my garage. To that end, I was thinking that handlaying G scale track may not be sooooo bad given its size.

Anybody willing to share experiences on hand laying large scale track. I'd intend to purchase the hard stuff (switches, crossings, etc) but for the straight areas and curves, I'd like to hand lay.

Where do folks buy rail? I've seen some in the Walthers Large Scale Catalog.

I was thinking of ripping my own ties on a small table say. Any suggestions there?

Much thanks in advance.
-- Stack

[toenailridgesl]

Stack,
Hand-laying track is certainly the cheapest way to go. Your local club usually has access to rail, I get it here in 12ft lengths.
My ties(sleepers) are ripped down from a real full size railway sleeper. Here in Oz we use a very heavy & dense eucalypt called red-gum which is highly weather-&-ant-resistant.
GR mag has done a number of articles on handlaying, search the archives for the issues.
Apparently lots of you US LSers use cedar for ties. I found it to be a little too soft but it has had a good rap.
I have a construction page on my website (link below) where I go into the way I handlaid all of the track on my Toenail Ridge Shortline. Once you get a few feet down you can think about tackling switches too. The first one is an interesting learning experience :) but they get easier each time.

[Anonymous]

I, yet, don't have the courage to try to hand lay. I would have to run several lengthy experiments first.

[kstrong]

Handlaying track--especially indoors--is surprisingly simple. The principle is identical to how folks do it in the smaller scales. Countless articles and a handful of books have been written about that subject, so look at Kalmbach's list of books.

In a nutshell, you lay your sub-roadbed, then glue your ties down to that. Once the glue dries, you start spiking your rail in place. Switches are a bit more of a challenge, but not impossible, and once you build one, the rest become VERY simple. You can even buy castings for the points and frogs, which are by far the most dificult parts of the switch. (I cast my own frogs, but use Llagas Creek poing castings.)

Later,

K

[Anonymous]

From this company http://www.svrronline.com/
you can buy code 250 rail in 6' lengths and tie plates with spikes 7/16" long about 18 ga..
Have fun!!!

[Anonymous]

hi gang!
I was afraid to tackle handlaid too, untill I saw one of our club members setup a turnout, then I was hooked. As I live in a small apartment, I have to practice in a small area. The missus allowed me right of way above the kitchen cabinates which worked perfect for porters and 0-4-0s of all kinds.
I used 1/4" birch plywood for sub base ( 4 bucks at a budget lumber store) and 3/8" square molding for ties ( 10 cents a foot @ the same place) as our club went with code 332 they were tossing out the code 250 in the scrap heap.I picked the rail up ( aluminum rail) with the clubs blessings
(and a little more volenteer work at the club house). I bought spikes from a hobby shop and off I went. After the first turnout , the rest was easy. and I got this wonderful sense of accomplishment when the golden spike was layed! 16 feet of track and 2 turnouts were laid in a weekend and a half.. and watching my porter finally run on track that i made, was the BEST!
Mr. Christopher
Fogwater Scenic Rwy
" If ya don't know where yer goin', Our railway will git ya thar!"

[Anonymous]

Stack mate; you have come to the right place and i agree with you, buy in all the hard stuff i do, and it works for me. This is so much more versatile way of doing things; until you do it you cannot imagine it.

I actually buy my track in kit form from our club, rail is same as LGB but with a bit more zinc in it and it comes in 3.69 m (12') lengthe and 24 of them fit nicely into a 35 mm dia plastic water pipe.

The sleepers (ties) come in an ingeneous assembly of 3 that seem to remain properly spaced all by themselves around bends.

I am pretty good at this now and claim to have stuffed up more than anyone else, i have 130 metres of track down (420 feet) now and some of the problems ive had not getting the two tracks exactly parallel and this inrroduces strains in the assembly causing twists which affect your camber have to be seen to be believed. But it is less than half the price, more versatile etc, wouldn't do it any other way. I also solder all joins, with a jewellers blowtorch

I think doing what you want to do, having some nice jigs would be a wise move, before you start.


Regards

Ian