First time layout and track attachment

[Anonymous]

I am beginning a 4 x 8 layout of the Southern Railroad. I am a novice and would like some ideas about track laying. Is it necessary to lay your track over a roadbed or can you directly attach the track to the plywood? I plan to add balast. I am trying to get the most realistic effect. I plan to run the theme around a paper mill and a small rural town. would this be too much for a 4 x 8 layout? you opions most appreciated.

[Hawks05]

i'm in the same boat. just starting out and trying to figure out what to do. i to am using a 4x8 foot layout. so far i know my little layout will have a Brewing Company, Croix Brewing, a grain mill, Longview Grains, and the 3rd industry is up for grabs. i have some videos i'm borrowing from a friend and it has road bed on there but i'm not keen on laying that. i just want to jump right into the making of the layout and building it all up. the layout i picked looks complicating but i think it should be pretty easy to get the hang of. it will have a yard in the middle with 2 tracks by Longview Grains. then it will branch off to the upper right corner where my 3rd industry will be and then down in the lower left part of the layout or middle will be Croix Brewing. it has one main track around the outside with 2 tracks running along the inside i guess. kind of hard to explain. do what i did ask people you know who railroad for any books they may have or go online to find sites with layouts, buy books of your own, or just come up with something off the top of your head. i plan on using either CSX, CN, UP, BN, or WC on the layout with undecorated cars being turned into industry cars. don't limit yourself on one railroad, broden(sp?) railroads used. add some variety instead of just one.

[Anonymous]

your layout sounds great Hawks. I do plan to add more as I go but am still struggling with the basics of track laying and wiring. Are you going with DCC or conventional?

[Anonymous]

Cork under the rails is the standard roadbed, it cuts down on the noise and looks more real.

you could also go ith E-Z Track(or other similar products) that's got a pre-built roadbed as well.

But if you want a more permanent layout, use the cork to reduce the noise.

[Hawks05]

i'm going with DC. i know DC and DCC are similar in price but i don't want the hassle of learning DCC at the same time i'm working on a layout. i have nothing for the layout yet. no locomotives, no freight cars, no buildings, nothing i'm going to draw up plans tonight and see what my friend/coach as i'll call him i guess thinks.

for the top of the layout i'm going to use 3/8 in. plywood with that homestod (sp?) on top.

[Anonymous]

I am more or less in the same boat.

I am also doing a 4x8 layout after about 15 years away from the hobby.

My last one was a simple flat plywood board type with buildings and painted scenery and crappy trees.

This will be my first "real" layout with sculpted features and such. I plan to us the EZ Track system for my track but I am going to put something under it to deaden the noise a bit. The loud clickey clack of the plastic roadbed is a bit too much for me running it on my floor, I can just imagine what it will be like on a 4x8 board.

I plan to do a double loop with the outer loop going up over a mountain possibly with a tunnel and two bridges. The inner loop will service a coal mine in the side of the mountain.

Biggest problem I have is figuring out the best way to elevate the EZ Track and also to make the bridges.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Chessie1973

Biggest problem I have is figuring out the best way to elevate the EZ Track and also to make the bridges.

You can use the following items to elevate and span with E-Z Track:

Pier set:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/160-44471

Tall Piers for longer elevated distances:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/160-44472

Note: I know they show as out of stock at Walthers, but you can find them at other stores.

Once you have it elevated you can use any bridge Kit with standard track in it to connect with the E-Z Track, thus saolving all your problems :)

[eastcoast]

to gapharm97,
Have you read the other forum answers pertaining to your same question yet???
Hawks05 posted this same question as well as someone else. Read those forum answers and just have fun creating .

[Hawks05]

ya i did post this before i guess.

last night i sat down for like an hour and drew up track plans. it has my Croix Brewing and Loneview Grains on opposite ends. it has one outer main line that goes under a tunnel then it branches off on the front of the layout and splits into 2 tracks to go past Loneview Grains. once you get on the 2nd track you can branch off and go right in front of Loneview Grains or branch off and go some where else. its really hard and complicated to explain so my guess it would be even harder to make.

just be creative.

[eastcoast]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

ya i did post this before i guess.

last night i sat down for like an hour and drew up track plans. it has my Croix Brewing and Loneview Grains on opposite ends. it has one outer main line that goes under a tunnel then it branches off on the front of the layout and splits into 2 tracks to go past Loneview Grains. once you get on the 2nd track you can branch off and go right in front of Loneview Grains or branch off and go some where else. its really hard and complicated to explain so my guess it would be even harder to make.

just be creative.

Hey Hawks05,
I actually understood everything you said above.
That's gonna be an awesome layout .
Keep me posted on your progress man.
You're on the right track.
ken_ecr

[Hawks05]

thanks.

i hope to start on the benchwork and all of that sometime in the next 2 weeks. but i don't know if i'll have the $$ to do that. i'm going ot a show this weekend so hopefully learn some stuff and pick up some locomotives and freight cars for cheap. also i'm looking to get books and stuff mainly to figure stuff out.

i'm going to try and have the back story done by this weekend. i'll post that sometime then.

[Jetrock]

Take a look at the prototype--most railroads have a high roadbed, raised off the ground. If you're trying to match a prototype that looks like that, or just like the way it looks, then some sort of cork/foam roadbed is the way to go. I've used black foam roadbed, which I find is easier to lay and more sound-deadening than cork. Installation is pretty simple: I set up the track plan with the track directly on the wood, held in place with a few tacks, draw outlines around the edges of the track and take the track back up. I spread white glue (I use a crafter's glue called "Tacky Glue" which is thicker and stickier than Elmer's) in the path of the track and lay down the foam rubber roadbed. Then one can either nail down the track or use Liquid Nails to glue it to the roadbed, and it's ready to be ballasted.

Of course, I don't use roadbed on my own layout, because it is all in-street trackage which will be covered by cardstock and styrene "concrete" streets. I don't use plywood, though--I prefer MDF, which is smoother, stiffer and conducts less sound than plywood.