I am starting a small "L" shaped layout in a spare bedroom. One part of the "L" will have a small yard with part of a town and the other part of the "L" will have three industries to swith. From what I have read, to be correct I will place the mainline track on HO-scale cork roadbed, the yard track on N-scale cork roadbed and the industrial track right on the plywood. My question is, how do I make the transition track from HO cork to N cork and from HO cork to the plywood so the transitions look correct and natural?
You can use wooden shims. Just cut to the right length and height.
If you have any cedar shakes laying around they work quite well. Just cut them to the right length and shape.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Craig,
I ran into a similar scenario recently; needing a transition from my spur down to my service facility area, which would be at ground level. I fabricated the following transitions for my Fast Tracks turnouts by laminating 1-1/2" wide strips (for HO) of 0.01" thick styrene together to create a ramp:
Here's what the one on a straight section of track looked like:
The bottom or base piece (#1) is the longest. Piece #2 is glued on top of Piece #1 and is 1-1/2" shorter. Piece #3 is glued on top of Piece #2 and so on. The 0.01 styrene is nice because it's thin enough to cut with regular scissors.
This particular setup creates a 1% grade. You can always modify the grade by making the individual styrene strips longer or shorter. And the styrene won't swell from either temperature or humidity changes. It's a bit more work than just using a shingle or shim but I've been very happy with the results so far.
Here's another look of the first pic from the opposite end of the turnout:
Hope that helps...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Thank you all so much for your help. I was always puzzled about this because none of the articles I have read have ever addressed this.
I've actually just sanded down the taller roadbed until it matched. No shimming necessary. Just make sure your taller roadbed extends a little way off the mainline to give you room to do this. I use a sanding block so I can keep the slope smooth. Works great. Just don't get too carried away.
I just had to do this last week. I used 3/16" thick cork material for my roadbed. The mainlines have two layers for a total thickness of 3/8", so I also needed a transition down into the sidings. I did this by laying a double layer of cork about 12" into the sidings then just sanded the transition with 150 grit sndpaper in a sanding block. The results were exactly what I wanted--pictures below. Jamie
Before sanding:
After sanding:
Jamie
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My siding subroadbed is Homosote on 1/2" plywood. I simply elevated it to the same height as the cork, which allows for a seamless transition. It also creates a "wall" at the jointure roughly equal to the Homosote thickness, which I bevel softly with a Dremel sanding drum. When I build my scenery, I'll complete the transition with ground goop.
I would go with Jamie, sanding is the easiest way that I have used. It's cheap and easy. you don't have to go buy the styrofoam risers, just move down a scale. Sanding only takes a few minutes per drop off.
Peace
burke19I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I literally just finished making a cork transition using drydex drywall compound. I had some around, and it only took about 2 minutes to shape a nice looking transition. Hopefully it dries up well, and with a couple of swipes of a sanding block, I should be good to go. It certainly was easy & fast to do. If anyone sees any downside to this method, please let me know, otherwise I would highly recommend it.
One drawback I can think of right off hand is what will happen to the drywall compound when you go to ballast the track (if that area will be ballasted)? Seems like you will be soaking the roadbed and the drywall compound could become, well, muddy. Maybe sealing it with a coat of latex paint or drywall sealer? Just speculation on my part since I have not used this technique, but I have definitely done my share of drywalling and I have seen how the mud softens up again when it is re-wet (like for wet sanding, for example). Jamie
I have done this many times and the method that works for me is to extend the HO cork about 18" for sidings off the main line, then N cork for the siding. Keep about 2" for the rail joint to be level, then taper the remaining 16" down to the N cork with a hand block sized Surform plane. For spurs off the N cork I use about 12" tapering down to table top the same way. I put the track down with paintable latex caulking so it transitions naturally. John Colley, Port Townsend, WA