What is a good way to transition from cork roadbed to the base level, for example, if I am transitioning from a ballasted roadbed to a flat yard or industrial area? Or am I better off building up the flat area with sheet cork?
Richard
If you are on foam I lower the cork into the foam.
The invisible man has become quite proficiant at these.
Caulk makes a good filler and leveler for any errant gouges.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Ah, I needed to think outside the box. Instead of trying to shave down the cork, I need to dig into the foam. (And, yes, it is installed on foam.) Brilliant! Thanks!
According to a friend of mine who built on foam, he found that tapering the cork down with a sanding block was easier than digging out the foam precisely. But whatever works for you.
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I use door leveling shims to ramp down. They are about a 2% grade and can be cut to match the hieght of the road bed. my Subroadbed is plywood and have a few sidings that are directly on the ply. This is how I ramp up and down from the roadbed to the subroad bed.
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cuyama According to a friend of mine who built on foam, he found that tapering the cork down with a sanding block was easier than digging out the foam precisely. But whatever works for you.
Even easier with a tabletop or stand alone belt sander. The belt run AWAY from the operator, so it's safe so long as you're cautious around power tools. Here's my method...
I leave the cork unseparated , as when it's tapered there's little reason to worry about keeping the beveled edges.
I take the foil aluminum duct tape, the kind with the peel-off backing sheet, and apply it to one side of the cork. If it's too wide, trim the tape first, as you don't want overhang.
With the sander belt running, lay the untaped side of the cork on it. I used a flat board to apply pressure to the foiled back of the cork evenly. The cork comes right off, only light pressure is needed and keep checking as it's easy to go too far! Sand until you have a nice taper. To get the full length of the cork on the belt is usually not possible, so the free end away form me is drooped over the stop bar at the far en of the sander as needed , then drawn back onto the belt as you work it down.
When done, carefully peel the tape off, starting from the thicker end.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I wrap a piece of #34 garnet paper around a scrap of 1"x2", and in a minute or two, the cork is tapered right down to the plywood, without creating a lot of dust in the layout room. The residue is useful for ground cover, too - I have some saved for future scenery projects.In the photo below, I used two layers of cork to lift the track up to a lift-out at the layout room's door:
Wayne
Instead of trying to sand down the cork, I use wood shims from one of the big box home improvement stores. The thick end is usually too thick, but they can be cut to length, and they make a 1.5 to 2 percent grade.
I build up a ramp between different heights, like between a mainline and a siding, by layering masking tape of shorter and shorter lengths. Works great!
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
I lay the track and let it find its own incline from the cork down to the base, then I just ballast it in place. The ballast is actually being used as ballast. Works great and is easy.
I rasp the cork to rough shape and then sand.
Surform Shaver
http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-21-115-Surform-Shaver/dp/B00002X1ZH
Taper the cork roadbed. Takes only a minute or two.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I would go with the sheet cork, or perhaps just buy a piece of 3/16 foam board from a craft store. Once you start running trains with nice, free-rolling metal wheels, you will discover that they run down the slightest slope all by themselves once uncoupled. So, it's adviseable to keep your trackwork as flat as possible, particularly if you're planning to use magnetic uncouplers and/or to spot cars using Kadee's "delayed uncoupling" method.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
No ramps or shimming here. I simply mount the sub-roadbed at the appropriate height so that the track transitions from the cork to the other surface, such as homasote directly.
Near the far end of the right hand grade, there is a transition from cork to homasote over the wood. That module is currently removed while I'm doing work on the second level opposite.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
cacole Instead of trying to sand down the cork, I use wood shims from one of the big box home improvement stores. The thick end is usually too thick, but they can be cut to length, and they make a 1.5 to 2 percent grade.
Instead of cutting the shingle to gain the desired thickness, sand a transion off the thick portion. This will give you the proper thickness and provide a vertical transition.
Any slight hollows in the lowed easment can be done w/ cardboard shims or just do a quick "base' ballasting" the secure the track.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
When I transition from cork to the yards on my layout, I prepaired for this by raising the subroadbed up to the level of the cork. I used a sheet of Homosote as the yard's roadbed. Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard levels so I attempted to reproduce this. It was really easy to do; but, you did need to think ahead to get there.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
NP2626 When I transition from cork to the yards on my layout, I prepaired for this by raising the subroadbed up to the level of the cork. I used a sheet of Homosote as the yard's roadbed. Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard level so I attempted to reproduce this. It was really easy to do; but, you did need to think ahead to get there.
When I transition from cork to the yards on my layout, I prepaired for this by raising the subroadbed up to the level of the cork. I used a sheet of Homosote as the yard's roadbed. Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard level so I attempted to reproduce this. It was really easy to do; but, you did need to think ahead to get there.
+100 I think you said it better than I did above; you are basically building your base so that the top of cork = the top of homasote (or whatever surface you are transitioning to). That way no ramps. Ramps are only needed when it wasn't planned during construction to transition to a roadbed that is a different thickness. As NP2626 noted, if you plan ahead, no ramps are needed.
NP2626Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard
I will play devils advocate here and certainly stand to be corrected on this. I spent a lot of time visiting rail yards when I worked. I did notice that yards had a slight slope at the ends, I was told this was to prevent runaways. Maybe this is old school as some of these RR facilities have been around a long time. Also I thought yards/sidings were lower just to save cost, as a high performance track/roadbed system wasn't required for yard tracks. I wood think standards might vary depending on the terrain the yard was in, say moutain vs: prairie? Just asking.
BATMAN NP2626 Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard
NP2626 Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard
NP2626Generally, real railroads do not ramp down or up to their yard levelsm so I attempted to reproduce this.
Maybe you've looked at different yards than I have. Almost all secondary trackage I've seen, be it sidings, spurs, yards or what-have-you, are at a somewhat lower level than mainlines, with the amount of level change being dependent on individual railroads' standards and the ratings of the tracks in question. Mainlines require a deeper base to provide more stability and robustness than secondary tracks, where speed limits are lower and track alignment isn't usually as tightly controlled. Weedy old branch lines may be a big exception to this, just because they have little if any difference between "mainline" and secondary track standards.
I could be wrong, I didn't really go out and look to see if the yards where lower. Preventing a runaway does make some sense to me. If the yard is lower, than a wayward freight/passenger car can't take a trip down the mainline looking for trouble. All I knew about designing my layout was I would be going from the height of the cork road bed and wanted to meet up flush with my yard. Probably, if I knew for sure that on the prototype the main should ramp down, I wouldn't have done it. It would just be another detail that nobody but me would know about!
You guys are sure sticklers for correcting the smallest little makes no difference details! In the future I will just explain how I did it and leave my opinions about how the prototype does anything, to myself.
The workd is not flat. The yares could be at the same elevation , lower, or even highewr than the main line depending on the situation.
Railroads do not always build tracks in close proximity at the same level.
I've used parts of cedar shakes for the transition. A shake provides less of a grade than a door shim, so the transition is not at all noticable.