I use two methods.
For plain track I have a piano jig. I have used 2, one made of wood and one made of styrene. I use Kappler full thickness ties. On the wood piano jig I used Campbell "profile" ties (thinner) as spacers between ties. On the plastic one I used different width .040 Evergreen strip between the ties. The styrene jig actually has two spacings, one jig spaces the ties narrow spacing for main tracks and the other side spaces a wider spacing for sidings, yard and industry tracks.
For switches I glue down a paper switch template for each switch (I found a 1922 MofW rule book with plans for prototype switches down to a #3) and then glue down the ties placing them over the template which spaces them prototypically with zero effort. I also place the ties so they are in line with the staggered side of the turnout, then just take a straight edge and use a utility or hobby knife to trim them all to the straight side. Way easier than cutting them to length one by one.
I stain my ties first, glue them down, lightly sand them to get a flat surface, make a couple passes along the length of the ties with 60 grit sand paper to put grain back in the ties and then give them a quick restain (black and brown leather dye in alcohol).
I then apply ballast to the ties and glue it down. Then I apply the rail, which has been spray painted Rust-o-leum camo brown.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Tie rack from Fast Tracks.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
That idea of spraying the flex track is a new one to me. Interesting. One drawback would be that not all makes of flex track follow prototype tie spacing, or use plastic ties of prototype size.
One old idea is the so called piano key jig. A long straight board is used. A stopper strip is glued down. Then two parallel lines of spacer blocks are glued down (using stripwood slightly larger than the ties you intend to use as the spacers) using the tie spacing of your choice, with a channel down the middle between the sets of spacer blocks. The channel is so that a length of 1/4" or so masking tape can be laid down sticky side up, and then the ties you use are placed into the gaps between spacer blocks and up against the stopper strip, and pressed down into the tape. Once you have a length of ties perhaps two feet long you lift up the tape and they are ready to be glued in place, correctly spaced. You'd still need to sand down the ties once the glue dries so the height is truly uniform, even when using commercial ties.
I have a feeling I am not really communicating the idea very clearly. Again the piano key jig idea goes way, way back, but one article with some refinements on the idea was in July 1966 MR (avaiable on the all access pass to the online archive), Leighton Keeling's "Simple jigs for speedy tielaying."
Dave Nelson
I have used the Tie Rack from Fast Tracks to install wood ties on my layout. I have also layed individual ties by hand in places where flex track was removed. I spray painted the flex track then installed the ties after removing the flex track in the places marked by the plastic ties.
What other methods do you use to lay individual ties?