Transition from mainline to siding

[bogp40]

Someone had concerns on another thread about water affecting tape or cardboard shims. If you prefer these methods just seal the transition w/ spray sealer (Dulcoat, clear acrylic Deft etc.) I don't use staight water/ detergent due to soaking the roadbed (pine), I have found that 40-50% alcohol with a drop of detergent works great for ballasting and other scenery applications. Use staight alcohol if the material warrants. Of coarse good ventilation is a must.

[LNEFAN]

You may want to check the website below for roadbed of various thickness. Used with the "masking tape" method, this may help solve your problem:

http://www.vinylbed.com/default.asp

 

[CSXFan]

I don't mean to change the subject but what about N scale transitions? I will be using the WS roadbed and I'm not sure what to use under the lower tracks. Any suggestions?

[Pruitt]

On second thought I think I'll borrow your mathod of using masking tape for transitions. I visited your website and was very impressed!
 I see you use the tape to super elevate curves also.
Great idea!

Ed

Thanks for the compliments, Ed!

I call the masking tape super-elevation technique the Dolkos method, as I read that Paul Dolkos super-elevates track that way. I don't know if he developed it, or got it from someone else.

I wanted a long, smooth transition between mainline and siding heights, and since masking tape worked so well for super-elevating curves, I figured it might work for my height transitions as well.

Good luck - be sure to show us some photos of your results!

[Medina1128]

Transition? Bah! I use a full section of flextrack, and cut my cork roadbed about 1-1 1/2 inches past the turnout. I attach the flextrack to it and lay it in place. Using pushpins, I vary the depth of them along the siding gradually, taking about 12-16 inches before it's level with the industry. Then, I ballast the track. The glue holds the track in place. Never had a derailment, accidental uncoupling.

[TheK4Kid]

I use 1/4" cork for my mailines and 1/8" for the sidings.

I start the transition immediately past the turnout frog. I use a modified version of the Dolkos supeelevation method - I lay 1/4" masking tape, each layer about in the buildup 3/8" shorter than the last in the center of the transition, with the last few layers on the bottom and the top with greater length changes (the last are 1 7/8" different) to provide a lead-in and lead-out of the transition.

The transition is 16 1/2" long, and the maximum number of tape layers is 24. It takes a bit to lay all that tape, but the work is easy and the results run flawlessly.

Here's a shot of one transition with the first layer of tape in place (in this case a turnout ON the transition):

Here's a side view of the transition after it's completed:

The tape at the thick end tapers off steeply at the thicker roadbed. This eliminates problems of build-up at the cut tape end, which tends to be a little thicker at the cut than along the run of the tape. Ballast will fill in the small valley when I get to the point of balasting. These transitions are very gentle and realistic-looking (for unballasted track). I've yet to have a single derailment on one of them.

\

On second thought I think I'll borrow your mathod of using masking tape for transitions. I visited your website and was very impressed!
 I see you use the tape to super elevate curves also.
Great idea!


Ed

[TheK4Kid]

Brunton

I like your idea and method for the transition with the masking tape. But was wondering if I made a template out of lite aircraft ply or masonite, then took my Tekoa feather cut gravity powered  foam cutter I also use on my RC airplanes, and cut a piece of foam , having it taper from one end to the other, .
Lowest end would be at the yard end, thickest up near the frog.
Think it might work?
I can cut very thin pieces of foam with it.

Just to let you know what it looks like( the foam cutter) here's a link. I also have all the accesories for cutting many shapes.  www.tekoa.com


 best regards,
 Ed

[locoi1sa]

  I  built an HO scale module and used cork for the mains and nothing for the branches. I sanded the cork to taper it and one of them started right at the frog down to the plywood for about 4 inches in length. I pinned everything down and tested it and have never had a derailment at that point. I wish I could post picks of it but havent had any luck since the forum change.
  Pete

[Anonymous]

I'd like to thank everyone for all the great ideas. I should have mentioned that I'm not very far into track laying yet and switching roadbeds is certainly an option. I've combed through the multitude of posts on this subject and certainly don't wish to reopen the dicussion here. That said, I'm going to go buy some cork and play with it for a bit just to see what I think.

I didn't respond earlier to your replies as we took our summer end family vacation. We spent 5 days in Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands region in NY. If you haven't, someday I highly suggest visiting this beautiful region. Decent fishing too!

[Anonymous]

That looks great. I think I'll experiment with that method. Thanks for the great pics too!

 

Paul

Sorry I didn't respond earlier, we took our summer end family vacation, just unpiled myself from the desk far enough to look at the fun emails.

[Pruitt]

I use 1/4" cork for my mailines and 1/8" for the sidings.

I start the transition immediately past the turnout frog. I use a modified version of the Dolkos supeelevation method - I lay 1/4" masking tape, each layer about in the buildup 3/8" shorter than the last in the center of the transition, with the last few layers on the bottom and the top with greater length changes (the last are 1 7/8" different) to provide a lead-in and lead-out of the transition.

The transition is 16 1/2" long, and the maximum number of tape layers is 24. It takes a bit to lay all that tape, but the work is easy and the results run flawlessly.

Here's a shot of one transition with the first layer of tape in place (in this case a turnout ON the transition):

Here's a side view of the transition after it's completed:

The tape at the thick end tapers off steeply at the thicker roadbed. This eliminates problems of build-up at the cut tape end, which tends to be a little thicker at the cut than along the run of the tape. Ballast will fill in the small valley when I get to the point of balasting. These transitions are very gentle and realistic-looking (for unballasted track). I've yet to have a single derailment on one of them.

[ndbprr]

That's the primary reason I dislike cork for a roadbed.  It is way to high to allow proper transition to a ground level siding.  The railroad maintains their track and the industry maintains the siding if and when they have the money and it absolutely needs it.  Over time the railroad gets higher but half inch thick cork is about 4' in HO and except for embankments way to high in  my opinion.  That is why I have used cheap luan paneling that yields 48 1" wide strips 8' long or 384' for a couple of bucks.  If you can find a piece with a damaged corner it is generally under $5.00.  Then you don't need 300' like the prototype to lower the track to the industry height.  My PRR Philly division about to start construction is going to use polyehetylene floor underlayment for the sub roadbed.  For about $30.00 you get almost 100 square feet.  I'll just unroll it.  Put down the track and cut out the areas that are open spaces.  Should be the quitest railroad yet with easy transitions to the industrial tracks..

[rrinker]

 I wouldn't sand the WS foam, it tends to tear apart when you try this. That's why I ended up using the thinner N scale stuff on the sidings and shimming it up to meet the main. With something like extruded foam insualtion board you could sand it down, using the same method - shop vac hose in one hand to collect the dust. Tht's pretty much how I cut the openings to drop the Tortoises in - Dremel with router bit in one hand, shop vac in the other.

                                                --Randy

[Sperandeo]

I use HomaBed Homasote roadbed for my HO track, and I've used a couple different methods to make the transitions from mainline elevation down to sidings. Lately I've just been sanding the .240"-high Homabed down to the 1/8" (.125") level of my sidings. I start an inch or so past the turnout guard rails and make the transitions at least 12" long or a little more.

When I first started using HomaBed the manufacturer (who has since changed a couple of times – it's now California Roadbed Co.) was selling cedar shingles to use as transition ramps, and I was cutting those down to roadbed width and curvature.

I think the sanding method is easier (as long as you can sand the Homasote with one hand and hold a Shop-Vac hose with the other!), but if the roadbed doesn't sand so well the shingle method certainly works. I know that the typical cork roadbed is easy to sand, but I haven't tried sanding the Woodland Scenics material. By the way, I test my transitions with 2-10-2 steam engines and 85-foot passenger cars and haven't had any problems.

So long,

Andy

[pcarrell]

I'm in N scale and I use 1/4 inch foam under my code 70 mainlie trackage and 1/8 inch cork under my code 55 branches.  The transition is a wooden carpenters shim cut short and it is placed about two or three inches past the frog on the diverging leg.

[rrinker]

 I used the WS N scale roadbed for my sidings. I used some cereal box carboard to shim it up to the main height. Mostly just eyeball, but the transistion I used is bit more than a car length long, to keep things gradual.

                                 --Randy

[Anonymous]

I've noticed from looking at photos of layouts aound this forum that while mainline track is nearly always on some sort of raised roadbed, siding and spur track seems to be "ground level". I'm wondering if there is any specification for this transition. Logic says that you would start the transition sometime after the turnout but how far? Is it just an eyeball thing? Might be a stupid question but hell, I gotta ask anyway.

I'm using WS foam roadbed over pink foam over plywood.

Thanks!