Hey all you train lovers out there. I've been a lifelong railfan and now I'm diving into HO model trains. I took over a portion of my garage for my benchwork and here's what I've come up with:
Hollow core door base with 6 ply on top of that for the sub-roadbed. I then plan to use liquid nails to attach 2" extruded foam to the ply.
Now, I'm stuck. I plan on making a simply layout and probably won't even use a "cookie cutter" approach. For my roadbed, should I use something like topper tape or rip strips of soundboard, homasote, or cork and lay that on top of the foam.
This is getting to be a slight addiction! Thanks for all the support.
Aaron26Hollow core door base with 6 ply on top of that for the sub-roadbed. I then plan to use liquid nails to attach 2" extruded foam to the ply.
Any one of those could be sufficient for benchwork, you certainly won't need all three. With all that material stacked up, it would be nearly impossible to drill through to install track feeders.
Books are still a good resource, in my opinion, because they have been edited by (usually) knowledgeable and experienced people.
Basic Model Railroad Benchwork
Aaron26For my roadbed, should I use something like topper tape or rip strips of soundboard, homasote, or cork and lay that on top of the foam.
The pre-fab roadbed of cork or homasote works fine, but you can cut your own from sheet stock if you prefer. Again, you wouldn't need the foam on top of plywood if it's 1/2" or thicker -- nor do you need foam on top of the typical hollow-core-door if you don't plan for elevation changes.
Good luck with your layout.
Byron
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Don't overthink or overbuild this. A first layout is a test that almost always includes re-starts and do-overs. MR has multiple articles on file of building a first layout, and reviewing a couple of those is recommended. With the size based on a hollow-core door for HO, the resultant oval of track isn't going to need layer upon layer of "sub-roadbed". The big advantage of Homasote is that its density allows one to spike track to it, but then withdraw the spikes or small nails and push them in again at another place as one makes adjustments. Foam allows more crafting of scenery, but isn't as forgiving to alterations.
Read. I recognize that you are ready to get a train running, but it is not a race and the more you plan ahead the fewer mistakes... Keep us informed; we all can recall that first layout.
Bill
There is a video series on Youtube on how to "build a model tarin layout", published by The World´s Greatest Hobby".
the videos show how to build a nice beginner´s layout, right from the beginning to the end. While it is a simple layout, it is certainly fun to build and operate. Beginners should not hesitate to start small - you will auto matically grow when your skills grow.
Here is the first installment:
are you building a train table or a deck for when the guys come over?
as stated you don't need all 3 layers,''I'' don't care for doors,too narrow for decent curves. Half inch ply on a frame, to keep it flat,will work,but hard to dig a ditch or pond. I prefer 2in foam, on a frame. Light, simple to do landscape,up or down,poke a hole to plant trees or drop wires. Your only supporting a couple lb. of train and plastic.
although road bed looks nnice, you dont need it, I don't use it and the trains run fine. Track is glued with chauk,ballest,add ground cover,trees ect.Looks fine to me.
Don't over think it. Use the books and video as a guild, they are but an opion
Wow, thanks for all the helpful advice. There's so much wonderful detail to absorb that I clearly got caught up in the moment. I'm sure there's no one here that has that tendency. Due to space and transportation needs, I went with a more modular approach with joined squares of ply/foam on a hc door. I'll be sure to update on my progress. . . and the litany of questions to come.
Another vote for using 2" foam. I have mine on a slightly open bench supported by wood.
What do you want the layout to do? Ask yourself what scale, era, general part of the country to model, industries, etc. These are just a few of the many questions to consider. I can happily offer my 2 cents of advice as someone also with their first layout. No question you'll redo things and adjust even after putting down track. That's expected and part of the fun. Jusk ask my better 2/3 rds about the frustrations of restarting and suffering from analysis paralysis.
Get plenty of books to start a library and ask questions.
For roadbed don't rule out WS foam roadbed. It is very easy to work with especilly for curves. It also has sound deadening qualities.
Good luch with your decisions.....none of the suggestions are wrong.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
WS foam roadbed is hard to work with as it crushes, also it dose not support the ballast well and as fror transitions on elevataions, forget it. WS makes a lot of great things, this is not one of them in my opinion.
Second the idea of foam only over the door(s). Also believe cork would be an ideal choice for roadbed. One guestion, what will be the overall size of the finished layout?
I don't jump up and down a lot about model railroading books from any of the publishers, but I did get to flipping thru the Kalmbach one for benchwork and it does have some very nice ideas in there.
From mild to wild, it will probably give you several ideas, it did for me and I've put together a lot of stuff over the years.
Be honest with yourself and your skills as well as the space allowed to you. Talk to folks and ask questions and put some good ideas to paper and let others help you out.