As a fellow Canadian, I've always wondered about your plans for working through the Winter months... It can get damn cold here, at least in our neck of the woods (Ottawa). Is your garage insulated?
Simon
hon30critterUnfortunately the weather has turned cold so it will likely take a couple of days for the PL300 to cure.
When I went to the post office last night, it was 66 degrees outside. I turned the heater on in the car.
I feel for you.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I got the PL300 foam adhesive today so now I can finish attaching the foam slabs to each other and to the fascia. Unfortunately the weather has turned cold so it will likely take a couple of days for the PL300 to cure. I do have a small electric heater which I can put into the garage, but I'm concerned that it will be overwhelmed and I would rather that it didn't catch fire for obvious reasons! I'm going to check Amazon for bigger heaters.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I just made some major changes to my track plan! Actually they are minor in terms of the general plan, but they are significant in terms of improving the appearance when the trains are running.
I was following the thread "Another easement question" and Sheldon's comment about always using easements got my attention.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/284983.aspx
I had previously decided that I couldn't fit easements into my mainlines because of a lack of space. It turns out that I was wrong. After spending a couple of hours with 3rd PlanIt I figured out that, if I moved some turnouts back from the entrances to the curves, the easements would work! The changes to the track plan are actually pretty subtle, but I think the trains will look better. As a bonus, I was able to slightly increase the radii in the center of all of the curves by pushing the track slightly closer to the ends of the layout.
The annoying part about this is that all of the mainline track location points that I had recently plotted on the foam are now wrong. No big deal. I will just paint over them and re-plot the new points. I even discovered a previously unopened can of beige paint dated from 2013 in the stack of old paint cans that were headed for the dump.
There is a funny story about the paint. There was no colour sample on the lid, so I decided to open it to see what I had. When the lid came off I was greeted with a bucket of what appeared to be bright royal blue paint. I said to myself that that didn't make sense. Why would we have purchased a bucket of blue paint when nothing on the house had ever been blue? I decided to start mixing it and all I saw for the first few minutes was blue. I was a bit confused. Then I started to get faint swirls of beige, but still almost totally blue. After about 10 more minutes the beige started to become more dominant. Eventually I realized that paint was in fact beige, which was logical since that was what colour we were using on the house at the time. It took another 10 minutes or so to actually blend the blue fully into the beige. The blue was obviously some component of the paint mix that had separated out and risen to the top over the years. So, now I have a can of perfectly coloured paint to do the base of the scenery with, and to cover the errant plotting points. It almost made it to the dump!
Yes. I used some of my adhesive caulk used to roadbed and track to fill gaps. I had a large on back in the staging area so I stuffed a scrap piece of 1x3 in, one piece under each track, and didn't worry about the space in between since it was ultimately goign to end up behind a removeable backdrop. The other gaps were all rather narrow, so a bead of caulk, and a second one after that set to level it out, was all it took.
The foam was well attached to the plywood - this was before I cleared out my MR collection so I had close to 50 complete years worth (maybe more, I had pretty much every issue from 1970 to present, and MANY years of the 50's and 60's filled in) so PLENTY of weight got stacked on when putting together each section.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Hi gang,
After the glue dried on the uneven foam seams, I realized that those sheets were much more stable relative to each other than they had been. Before the glue I could move the higher of the two sheets up and down a tiny bit. I was concerned that the temperature and humidity swings in my unheated garage would cause the benchwork to expand and contract causing the gaps on the foam sheets to play havoc with the track. I decided to glue all of the seams including the ones that were even (which I should have done in the first place ).
I suspect the problem with the foam sheets still moving a bit was the result of me not putting enough weight on them to spread out the PL300 underneath. There apparently were still some small gaps between the plywood cover on the benchwork and the foam.
The Gorrilla carpenters glue flowed down into the seam leaving most of it open at the top so I will fill the remaining gap with PL300 foam adhesive once the carpenters glue has dried completely. I had planned on just using the carpenters glue but the quantity required is significant and it is not really designed to fill gaps. The PL300 will do the job nicely. There are also some small gaps between the fascia board and the foam which need to be filled. I just hate having to clean the PL300 off of my trowel and anything else it gets on.
hon30critterBe prepared to be bored!!
I did not get bored.
I have never used cork turnout pads. I am interested to hear how these work out for your layout.
hon30critterOnce I have the foam sheets more firmly attached to each other I can proceed with the cork and the track.
I figured out a way to firmly attach the foam sheets to each other. I used my hot foam cutter to widen the joints between the foam slabs and then I poured in copious quantities of Gorilla carpenters glue. It will take a few applications to fill the joints but once the glue hardens I don't think the slabs will move relative to each other, or so I hope!
Next step will be to level the joints between the slabs. Then, on with the cork!
I used those turnout pads on my last layout (I guess I got lazy - it's not that difficult to overlap and cut the cork and make a tight fit), though I think mine were from Midwest. Don't know if it made any difference, but since I was using Midwest cork for the rest, they matched up perfectly. I didn;t do anything special to place them, just put the turnout in place, drew an outline around it, and caulked the pad down centered in the outline. Then I marked on the pad where the throwbar hole and the frog wire hole needed to go.
Definitely a good reason to use cork again instead of the foam from eBay that's pretty much midway between cork and WS foam - softer than cork but not nearly as squishy as WS foam. I didn;t transfer all the locating marks from my plan, I just measured off a printed to scale copy and marked the centerlines of the 3 legs of a turnout to locate it and then filled in the connecting track after the turnouts were in place. Using the cork pads made that easy, a lot easier than trying to locate the first one and build it up by cutting overlapping bits of cork.
richhotrainMore, more, more. Wanna see pics of the rotisserie.
Hi Rich,
I think that I am fairly close to being able to put the rotary function to use. I want to stabilize the foam sheets so that they can't move relative to each other. I should have applied the foam glue to the edges of the sheets when I was installing it but I messed up. Once I have the foam sheets more firmly attached to each other I can proceed with the cork and the track. I have to figure out how to get the cork roadbed lined up properly. Once that is done I can start laying track and then do the feeders and bus wires etc. That's where the ability to rotate the benchwork will pay off.
Stay tuned! I promise I will try to do better on the pictures!
Excellent!
More, more, more.
Wanna see pics of the rotisserie.
Rich
Alton Junction
I am not bored. Pictures are part of what makes following a topic much more interesting. Thanks.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I decided to give in and show you a couple of photos pertaining to the track plotting. Be prepared to be bored!!
This is the track diagram printed from 3rd PlanIt with the plotting points notated on it:
This shows the plotting points on the foam. If you look carefully you will see a single dot beside the coordinates which marks the exact position of most of the pieces of track (hopefully).
I have to do some experimenting with the cork roadbed to figure out how to get it in the right position. More specifically, I have purchased pre-cut cork turnout roadbed from Itty Bitty Lines so I have to take a piece of the cork and a turnout to see how they fit together and what trimming the turnout cork might require. There will likely be a lot of head scratching as I work things out.
riogrande5761Any photo updates on that rotisserie? Is it getting cooked evenly on all sides?
Hi riogrande5761 and Rich,
Sorry, but there isn't much new to photograph. I have finally marked all of the track and turnout points on the foam but they aren't particularly photogenic.
In the next couple of weeks I hope to start laying cork. Before that I have to add a little glue to the foam joints but that shouldn't take long, although it may take some time to dry.
I'm going to have a bit of a learning curve to go through with the cork because I bought pre-cut cork turnout pads. I'll have to figure out how to position them properly.
As usual, the major limiting factor has been my back. I can manage about 15 - 20 minutes at a stretch before I have to sit down. That is a real PITA. I also have to admit that recent events south of the border have seriously depressed me. At least that's over with, more or less.
Please be patient.
There are so many nice things to see on both sides of the border... And so easy to get to when you think about it. And language is not a barrier! When things get back to normal, we look forward to more trips in all directions. The Canadian dollar is picking up, which will help a lot!
hon30critterI have only been 'south of the border' twice in my life!
I have only been North Of The Border one time. I went into Canada from Messina, New York in 1991.
We were first in line at a railroad crossing, and a lashup of Canadian Alcos stopped in front of us. One of the engines in a locomotive had suffered a catasrophic failure, and the crew had several doors open while fluid poured out of the locomotive.
This was roll film days, and I only had a couple of shots left, so I did not get any pictures.
riogrande5761 Any photo updates on that rotisserie? Is it getting cooked evenly on all sides?
Any photo updates on that rotisserie? Is it getting cooked evenly on all sides?
SeeYou190I forgot you were in Canada when I read this. I looked for what was happening in Mexico.
Funny song!
I have only been 'south of the border' twice in my life! Once was when I was 11 years old and visiting my Aunt Gert in Vancouver. She took us to a huge beach just south of the border (Boundary Bay maybe??). I was amazed at the sizes of the driftwood. The second time was when I accompanied my brother to Buffalo. He had decided that he wanted to join the US Marines to be a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. Fortunately he got rejected (no offense to the veterans!!).
hon30critterevents south of the border.
I am glad to hear that you are making progress.
I forgot you were in Canada when I read this. I looked for what was happening in Mexico.
I have finally finished marking all of the track and turnout locations. I'll admit to having been distracted by events south of the border. That had me stuck in a rut, but now I am feeling much less stressed.
The next step will be to correct the slight differences in height between the foam sheets. I have a small surform rasp, and I also have some Woodland Scenics foam putty so that should be easy. However, before I do that I'm going to open up the joints a bit and squeeze some wood glue in between. I will then weigh them down to see if that makes any difference. I have the perfect weights. I have two sets of MGB differential gears in small wood crates that weigh more than 40 lbs. each. I'll put a bit of wax paper over the joints so I don't glue the crates to the layout.
I know that Ed suggested leaving the height differences in place and just smoothing them out a bit to create some terrain detail, but after my experiences with constant derailments on my old club's portable layout due to uneven track, I'm too chicken to take the chance!
rrebellNo just rechecked it, anything up to 2 ounces is $1.20.
Hi rrebell,
You are correct. I was thinking of the USPS First Class package rate which is about $16.50 Cdn.
hon30critter rrebell So have someone it the states buy them and ship regular mail, cost would for mail $1.25 Hi rrebell, Actually, the cost to ship anything to Canada by USPS First Class Mail is quite a bit higher than that, even for a small envelope. My $40.00 estimate included the cost of the product by the way, but even without the shipping cost, I'm wondering if they are worth it. My biggest fear is getting them all lined up properly. If they were not aligned I would think that that would be worse than not having them there at all. The irregular positioning would bother me forever. Fussy eh?!? I'll do some more research. If I can figure out a way to keep them lined up it might be worth the effort. Maybe I could use a piece of rail curved to the proper radius to butt them up to, and then remove the rail. What I may do is just get rid of the ties supplied with the kit and use ME flex bridge track even though it is code 83 and my mainlines are Code 100. Thanks for the suggestion. Dave
rrebell So have someone it the states buy them and ship regular mail, cost would for mail $1.25
Actually, the cost to ship anything to Canada by USPS First Class Mail is quite a bit higher than that, even for a small envelope. My $40.00 estimate included the cost of the product by the way, but even without the shipping cost, I'm wondering if they are worth it.
My biggest fear is getting them all lined up properly. If they were not aligned I would think that that would be worse than not having them there at all. The irregular positioning would bother me forever. Fussy eh?!?
I'll do some more research. If I can figure out a way to keep them lined up it might be worth the effort. Maybe I could use a piece of rail curved to the proper radius to butt them up to, and then remove the rail.
What I may do is just get rid of the ties supplied with the kit and use ME flex bridge track even though it is code 83 and my mainlines are Code 100.
Thanks for the suggestion.
rrebellSo have someone it the states buy them and ship regular mail, cost would for mail $1.25
hon30critter Overmod Yes, there are ways to model tieplates, and yes, there are people who make and sell them. Hi Overmod, I found HO scale tie plates on the Proto 87 website, and they would definitely do the trick, but I'm going to pass. The cost to get enough plates to Canada is in excess of $40.00 Cdn. I can't justify that for such a minor detail that very few people would notice. Thanks for your help. Dave
Overmod Yes, there are ways to model tieplates, and yes, there are people who make and sell them.
Hi Overmod,
I found HO scale tie plates on the Proto 87 website, and they would definitely do the trick, but I'm going to pass. The cost to get enough plates to Canada is in excess of $40.00 Cdn. I can't justify that for such a minor detail that very few people would notice.
Thanks for your help.
Building structures take time to do them right. Gluing and painting requires drying time. I've been working on a sanding station for the last three weeks...
hon30critter I have to confess to being in a rut. I need to give myself a swift kick in the butt. Any assistance would be appreciated! Cheers!! Dave
I have to confess to being in a rut.
I need to give myself a swift kick in the butt. Any assistance would be appreciated!
A mini competition is required. I shall open a new thread.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
I have to confess to being in a rut. I still haven't finished plotting the track on the layout despite the fact that it is a quick and easy thing to do. All I have managed in the last few days is to build four small through girder bridges that should have taken one evening at best.
hon30critter we are feeling a bit deflated.
I share your anxiety, Dave.
Ed
gmpullmanHave you looked at Central Valley bridge ties, Dave?
Hi Ed,
The Central Valley bridge track looks great, but I can see that getting it to curve could be a bit of work.
Thanks for the link. I'll have to ponder it a bit. Their cost is still a factor. I'm not sure it's worth it.
I do have to admit that my enthusiasm is a bit lacking currently. Between Covid-19 and the stress created by issues south of the border (yes, I am Canadian, and yes, the election issues are stressing us severely), we are feeling a bit deflated.