' A MAINLINE QUESTION'

[TrainsRMe1]

Hi all,,

   I have a question for you guys and gals, I'm planning to run my mainline line though my town, like Pelle' Soebreg's layout, mine will be Nscale,it's also going to be modern era. I want the mainline to have ditches on each side, so should I use HO scale roadbed, Woodland scenics risers,or two stripes of Nscale cork roadbed on top of one another?  Thanks for the help MRders'

                                        Trainsrme1  

[tomikawaTT]

Short answer - yes.

Slightly longer answer - any of the suggestions you put out will work.  So will anything else that will allow you to form an appropriate roadbed cross-section.  possibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Use a layer of standard roadbed over a second, slightly spread layer, over plywood.  Form ditches in the process of applying 'ground goop' or similar terrain texture material.
• Same as above, but substitute extruded foam for the plywood.
• Put standard roadbed on foam, carve ditches with knife, sawblade or hot wire.
• Form the profile with plaster, using a slip surfacer with proper profile.
• Etc...etc...etc...

There are at least ten thousand ways I haven't listed - and they all work.

So - the real question is, which will work for you?  The answer ccan only be determined by experimenting.  Try the method you think will work best on a square foot of plywood or foam.  Then try something else.  Don't commit yourself to any single technique until you are comfortable with it.

My own roadbed runs through my main town (a major subdivision yard/interchange/engine change point) on, from the bottom up:

• Plywood, cookie cut to suit.  Tendencies to warp or twist beaten into submission with steel angle iron.
• Thin foam, carved to appropriate profile.
• Card stock track template - possibly several thicknesses where needed to shim between ties of different depths.

That brings me to the bottom of the ties - plastic (looks like concrete or wood) or balsa (under hand-laid specialwork.)  This works for me, and you are welcome to try it, but not as the only possible answer.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[MisterBeasley]

But, where?  Pelle models the desert, so your ditches will likely come up dry.  I prefer moister, more northern climes.  My ditches have a bit of dirty water, and some long grass around the edges.

Ditches by the side of your main line, or any other slightly elevated line, give you a nice opportunity to play with "small water."  I've put a lot of ditches along my tracks, and added just a small amount of "dirty" Envirotex pours to each.  I color my dirty water with a few drops of brown or green acrylic paint, the cheap stuff from the craft shops.  It's a small detail, but the small details make a layout look real.

[markpierce]

I presume you're actually speaking of a "main track."  A mainline is a route; a branchline is too.  And a branchlines has a "main track" also, like a mainline does.

Mark