Hi. I'm new to HO railroading. I have a bunch of atlas true track I got really cheap. Not really interested in building a roadbed. Is it better to separate the track from the plastic roadbed and just lay the track on my plywood layout table? Any downside to doing this? Any other tips for a beginner are appreciated. I've got a 6'x 12' table to work with.
Welcome to the forum, I can't believe no one has at least said hello.
I have not held the product in my hand, so I don't know how removable the roadbed actually is. Most people use some sort of roadbed, cork or homasote for mainlines. There is also a foam roadbed, but it doesn't have a lot of fans.
The extra layer also softens the noise. Some people are happy with their pre-attached roadbed choices. The look doesn't appeal to me but I'm just one guy at the end of the bar.
You can't ever give us too much info when you ask a question. For example if you are considering DCC, the best practice is to solder a feeder to every rail. That will be time consuming if you are using sectional vs flex track.
You should run your design by the group, because as a newbie, you will try to cram too much track into too little space with curves too tight. There are a couple free track design programs on the web. Scarm is the one I use, but they all have a learning curve.
My last tip is that most people can only reach 2 feet. That means a 2x8' strip of your layout will be hard to scenic, and hard to reach derailments.
edit PS I see this is your first post. Your posts will be held up for moderation for a while. You've been a member for 4 months and this is your first post, you are going to have to pick up the pace
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
to the hobby and this forum.
Laying a track directly onto the plywood base is not really advisable. First of all, your trains will make a heck of a noise without any type of sound deadening, Second, unless you model a cheap-skate branchline where tracks are nearly submerged in dirt, railroads build up a roadbed of ballast to hold the ties in place and to drain of water from the ties to prevent rot.
This leaves you with the options of either leaving the roadbed on the track pieces or snapping it of and lay the track on cork roadbed. As the track is already supplied with a roadbed, I´d stick with that. I bet it can be made look more natural by re-ballasting it.
I can't speak directly about Atlas true track, other than I think it is designed to be removed from the roadbed if you choose, and its a good quality product.
The downside of leaving it as is, is that if you decided to expand the layout or add pieces to it, you have to make sure any future roadbed you buy aligns well with the trutrack, or you'll have to keep buying trutrack.
It doesn't hurt operations if you just lay the track on the plywood. Most people use roadbed for appearences only. I think truetrack was really designed to give support to the track if you wanted to lay it out on the floor, like at christmas time or something, or in a nonpermanent situation.
- Douglas
Depends on how much track you have. If you have enough track for your entire layout, great! Otherwise, I'd prefer to use cork roadbed so that different brands of track are compatable, without attached roadbed. All in one track tends to be more expensive, and doesn't look as good in my opinion. Be aware that atlas true track is code 83, so all other track you use should be code 83 as well, unless you use adapters.
-Peter. Mantua collector, 3D printing enthusiast, Korail modeler.
Welcome to the forums and to this great hobby.
Amplifying the comment about more information:
Comments about a track plan can be more focused and imformative if we know what you want to do. Running big locomotives and long trains past great scenery requires different trackwork than switching two towns that feed material to each other.
Other examples you will think of yourself.
Dave
Wecome Tazzy,
It took you a long time to come on board.
I won't comment on your track as it has been well covered by others.
I would like to suggest that you take a long look at the possibilities of cutting your board into 2' or 3' sections and buillding your layout either "L" shaped, increasing the size at the ends for a return loop or just making it a point to point layout or continuing the 2' or 3' size around your walls. You will end up with a better looking layout and one that is easier to work on and will give you a longer mainline. 6' across a layout isn't a fun thing to deal with especially if you are not 6'6" yourself.
Give it some thought. You might have to buy a little more lumber, but it will be worth it. And the pay back will really be in your enjoyment of your Pike.
Johnboy out.................... Don't be a stranger here
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
This book was recommended to my, when I joined the forum and I am passing it along: Track Planning for Realistic Operation': Prototype Railroad Concepts for your Model Railroad by John Armstrong.
Books are cheaper than mistakes.
I haven't used True Track, but Atlas's web site says the track can be removed from the road bed. It appears that the roadbed has tabs that lock one piece to the next. This is helpful because track by itself has a tendency to separate unless nailed or glued down. But otherwise removing the track and laying it on the table top is fine as far as running trains.
Since this is your first layout, I would recommend not using glue so you can easily rearrange the track. In fact you might want to try out several arrangements to see what you like. Hook up a power pack and run trains.
This website under the How To tab on the bar above has several articles that will help you.
Good luck
Paul
Welcome aboard. Roadbed in model railroading is partly looks, partly sound deadening and partly tracknail holding. Real railroads put a deep ballast of crushed rock under the track to let rainwater drain away and not rot the wooden ties. This would raise the track a foot or so about the terrain. If you put model railroad track right down on plywood, the plywood resonates like a drum head and amplifies the noise of the running trains. A roadbed of 1/4 inch cork (sold at hobby stores) will both deaden the noise and raise up the track for a prototype look.
Plywood doesn't take track nails well. The glue layers are so hard that the track nails bend over rather than penetrating it. To keep your track in place on just bare plywood, you have to glue it down with acylic caulking compound, which makes rearrange ment of the track messy at best. The traditional answer to this is to put a layer of Homosote over the plywood. Homosote is a glued together material made from paper that takes track nails well and deadens sound reasonably well. Homosote isn't very strong and will sag over time, which is why you want a layer of plywood underneath the Homosote.
From what you write, you have a goodly supply of sectional track with roadbed already attached at the factory. Was it me, I'd use that track as is, with roadbed.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com