Track Installed

The last couple day have been spent installing the roadbed and track. I drew centerlines for the track on the table and used silicon to attach the 1/8" thick roadbed. I cut the roadbed from cork gasket material I purchased at True Value Hardware. This is a switching branch and the roadbed profile is not that defied, if at all in some locations. The standard HO road bed would have been too tall.

After the roadbed had dried, I sanded it smooth, and made transitions to the lower spur tracks using a finishing sander to get a smooth grade. I cleaned the area of dust and sealed the roadbed with latex paint.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I prewired all the turnouts. Red wire to outer rails, Black wire to inter rails, and White wire to the frog. I also added feeders to the points for a total of 5 wires per turnout.

After the paint had dried, I installed the track. Since the most tricky part of the track work is the crossover, I started there. I fit the crossover to have a 2" parallel track spacing, and drilled holes in the roadbed for the turnout wires. I then spread a thin even layer of silicon over the road bed and pressed the track into the silicon. I avoided spreading silicon at the throw-bar locations so they would have free play. I used thumb tacks to hold the track in position as things dried. I added track in a similar fashion until it was complete.

The whole process went very quickly and I was able to finish all the track work, after the road bed was down, in abut 2 hours.

Next up are turnout linkages and Tortoise switch machine installation.