End of March - Did I actually lay track???

It's been a long journey to get to this point. I'm glad that I'm finally making the progress I should have made oh so many months ago...

One of my design decisions was that I would again use homabed. As everyone knows, the California Roadbed guy folded up a number of years ago. He made a great product. However, he was not the most pleasant person to deal with. 

When I started gathering materials for the LA Division, Cascade Rail Supply popped up as a new (only) vendor for homabed. I placed an order for ALL of my roadbed with him. I'm glad I did since he unfortunately made the decision to shutter his business. Too bad as he was a niche player and the only game in town. I now understand there is a company in Tennessee making homabed. I haven't checked them out, but do hope they do well!

When I placed my original order with Cascade Rail Supply, I ordered .24" for the main and .125" for all sidings. Spurs and industrial track for the most part will be applied directly to the drywall sub-roadbed. I used a similar method on the Exeter Branch, except that only the main track is on .125" homabed. All remaining trackage is attached to the plywood deck. 

As part of the planning and part of my method for calculating homabed, I color coded the main track and sidings different colors. I'm really glad I did this as I has helped significantly for planning and installation of roadbed.

As you can see not only did I color the track, but I also listed the turnout numbers for nearly every turnout. You will also see the industry number from the SPINS book for each track. The number represents each customer on the railroad as well as company spots.

Based on my design, I must start by laying the main track roadbed first. The main track is the keystone if you will, in orienting all the track. 

The first piece of homabed was installed. This was after a lot of triangulation. You can see all the reference lines drawn on the benchwork. Among the other tools are flex track to help with alignment. A utility knife for cutting the homabed. A caulk gun and putty knife. I use DAP Alex Plus for my adhesive. I used the same method on the Exeter Branch. I'm pretty confident in the results as I've never had an issue on the 12 years of running the Exeter Branch. 

My installation method is to mark off each end where the length of homabed will be placed. This of course is aligned to the centerline for the track which is drawn onto the benchwork. I put down a bead of caulk and the smooth/spread it out with a putty knife. You don't need a lot of caulk. The Alex Plus provides some working time if you need to align the roadbed. I use this for track too. 

I  have a printed copy of the track plan for use. However, since the layout is designed in Microsoft Visio, I need to use my computer too. That's where I can find all of my measurements, offsets, etc., from the reference points: walls, corners of walls, front of benchwork, etc.

Below are more images of the progress. I typically install one side of the homabed in multiple lengths. I check all the straight sections with a 4' or 6' aluminum ruler.

A lot of single homabed was installed. Next was to double it up. One thing I always do is ensure my homabed joints are not aligned. I'll start the opposite side 4" offset from the end of the piece already installed. 

Next I began the process of laying out the sidings and industrial track / spurs.

I measure and draw the reference lines for where the track will be placed. I then use turnouts to figure the turnout placement and alignment to the other tracks. 

In the picture to the right, the key tools are: pencil, tape measure, ruler, turnouts, and of course, my computer with Visio.

There is a wye in the peninsula associated with the interchange track that will be down the middle. Industry tracks will be added once I'm laying track. 

More progress pictures below.

Next up was the painting of the homabed to seal it. In addition, I opted to fill in the gaps in the homabed at turnouts with drywall mud as filler. However, I determined it was mandatory that I paint the homabed first. Drywall mud has a lot of water in it and I did not want that to adversely affect the homabed. So seal first with paint, then use the drywall mud. This also helps to smooth out the transitions between roadbed heights. I can manipulate the drywall mud to create smooth transitions. 

Above are all picture of in progress work. I have to play a waiting game of drying time. That's for roadbed glue (caulk), paint, and drywall mud. Once the mud is dry, it needs to be painted as well. 

Right is picture of the benchwork moving toward Dolores Yard. 

More work was done adding a second coat of drywall mud as the mud typically shrinks a bit when it drys. Once dry, it was time to paint again. At this point, I'm doing a variety of things while I wait for drying to complete. 

I managed to get the benchwork painted earlier today. Helping me move closer to laying track. I did have an 'ah-ha' moment. I found that the paint roller is an effective way to paint the homabed. It covers well and is much faster than a brush. A brush is still required for some tight spots, but the roller is a winner.

The photo to the right is the same section of benchwork in the photo above. Now painted and with 1/2 of the main track homabed installed. 

And the opposite view including the curve coming out of Tweedy.

And now...drumroll...the first piece of track installed on the main level! A Peco code 83 #8 left hand turnout at Tweedy.

Below is a photo of more track installed: 

Then an 'oops' occurred. I was so excited laying the track above, that when I installed the curve at the top of the photo, I forgot to add the super-elevation. Doh! Up came the track. Fortunately, with caulk, it is recoverable and reusable. 

In the photo on the right, you can see the curved flex track removed. The caulk has been scraped off of the roadbed and set out to dry.

In the mean time, I went down to the basement to get the box of 'super-elevation tape'. I bought of box of tape used for super-elevation years ago and have a supply for not just a lifetime, but two or three lifetimes!

 

The photos below are of the installed super-elevation and some rolling stock testing the track. With Alex Plus caulk, I have some working time, so I'm able to make adjustments and needed to ensure a smooth curve. 

That's it for this time. Apparently, my post is a bit long and the Blogger tool is struggling to work effectively with the content, so I'll wrap it up.  I'll post another progress update the middle of April.

Thanks for reading!