definitly not foam...
Originally posted by Gary H Pfeil
Forget about laying directly on the foam, it won't hold spikes at all. Cork isn't great either. You'd basically be depending on the tie to hold the spikes.
Aside from the fact that the foam doesn't hold spikes... As you are pushing the spike into the tie, you are also pushing the tie into the foam...
You need a firm roadbed. Homasote is great.
I use old cork bulletin boards. 1/4" cork on top of 1/4" particle board. This gives me a 1/2" thick roadbed. This is an O scale 2' thick and I can carve/cut the edges to a ~45 degree embankment for On30...... O scale ties are a lot thicker and will hold spikes better on their own than HO ties, so cork is fine for me...
Good idea for putting in the ballast before spiking in the rails... I'll have to remember that one... :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Might as well take advantage of all that wet glue, and not have to worry about the ties coming loose later when you wet things down for adding ballast after the rails are down...
For On30, I mark the track center line and then mark every 1/2" along the centerline. The ties are a scale 5" x 7" x 6' and they don't have to go in perfectly straight or evenly spaced, so I don't bother with a jig. I just paint on a coating of yellow carpenter's glue and hand place the ties on the 1/2" marks...
For HO mainline, you will want the ties to go in more neatly and a jig will help...
For track gauges, I use a Kaydee coupler gauge and a three point track gauge. I also use an NMRA track gauge that has all the other measurements for flangeways et. al..
A good set of flush cutting rail nippers are great and also a comfortable pair of needle nose plyers for spiking.
