Seaboard Central 2.0

[davefoxx]

Aha! No shot necessary.

Are you using the new PC ties from FastTracks that are the same thickness as the wood ties? One of the things that has always bugged me about using the PC ties for my turnouts is the fact that they are thinner than the wood ties, so they are always floating above the roadbed. Doesn't really show after careful ballasting, but something bugs me about not having the ties that the rail is soldered to fixed to the roadbed.

I know the new PC ties that they are making have corrected this, at least for the standard length ties. Their turnout length ties are still thinner than a regular tie.

Yes, I'm using the PC board ties.  That made this installation a lot easier, because I was able to glue all of the ties down at the same time and then install the rail.  The PC board turnout ties being thinner is not a problem for me, because I build my turnouts in a turnout assembly fixture and then glue the QuickSticks laser cut ties on.

[packers#1]

Oh man, that really makes me want to use code 40 on the industrial layout I'm planning; it would be perfect. You're right that it makes N scale equipment look more "massive;" like the actual brutes these locomotives are in real life

[ednadolski]

"Scale" spikes are unavailable.

Closes thing is the P87 spikes from http://www.proto87.com/n-scale-track.html:



They are pretty small, so using them requires some good lighting & magnification.  The elongated ones are definitely easier to handle.

Ed

[Ian MacMillan]

Looks good. Man I'd love to use c40, but with the baby almost here I'd never get any down.

[conrail98]

That code 40 looks spectacular. I may just have to use it in the heavy industries I'm planning,

Phil

[John]

Awesome work .. but the professional model railroaders would implore you to stain your wood ties before you put the track down

[Baronjutter]

ednadolski, what are you using for ballast?  Looks actually to scale rather than the over-sized boulders WS passes off as N scale.

[ednadolski]

Man I'd love to use c40, but with the baby almost here I'd never get any down.

Spiking every 5th-6th tie should go fairly quick, not too much worse than soldering to PC ties.  The only time-consuming part on this sample was the individual tieplates.  At normal viewing distances, they are all but invisible, so I would do them only where I expected to have close-up pics.

Awesome work .. but the professional model railroaders would implore you to stain your wood ties before you put the track down

Those are the pre-stained Micro Engineering ties. All I did was lightly sand them with fine sandpaper (like 400-600 grit or so) after they were glued down.

The color balance in the picture isn't very good, but you can see where the alcohol from the ballasting step causes some of the stain to bleed off onto the ballast.  I prefer to call that "free weathering" 

ednadolski, what are you using for ballast?  Looks actually to scale rather than the over-sized boulders WS passes off as N scale.

If memory serves, that is the Arizona Rock & Mineral N scale ballast.


Ed

[Ian MacMillan]

Spiking every 5th-6th tie should go fairly quick, not too much worse than soldering to PC ties.  The only time-consuming part on this sample was the individual tieplates.  At normal viewing distances, they are all but invisible, so I would do them only where I expected to have close-up pics.

I did Proto:87, so I know the the work required. I just wont have that time. Plus, once I get close up sections done, I'm gonna want them all the same way! OCD 

[davefoxx]

Awesome work .. but the professional model railroaders would implore you to stain your wood ties before you put the track down

Nah, I'm painting my track.  There's no other way to blend in the PC board ties without paint, so the staining step would be wasted effort.

DFF

[seusscaboose]

Awesome work .. but the professional model railroaders would implore you to stain your wood ties before you put the track down

He gets a pass

He's  red/green/brown color blind

 

[davefoxx]

He gets a pass

He's  red/green/brown color blind

 

So true.  You think I would have even been able to discern the difference when DKS was planning to do a monochromatic layout?   

[Bob Bufkin]

I always knew justice was blind, especially when it comes to lawyers.

[John]

I always knew justice was blind, especially when it comes to lawyers.

No Bob .. Lawyers use rose colored glasses ..

[davefoxx]

Even I like a good lawyer joke. 

Back to the railroad.  I got some paint down on the Code 40 track.  I literally drained my last can of grimy black, so I'm going to have to find a decent match for the future, since Floquil is gone.    I probably missed a few spots, since I'm out of paint.  Hopefully, ballasting and weathering will hide any sins.  Despite using the dregs of a sputtering rattle can, it seems to have covered fairly well, and the PC board ties no longer stand out like sore thumbs.  You will note some ties still have gaps, but those ties will end up buried under the engine house floor.



I finally figured out the easiest way to fill those gaps in the PC board ties in with Squadron green putty.  Since even my 1" putty knife was way too big, I cut a scrap piece of 0.060" styrene into a strip approximately three ties wide and used it as the putty knife.  By bridging over three ties, I was able to "screed" across the gaps, allowing me to fill the gap evenly to the top of the ties.

In the following picture, check out the tie at the bottom right and compare it to the ties to its left.  There is a PC board tie spaced every six ties.  I hope you agree that the PC board ties are not so obvious anymore.  I'm even pleased that there's no obvious solder blobs.  Ballasting and weathering should help even further.



Thanks for stopping by,
DFF