{"id":255,"date":"2017-04-23T16:15:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-23T16:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harlemrivercrossways.com\/blog\/?p=255"},"modified":"2017-04-24T00:04:31","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T00:04:31","slug":"adding-roadbed-and-team-tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harlemrivercrossways.com\/blog\/adding-roadbed-and-team-tracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding Roadbed and Team Tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the inner circular track closed and the outer track progressing towards a full circle, the real fun can now begin. I haven’t given that much thought yet on\u00a0how to\u00a0build the track bed and to mount the track work on the bed.\u00a0I’m not in a hurry – I still need the flexibility to modify\u00a0the tracks, and I’m far away from nailing or gluing down the two circular tracks. The plan is to\u00a0start working from a different angle and to build the team tracks. This will help me to solidify the design and to make sure all the tracks fit.<\/p>\n

I’m not too worried about locomotives and cars making too much noise on the layout as speeds will always be very modest. Still, I want some cork bed for the tracks, so I go with 1\/32″ cork sheets from Midwest Products. For the areas between the tracks as well as the small section under the throw-bars of the turnouts, I’ll use 1\/32″ basswood. Gaps between cork and basswood will be sealed with vinyl putty.<\/p>\n

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I’ll work myself around the freight house and then extend the cork and basswood layer to the freight yard with the team tracks. Starting at the bulkhead, I add track by track; first the cork, and then the basswood sheet to the next group of tracks, always sealing the gaps and sanding the seams. Cork and basswood get a good coating of dark gray primer before I can lay and glue down the flex track. Finally, the tracks and ties are airbrushed with a rusty brown. Soon, my layout displays the full extent of the freight yard. I only leave space for tracks 7 to 10 as they are part of the diamond crossover – one of the last challenges in my project.<\/p>\n