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As long as you're spending money on new track, you may want to consider using the Ross sectional track and Ross switches as well as the Ross brand of roadbed.  The wooden ties countersink about one-half their thickness into the roadbed which provides a very prototypical look.

 

Ross track and spraypainted roadbed

 

As you'll see in the photo above, I spraypainted the Ross roadbed with Krylon's textured "stone" paint to kill the yellow color of the roadbed material.  As I took my time with track installation and wiring, it was about 18 months before I got around to ballasting, so the spraypainted roadbed looked "good enough" for that transitional period.

 

The roadbed also elevates the track above the surface of the layout as you'll see in the photo below.  In the missile railcar base scene below, you can see where I was able to create a sentry's walkway between the angled ballast of the yard tracks.

 

 

Annotated -- Missile Railcar Yard Pic July 30 2009

 

The photo above really shows the "counter-sunk" tie effect.  In the case of our layout, the track is screwed into the roadbed and the Homasote, but not through to the plywood.  We do not have the "rolling thunder" or "drum roll" problem so many O-gaugers encounter.

 

Publisher's Special - 01

 

We even got a tad bit of super-elevation on the O-54 and O-64 curves as shown below.  I was able to increase the super-elevation a bit more at the other end of the layout by inserting a single folded strip of "shirt cardboard" under the outer edge of curves' roadbed.

 

Ross Custom Switches Boxcar on Curve

 

BTW -- We haven't had a derailment since we set up the layout in 2007 other than one boxcar and one dumpcar, both with "operating shoes", splitting a switch with one truck staying straight and one going on the divergent route of the switch.  Does the roadbed help in preventing derailments?  I don't know for sure, but that record of no derailments makes me think it helps with keeping both the train and the track stable and in place.  (Someone else can break out their slide rule to see if my thinking is correct from an engineering perspective.) 

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Images (4)
  • Ross track and spraypainted roadbed
  • Annotated -- Missile Railcar Yard Pic July 30 2009
  • Publisher's Special - 01
  • Ross Custom Switches Boxcar on Curve
Originally Posted by PC-Quebec:

 I guess stainless is for outside and it conduct less electricity.

Where did you get the erroneous assumption that stainless conducts less electricity? I always wonder where ideas like this come from, who could have possibly thought that, and how they could have convinced someone else to believe their error.

Originally Posted by RoyBoy:
 

Where did you get the erroneous assumption that stainless conducts less electricity? I always wonder where ideas like this come from, who could have possibly thought that, and how they could have convinced someone else to believe their error.

 

I get this idea from the facts, Stainless is a poor conductor even iron conduct 10x more. 

 

http://www.tibtech.com/conductivity.php

Regular Gargraves with Ross switches, mounted on cork roadbed, that on top of Homosote on plywood.  Nailed down with 1" black, paneling nails, (not screws) has been the best track for my uses.  My layout has some 750' of t rack, 66 switches and is on four, connected levels.  Quietest operation, fewest derailments, ready for signal wiring using the unused outside rail.

 

Most of the yard and siding tracks are made up of re-used Gargraves from and old layout.  A little WD40 spray on the ties frees them up to re-bend to their new contours.

 

Keeps your costs down as Gargraves is, to my knowledge, the most reasonably priced track around.  Much less than "snap-track" from the big manufacturers.

 

Paul Fischer

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