Track Roadbed

Rather ingenious.... There are several ways to enhance O27 track, but that works pretty good.  I also use this track for similar reasons plus it is a very durable highly connective product.  Keep working with it and you'll enjoy the results.

Wow!  That looks awesome.  Can you share how you did that? (The extra ties and the road bed?)

Paul

Sure, But first I want to suggest you go to Dennis Brennan's site:

http://www.brennansmodelrr.com/store/index.php

Look for "Realistic Modeling for Toy Trains, A High Rail guide."  He has written a very good booklet on track weathering and ballasting plus lots of other scenery information.  

You can also use the advanced search engine and find multiple posts about O27 track.  I have posted about upgrading my toy train layout and the link is below.

https://ogrforum.com/t...g-a-toy-train-layout

To answer your question I use 3R Plastics for the ties:

http://3r-plastics.com/

Paul, This is the way that whole coaling station area ended up.....

I used cork roadbed and painted it with a watered down grey stain. It was thin enough that you could still see the chunks of cork, which gave it a slight gravel look to it. I then used the rubber ties from 3r Plastics.

Here's a shot of the track; the grade crossing has the ties removed:

J White

Thank you J White and Wood (sounds like a legal team).   

Looks a lot easier to make O-27 look great than I thought.

I had considered painting the center-rail black and the outer rails a rust brown (except for the tops as I'm not adding functional catenary wires to the layout!). 

Im still debating the ballast issue and how to secure it and what foundation to use under it.

Don't think I can afford cork, foam may have to be the foundation for now. 

Paul

Here's my old 031 tinplate layout - I made my own ties from trim wood from Lowe's that had the same profile as the metal ties and the right height to slide under fastened down track.

Looks great.  But I think I will buy those ties linked to earlier. I only need enough for the where the track is not in a tunnel. 

What did you use for ballast?

Paul

That layout had Woodland Scenics light gray, but I've learned there is way better ballast available.  I'm now using Brennan's Ballast couldn't be happier. 

That was recommended to me earlier, so I will probably go with Brennan's.  

Woodland Scenics spray adhesive to hold it in place?

Hello Paul • I have done the same thing, spray painted the road bed gray.• The biggest plus is no ballast being caught up into engines and it is easy to change your layout. If you use to much glue on the ballast, it can turn to concrete. My layout is a toy train layout and not scale

     Below are photos of the track on my layout. K-Line Shadow Rail & cork bed sprayed gray.

  Click photos to enlarge.

Nice.  So foam painted with flec-stone? Hmmmm.  Has some advantages. Again, mine is an O-27 small layout. NTS. (not to scale) So this sounds like a good solution since I may want to expand it with a 4'x6' "wing" for a small rail yard and town scene.

The initial 4x8 layout is going to be a woodland scene https://ogrforum.com/t...78#39863555044029778

This is the possible expansion...

https://ogrforum.com/t...41#39863555128184541

I am going to be building my layout in O27. I think it has a more realistic rail height and because the ties are almost flat, the cost of Brenan's Ballast is minimized, because less of it is needed than with standard O tubular, or Gargraves, etc...

I plan to use Homasote roadbed from Cascade Rail Supply, which will really quiet down the noise. The extra ties from 3R Plastics are economical and very quiet as well.

Good luck; post photos; and let us know how it works out.

I have both traditional tubular 0 and 027 scale track on the majority of my layout.  Because 0 scale track is high in height and its ties not that authentic, I decided to use fish tank gravel--a cheaper alternative even if not totally in scale.  As a result I really didn't have to use a roadbed, brushing the stone up to the rail's height to give the illusion of a road bed (See attached photo).  Stones also filled in the spaces between the ties.  I used double-faced tape on the bottom, poured the stones and then some glue/water to seal the top.  The rails held the stones poured inside the track.  On 027, I don't think you could pour the stones inside because of the lower height--I used kitty litter glued to the tape which worked fine but hesitated to use any inside the rails because of my fear of it getting up into the housing of the engine.   BTW, I covered the entire platform with cork which cut down the vibration and sound.

Midwest Products is a very good source for O gauge road bead.  With a disk/belt sander you can fit pieces as needed.

I use Masonite for model building bases which matches well to the cork road base. Note that the flex of the cork easily works the track curves. I fabricate the track work and then on final attachment to the layout, slide the cork under the track, hold it in place as the track is screwed down/holding the cork.   Final application of white glue mix and ballast holds all in place.

Cork fitted to the track and switch motors as needed.

I just checked the prices at Midwest Products.  $58 for 36" of cork road bed? Not going to happen.  Might as well have used RealTrax or FasTrack.  This project has to be done on a somewhat tight budget or the CFO (my wife) will call a stock-holders meeting and I will be fired from the position of CEO of the railroad.    So I will have to use homosote or foam and cut it myself.

Check again Paul Smith.  There's 25pcs per box for $58.  This should allow you to keep your CFO title for a little bit longer.

Thanks Big Mike, I didn't see the 25 pieces line (was above the text).

I've been writing programming code here at work all morning and I think my eyes need a rest. LOL

$58 for 75 feet, well that makes it a lot more affordable.  If I paint it with the flec-stone then it will look really good and no messing with gravel ballast.  

Looking at my plan, their are about 20 pieces of track that are not in tunnels or on bridges and 5 turnouts.  That's less than 30 linear feet of roadbed. 

Paul Smith

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the spare bedroom railroad...

Paul,

If you do a search for Midwest cork roadbed you can find it for $35 plus shipping.

Ed

Frankly, I don't use separate roadbed under the track simply because our ties are twice as high as normal.  I cover the entire tabletop with foam or homasote. For bonding, I use regular Elmer's white glue and water. If it ever has to be removed, you simply re-wet it and it loosens up. 

I do something similar to OP's technique, but using homasote rather than foam:

After cookie-cutting with a bevelled saber-saw, I paint the whole thing with white glue and sprinkle on ballast:

This makes it very easy to add subtle grades that I turn into rolling terrain during landscaping.  This avoids the "dead-flat platform" look.

When landscaping, I add more ballast and tie it all in with the ground cover:

The changes in relief are barely noticeable, but I think they add a lot to the overall effect.

Very nice detail work, Avanti.