Now for the fun part.
I say fun because other modellers tell them they enjoy track laying but Personally, it drives me up the wall.
I have the track plan and had ordered the Peco 009 track parts I needed, it should just be a case of following the plan and fixing the track down.
And largely it was.
Adding a base to the baseboard
Before getting to the track, I first glued some foam sheets to the baseboard I’m using. This extra layer provides a surface layer I can cut into for rivers etc without having to damage the actual baseboard. I’ll come back to this in future.
Having as layer of foam between the track and baseboard also helps reduce noice from the track without (again I’ll come back to why I want to do this in a future post) and is easier, in my view, than cutting and placing cork along the track path.
(Cork of course isn’t just used for noise dampening but also to provide a shoulder for ballast. However the track on this layout is a narrow gauge industrial line which typically didn’t have raised ballast shoulders so that wasn’t an issue either).
Fixing the padding to the the Scale Model Scenery BB017 board I’m using was just a matter of skimming the wood with PVA, placing the foam sheet onto it and then weighing it down until the glue had dried.
With that in place I could then work on the track.
I attached droppers to the rails for every section of track, overkill on a layout of this size but I want resilancy in the wiring given it will be carted around for exhibitions and prone to damage, and also soldered a wire for the point motors to the point frogs and drilled the holes for these along the path worked out from the track plan,
I then dabbed latex glue along the course of the track, placed each section in place, pushed the rails into the joiners of the prior piece and hammered in track pins for good measure.
As mentioned, I really don’t like track laying, but this time it went quite smoothly and I had it all down in a day.
Testing the track
The proper wiring will come later but as to enable a testing, I ran a wire from my DCC controller along the length of the board and used scotch lock terminal crimps to temporally attach the droppers to this. The Tortoise motors were also installed to drive the points.
With everything in place I then tried one of the locos with some wagons and was pleased to see it trundle from one end of the layout to the other without stoppin, stalling or derailing.
Happy with the result and very aware I’d laid the track without major problem I then disconnected the controller and put everything away before noticing I’d got something wrong!
Backscene
With the track laid, I applied the backscene I’ve picked to the layout.
I like to get these in place early as I can then fine position other scenic elements and buildings to fit the background but do it after then track is laid so the paper of the backscene doesn’t get torn or ripped by the metal rails of the track. (In a previous layout, I was adjusting the position of some flexitrack when I slipped and pushed the rail ends into and across the backscene, tearing it badly in the process).
At 15 inches this particular backscene, is a little tall so had to be cut down. I don’t want the lake / river shown at the bottom of the image so I cut the excess from the bottom and kept some of the clouds visible on the layout.
The Premium version I used has a sticky back so it was just a case of peeling off the protective film and applying to carefully to the wooden backing. With the paper fixed to the back wood, the gap at the bottom – between the back frame and flat surface of the layout base was filled with filler to seal it. Trees and hedges will go along here later so this gap won’t be visible but its nice to close it anyway.
The overall look works well, creating a valley feel, and frames the rest of the layout.
>This post is part of a series on the construction of a lifelike model railway for exhibitions. To read other posts in the series covering its development, track work, scenery and model building making, see building an exhibition model railway.
Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.
Hi Andy, can I ask what brand of foam you used and what thickness? Also how did you handle the point motors (did they go in holes cut in to the foam or were they mounted under the baseboard with stiff wire coming up through the foam?) and dropper wires (did they just run through holes in the foam or did you put them through any form of tubing?) I’m thinking of using foam on my next layout but not quite sure how to handle these aspects of the electrics. Thanks!
Hi Alastair, the foam was an XPS under wooden flooring type, I went for 3mm but other thicknesses should work. The motors are attached under teh boards wit piano wire coming up through the board and form into the point. Dropper wires also came up through the boards and foam. On previous layouts, with thicker foam bases I’ve put the wires through tubes because I was concerned about hot wires possibly melting the foam but on this occasion I just made holes in the foam and pushed them through and it’s not been a problem. Overall, I’d recommend putting a foam bed down as it allows for rivers and other indentations in the base surface for scenic items and gives a good base for the track to lay on. Andy