I delayed, and delayed, and delayed on starting the second module, for absolutely no good reason.

At this time, the first module is still under construction, but nearing the limit of what I can do while it's on it's own - I need another one to join to to expand the trackwork.

So...this past weekend, I finally took the first step, and glued the foam to the plywood base. 24 hours of drying time, and voila! 

Sometimes, it's the smallest steps.....

Scarpia,

Looks like your foam doesn't quite come to the end there - I'm guessing you'll have a gap between the modules.

What, if anything, do you plan on using to fill it?

I'm not sure yet.

It's going to depend on how big the gaps are - I didnt' get clean cuts when I cut the stuff, and while I'd like to replace it, getting the materials is such a PITA here, I'll live with it.

Once the majority of the track is down, the modules will be joined and fixed in place with each other - at that time, I may either try and find the gap filling foam in can, or just use loose material underneath a spakle surface. There shouldn't be a lot of movement as the pylwood module base will be tight to it's neighbor.

Once that's down, than track goes across  - note there are no joints happening at any time the plywood or foam meet.

With the foam attached to the plywood, I was a even able to move forward with this! First was lining up the module tops. I decided to match up the plywood top instead of the module face (due to what clearly are some inaccuracies in their construction), and clamped the first module to the second tightly.

Next,  I brought in the paper template for the second module. Hold on, this looks like it actually lines up! 

I than went through and punched out the center lines of each track with a large wax pencil. This allows me to punch through the paper to the foam. Other folks have different ways of transferring the track plan to the layout, but for me this is easy - and will have to be done again once the cork is down. For now, it provides a great guide on to where I need to apply the cork roadbed.

(before I pulled up the paper though, I test fit a couple of sheets)

Finally it was down and drying. Next up, is to re-transfer the plan again, this time on top of the cork.

Progress! With the cork down and dried, I transferred the track plan to the cork itself. I do this by using a sharpie in the same holes I punched through with the pencil, and than connecting the resulting dots.

I was struck again at how useful taking the time to make the mock up buildings. With the track lines in place, I had enough time to start putting down some ties, and being able to size up the engine house at this stage was very useful.

Besides only having a little time to lay ties, I need to build the turnouts first for this module. I have five to build, so that's going to take me a little bit.....time to break out the Fast Tracks jigs!

Today's Friday, a day off here in the UAE, and I took advantage of high winds to stay indoors and get some work done! More ties went in, and I got two turnouts fully assembled, gapped, and ready to go.

I had actually forgotten how much fun it is to build these turnouts. That's a good thing, as I need another 4 for this section! 

I think you will be fine with the joints as long as you don't have a track joint over the top of the module joints.  It appears that the gap is only about 1/4 inch, am I right?  Rails will easily bridge that gap without a problem.  The only reason to fill the gap is for a scenery base.  If you have the spray foam insulation material available there, you could spray it in the gap, and once it expands and set up, just run a scraper or sure form tool over it to level it out.

Wish I was at the Amherst show (were I home in the States I would be), but I'm not. So instead, I spent some more time on the module.

I had forgotten to slope the edge of the cork, and I took care of the first coat of that today.

That's not much, but I did get another two (this time code 83) turnouts made, gapped, tested, and washed.

It's not a big deal to make a single turnout from the double crossover template; I measure the length of ties from a printed copy of the standard template and go from there.

There are also two extra ties in this jig vs a single turnout, I go ahead and add them in with the proper gaps.  In the photo below, the black marks on the ties are already cut gaps (I read somewhere that sharpie repels flux, so I go ahead and mark up all of my gaps with it, just in case I'm really sloppy).

just finishing up some soldering...

and the finished turnout,

just two more no. 6 turnouts to go for Module 2......

I have heard you can do a single TO from a cross over jig but never seen it done.  I know what I need to buy now.  Thanks for that, and the whole thread too.

Steve

Looks like you've got the track gang working over-time, Scarpia. They're making good progress though. Keep them at it. Things are looking good.

Roy