Benchwork and roadbed

Home / Benchwork and roadbed

Rare Earth Magnets

Sun, 2016-02-14 15:48 — Joe Baldwin

Most of my layout wiring is contained in a wooden wiring tray that is covered with masonite fascia that is removable, held on by finishing washers and wood screws. Would like to know if anyone has used circular rare earth magnets (1/2 x 1/4) to keep fascia panels in place. Please share your Pros/Cons, lessons learned. Thanks, Joe

12 comments

Ballasting with powder cement?

Thu, 2016-01-28 07:36 — jimfitch

Many many moons ago, when I lived in California, I visited a train club in Sacramento near where I was attending college. They told me they ballasted their track by mixing in a powder cement (brand was Weldwood) with the ballast, spreading it to shape, and then wetting it with wet water to activate the cement and holding the ballast in place.

N scale roadbed to model HO branchline?

Tue, 2016-01-19 09:28 — emdsd9

I'm thinking of using N-scale roadbed to model an HO branchline. I'm wondering what to use to make up the "lost width" between the two scales. Also, has anyone got a simple idea for centering the roadbed on the track centerline now that the two pieces will be separated by some sort of space. I know I can just draw a line on either side of the centerline, but that seems to be a lot like work!

Thanks, John

Bench work started!

Sun, 2016-01-17 20:22 — MidnghtOwl

Benchwork and roadbed

off and running, one wall leveled and in place.

-Owl (Jared)

13 comments

Anyone have experience with a roadbed product called Flexxbed?

Wed, 2016-01-13 09:23 — MikeM

Haven't tried contacting them yet to see if they're even still in business (they have a website that appears to be active anyway: http://www.hobbyinnovations.com/default.htm). Just wondering if anyone has actually used their product (especially lately) and what your impression might be.

1 comment

Living on the edge...

Wed, 2016-01-06 18:00 — RSeiler

Benchwork and roadbed

I have a lot of track close to the edge of the benchwork. I am getting ready to trim the edge. At what point are the tracks so close to the edge that you will need a guard of some type? I don't really want to leave more than about 2" of space between the edge of my track and the end of my world to save aisle space. Is that enough to catch a wayward car in HO scale by itself? Or will that require a guard? The layout is basically flat. Thought about just letting the fascia stick up a 1/4" or so.

thanks

Randy

22 comments

benchwork

Wed, 2016-01-06 10:11 — emdsd9

Am I correct in assuming that some folks are using foam directly on top of their layout framing with no wood under the foam other than the framework? If so, how thick does the foam need to be to be rigid enough?

John K in Dekalb Il on the UP main line.