Pingman posted:Erik C Lindgren posted:Thanks guys...
Johnson wants to hand lay with tie plates doing the trackwork. I agreed, I used Monster Model Works per Johnson's request. They had the tie plates that Johnson wants or meets his expectations to his custom made spikes.
I would also like to recommend Right of Way for track spikes and tie plates however Johnson could not find the square opening variety he was after at ROW. Jay Criswell at Right of Way will be supplying us with all the rest of the trackwork detailing. I will be generating a BOM for him this week.
These are the tie plates offered by Monster Model Works:
http://monstermodelworks.com/o...-138-148-8-hole.html
This is an opportunity for Johnson to bring his enthusiasm with P48 in on this project. When the exhibit is set up the viewer is close enough to the model inches at times that leaving off crucial trackwork detail such as tie plates is blasphemous, for a lack of a better word.
I hope this project will be pleasing to the viewers and history buffs.. oh and the toy train enthusiasts.
I will be back with more, the saga continues.
Products used seem to have been supplied. Any info on technique/tools used?
Working on plate girder and trestle deck structure i came up with a trick to make laying rail easier. I glued the tieplates in place using a straight edge to align them. Just a little dab of glue to keep them from squirming around while spiking.
Spikes are cut from staples (Swingline SF-1 Sharp Point) using an old pair of 7" diagonal cutters. Grind down the closer face to adjust the spike head length. Hold a small group (6 or less) staples against the face and cut. They will be a little long for bridge work (see pictures posted elsewhere in this thread) but cutting them shorter is no issue and the cut will yield a cutting edge just like the big ones. Spiking pliers are a couple of homemade 4" long nose pliers modified with grooves in the jaws to help hold the spikes. Also use a pair of Micro Mark spiking pliers by Xuron. The grooves are about twice to large but it does seem to be a problem when using the longer spikes. The Xurons are great, now if i can just reduce the groove size a little!
I use Rust Olem Red Oxide primer for the rails. After laying rail, Joe's Model Trains Custom Flat Acrylic for rusty rails for painting tieplates, spikes and general touch up.
Spiking is done by anchoring ends, then middle, then splitting sections until all ties done. This helps avoid misalignments as the driving of spikes can move rail sideways.
Hope these tips help. The hardest part of handlaying is getting started. I speend as much time screwing around with flex track trying to get it to look and run right as i do handlaying. And that includes turnouts!
john
