My grandson and I started gluing track yesterday. We ran into a problem that we didn't think would happen. After all the careful fitting and tracing of the track and roadbed, we must have started gluing a little too far the right (swing gate end) and the 25ft. run of straight track came out a quarter inch short of the switch at the left end. We had already glued in the first 12 ft section and it had already cured too much to rip it up. So we had to relax the track pin joints enough so it mated correctly at the left end. I found out where the 1/4" went... it showed up at the mating track at the swing gate. The track is firmly glued so I'll have to take out the Dremel and trim back the now-excess track. We'll have to be more careful moving forward.
We were challenged getting the switches into their respective Ross Bed urethane pads. We were using a soft mallet to tap them in, but this afternoon I found a much better way: using as quick clamp with the thick rubber jaws to squeeze the switch into all the nooks and crannies of the roadbed. We then used super glue to permanently hold the two parts together. The clamp puts more generalized pressure and doesn't damage either the switch or the roadbed.
We're having to plan out the gluing routing so we don't create a situation where it's too hard to get the track reconnected when everything around a section is glued down.
We're using Loctite's general purpose structural adhesive. I'm not partial to this brand or Liquid Nails, but since Loctite is made by Henkel, and Henkel is paying my retirement, I try to give them as much business as I can.
Here's the no. 1 grandson spreading the adhesive before gluing down the Flexibed. That stuff goes down like a dream. Very easy to get it to conform to curves—especially the wide ones I'm using—and sets up in about 10 minutes.
Here's our "sophisticated gravity-fortified ballast & track restraining system" at work helping the track cure evenly. The previous owner of the house was the original owner and the house was a custom build. She was nice enough to leave a pile of bricks in the garage which have come in handy more than once. They also served as weights while gluing on the wing skins of the B-17 RC plan that I built.
Yesterday we complete the swing bridge and the two mainline straight sections in the front of the layout. We also experimented with super-elevating the outer curve track on the swing bridge. We glued a 20 gauge insulated wire to the roadbed about a 1/4" inside the outside tie edge using hot melt glue, then glued the track down with the Loctite adhesive. It looks and works nicely, but my grandson feels it's too much effort for the effect it gives, so we may not do it elsewhere. We reduced the elevation to zero about 3 inches from each end so the track won't be tilted when it has to mate up with the stationary sections of each end.
I also just received the last three pieces of Ross Bed that I was missing so I went downstairs after dinner and joined them to their switches. So all the switches are ready to be reinserted into the layout. After spending 3 hours to glue just that small section, we both realized how much work it's going to be to glue the rest of it.
I may have a source for the roofer's gravel. The roofing company where I'm consulting, has it and will share it with me. They've got white, black and gray, which would make a nice mixture of lighter for mainline and darker for sidings and yards.
My grandson has also weighed in on where the town should go. He wants to put a mountain the far right corner and would rather have the town on the front left corner in the big circle made by the return loop. Here's the revised plan...AGAIN!. It's actually where I originally had it. I like the mountain against the backdrop too! I'll name the town, "Hilltown" or "Circleville" or something like that...
