Creating Lake Independence

My track plan includes a bridge over a lake.  The bridge is part of the “interchange track” on the south (operator) side of the layout. The bridge goes right to the edge of the layout, hopefully evoking in the viewer’s mind that there is a lot more track “off stage.” Only a small corner of the lake over which the bridge passes can be seen, primarily due to space limitations (I wanted to use my layout space for as much track and as many other features as possible).

I already knew about where the lake would be, but my first task was to use a pencil to sketch out the exact dimensions of the lake, based on the dimensions and footing locations of the bridge:

Now, one of the issues I knew I would have, is that the piers for this bridge, made by Kato to snap easily into place, are 2″ high, which is the exact height of the foam substrate. This meant the entire substrate would have to be removed, and the lake “surface” would have to be placed under the substrate. I toyed with two means of doing this. One was to buy a second 2″ or 1″ strip of Foamular to put under the entire substrate, raising the whole thing up 1-2″. This was appealing but an expensive option to fix one tiny part of the layout. The less expensive option was to use some foam board I already had (I’d tried to use that as my original substrate and found it unsatisfying). I could glue this underneath the foam substrate. It would not cause any leveling issues, because it was at the edge of the table and (as I have shown elsewhere) the table serving as my “benchwork” leans a bit on the edges.  As a consequence of the table being out of plumb, I already had shims under the foam there anyway.

In the Pink

In my last post, I described issues I was having with derailing on turnouts, and explained that there was some warping of the Bachmann EZ-Track components.  After some careful examination I determined that the warping was at least partially due to the track itself — the individual 10″ straight pieces that did such a great job of curing the sputtering problem do not lie flat against even a perfectly flat surface (like my kitchen counter).  This slight twisting of the track could potentially be responsible for derailing issues, but even if I eliminated it, I still had the issue that the make-shifted subroadbed that I had constructed out of taped-and-glued sheets of standard office-quality foam board did not provide me with a perfectly straight surface. I tried using shims and other items to make the foam board more level, but the seam between the pieces still created a small “bump” over which, just by my luck, either the turnout or one of the pieces adjacent to it, had to be positioned.

The actual product most advice columnists, such as those at Building Your Model Railroad, recommend is extruded styrofoam insulation (the type used in construction) such as Foamular by Owens Corning.  The stuff is not expensive; a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 1″ thick stuff will run you about $13 at Home Depot, and a 2″ thick sheet about twice that.  The main issue I had was that I have no good way to cut it or transport it, and 4′ x 8′ is too big for my 70″ x 30″ space.  I thought Home Depot might cut it for me (they cut wood in-store for a nominal charge), but I was not sure that even a 70″ x 30″ piece would fit in my car, and I was afraid to cut it in half or in thirds because the same “seam bump” issue might arise all over again.  I wasn’t in the mood to wrestle with and purchase a product only to have it unable to solve my problem.  I tried measuring the car and I thought the 70 x 30 piece would fit, but I wanted to be sure.  Finally I got the idea to remove the track and take my 70″ x 30″ foam board subroadbed out to the car and try it, and with the back seat folded down, the whole thing fit (just barely).

Getting the subroadbed and table to behave

After setting up my original layout design (which I am probably going to tweak some this week, in fact), I knew I needed two Bachmann turn-outs (one left, one right), and I was in luck at a local hobby shop — they had one of each.  Along with a pack of 11″ radius curved track (6 pcs), I now had enough track to complete the track layout.  I connected everything together and created the layout I have mapped in the previous article.  Everything looked good, and at first it all seemed fine.  I placed the engine and tender onto the track, and ran them around the big and small ovals (manually switching the turnouts because the Bachmann A/C connectors for the turnouts do not match the Bachmann transformer’s connections — nice job guys). Everything ran great.

Then I hooked up my rolling stock, and the problems began.  Each and every rolling stock car except the engine and tender had a high probability of de-railing over one turnout (the one where the curve goes left and the straight track goes right). Every time they hit the “frog”, whichever car was right behind the tender would de-rail.  I hit the internet to see what I could find out about this, and there are several explanations. First, it could be that the car’s wheels are out of gauge, which requires some repair to the cars.  If it had happened to one or two cars, I might think that was the culprit, and honestly it might still be, but I’d be surprised if all 8 cars were simultaneously out of gauge.  Surely Bachmann’s engineering can’t be so bad that 100% of its rolling stock is out of gauge — can it?  I hope not.

Location and benchwork (such as it is)

With my “engine sputtering” problem more-or-less solved, it was time to find a semi-permanent home for my model train set and future “layout” (I feel like I need the quotes for now since there’s nothing to the layout but a few feet of E-Z Track).  As I mentioned in earlier posts, when I purchased my train set (the “Empire Builder” by Bachmann), I set it up on my dining room table just to see it operating. I couldn’t keep it there for long, and within a few days it was time to move the train set into a more permanent position.  I had decided to keep it in my guest bedroom, which also contains my “home office” paraphernalia — my computer desk, computer, printer, a small filing cabinet, etc.  Because there is a bed, a lamp, a computer desk, and some other furniture in that room already, and because none of it can be moved at this time, I had to accept the idea of limited space.  One whole wall of the room is a closet, but I figured if I had a foot or two of space to walk between the closet and the train set it would probably be enough.  Thus it was time to consider my “benchwork.”

In model railroad parlance, “benchwork” is the foundation on which you place the parts of your layout — track bed, simulated terrain, and the like.  Most serious modelers build benchwork out of lumber, hand-crafting a custom-made table out of 2x4s and plywood.  If I were going to make a truly permanent layout, say in a house I owned, I might well have tried the same thing, but given that I live in an apartment, solid wood, nailed-together benchwork was really out of the question.  I also don’t have any tools with which to construct wooden platforms, nor any place to saw, nail, or construct the furniture even if I had the tools.  That’s one of the drawbacks of living an apartment.