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what do u prefer to hold track down in z scale
- Stiv44
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- stonysmith
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- Minuteman
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With track nails, you can always go back for slight to medium adjustments if necessary, whereas once the glue sets you might feel like the track - stuck.
I prefer using track nails. Some will say they look ugly - actually the Marklin pins are fairly inconspicuous on any track brand, and once the scenery besides the track has been glued down you can pull the pins up anyway if you prefer to. Others will say they make your layout noisy because they allow the sound of your trains to resonate with your baseboard construction, but somehow I seem to associate trains with sound, not silence
Happy track laying
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- Heavy-Equipment-Designer
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- markm
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Mark
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cheerz Garth
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Dom
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- Catt
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All of my layouts are foam based.
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- shamoo737
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- garthah
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On my home layout I used the old method of plywood base then cork roadbed and rather than purchase n-scale cork as there does not seem to be any for Z scale I purchased 1/8th sheet cork from office depot primarily used to make bulletin boards and as it wellbend easily. I cut it into strips as under lay for my track initially I use Peco flex. with Norm Wright turnouts initially, but these turnouts are hard to get lately so I have gone to hand laid track and turnouts using fasttracks jigs and code 40 rail. I is allot of work but results are really good. But it is laborious and time consuming to say the leastI use contact cement to lay the cork then spike down my pre-made sections of track in 18 inch segments and form my curves and use rail spikes N scale size outside of the rail.while I ballast the track with a fine mix of grey black ballast then brush it down so the ties are visible, to hold the ballast in place on the cork, I use white glue diluted to 20 % glue and 80 percent water plus two drops of dish soap in an 8 oz bottle, and dribble the mixture into the ballast, making sure it is all wet and leave it an hour then lightly wipe the rail top and let it set over night, then I vacuum with computer vac the track picking up all the loose ballast and then check to see where I need to reapply the ballast and then when satisfied wet it again with a second wetting of the glue mix the next day and let that set 2 days. Now it is ready for painting and weathering and then so I pull the spikes I do not have an airbrush so I use an ink wash to colour ballast and I add a very small drop of diluted hand soap to wash and I brush it on in two passes one more brown along the inside of the rail and one more black in a line down the center of the ballast. This was spreads out so it is very subtle and not defined like a paint line. This method of laying rail while producing eye pleasing results takes maintenance that the road bed track does not require. The other thing is metal wheels on all your cars will reduce the amount of track cleaning you have to do and an Aztec track cleaning care towed first behind your engine will ensure you have a good running session. If you use the plastic wheel wheels that come with many cars, be aware they emit an oil and eventually they will gunk up with crud on the tire surface and that will contaminate all your track including tour cars with steel or metal wheels. My preference is for FOX Valley wheels but I have used AZL and UWD ones as well with good results. I have found that the use of metal wheels means I do very little wheel cleaning now the plastics are banned from my track. (UWD = Uncle Will Dean or Full Throttle) (AZL = American Z lines)(cars with metal wheels also roll more freely)
cheerz Garth
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- Stiv44
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i was leaning towards the cork over osb on the bottom layer or straight to the osb . im not concerned on looks for the lower part honestly. the top part (visible to the operater) will be on foam.
i cant seem to find z scale nails , thats prob why eveyone is useing n or something else to hold it down till there glue or adhesive dries?
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- Minuteman
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I always use a pair of tweezers to hold them in place while gently driving them home with something slightly smaller than a nine pound hammer
I'm sure the white glue method will give you good results, just make sure you don't get any of that stuff near any of the switches...
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- pm-ger
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here the link.
www.amazon.de/Heki-3162-Kork-Gleisbett-Meter/dp/B001RIDN6M
Another solution is a foam layer
www.huenerbein.de/modelleisenbahn-Z/noch-zubeh%C3%B6r-m3/noch-99418-z-gleisbett-5m-rolle-o.schott-wyh.html
I had some experiances with the foam. It's nice to work with that. The foam is contourt to the track and easy to use also for the round track because it is very flexible.
I fixed the track with sprayable glue works fine, good contact and you could put crush rock in one workstep. The turnout are not so easy but if you cut the foam to size it works o.k.
This material is very expensive is my personnel meaning.
So my next step I go forward with cork. You could buy the version you will found on the upper link, but it is also expensive. So I went to a DIY shop and bought a thin cork plate 1x0.5 m for only 4 Euro. With a sharp cutter I brought it to size, and I glued the track with a transparent harden wood glue. Works quite good best, and was recommanded by al lot of Märklin model builders here in some German online chats
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- Mr.JA
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pm-ger wrote: Another solution is a foam layer
www.huenerbein.de/modelleisenbahn-Z/noch-zubeh%C3%B6r-m3/noch-99418-z-gleisbett-5m-rolle-o.schott-wyh.html
From my understanding, that NOCH foam road-bed falls apart after a few years of sunlight / ozone exposure.
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- pm-ger
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thats also the reason why most German modelists use kork.
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- mdvholland
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Mr.JA wrote:
pm-ger wrote: Another solution is a foam layer
www.huenerbein.de/modelleisenbahn-Z/noch-zubeh%C3%B6r-m3/noch-99418-z-gleisbett-5m-rolle-o.schott-wyh.html
From my understanding, that NOCH foam road-bed falls apart after a few years of sunlight / ozone exposure.
It does. Pulverises after a while, and doesn't support track on portable layouts. I would not advise it.
I do use cork strips now, by Jeweha
Manufacturer suggests latexglue to maintain some flexibility and reduce noise, however, I use woodglue.
Matt
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- Minuteman
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- southernnscale
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