Woodlands New Layout Method
Pfbodling
bitte...@my-deja.com
of doing so. From what I've heard from them the system is a breeze to
work with.
In article <19990826182658...@ng-cr1.aol.com>,
pfbo...@aol.com (Pfbodling) wrote:
> Has anyone built a layout using the new foam products from Woodlands?
>
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Dale Wiese
news:19990826182658...@ng-cr1.aol.com...
> Has anyone built a layout using the new foam products from Woodlands?
I have. I decided to try the Woodland Scenics risers and inclines for the
mainline of my new N Scale layout, rather than going cookie cutter or open
top. I've done enough of the "old warhorse" methods to know I am not very
good at them. I find this part of the benchwork process to be tedious hard
work, an have yet to be very satisfied with the results. With my new layout
plan calling for substantial amounts of grading at or near 2%, I decided to
go the WS route, knowing up front that it is somewhat limiting (only 2% and
4% grades) and costly.
I used flat 5/8" ply over the entire benchwork as a base. This is overkill,
but I like to be able to crawl on the benchwork if required. The plan was
draw 1:1 on this base. I have used liquid nails to attach track to cork and
cork to plywood in the past, so I decided to try it in this application for
the foam to plywood and cork to foam joints. This worked very well for me.
The risers are wide enough for a 2 track N scale main if you use reasonably
tight centers. This in turn means you will need to use fairly broad curves
to avoid side swipes. If you need 3 parallel tracks, you can lay down a
second set of risers. If your risers are more than 2.5" tall, you can also
use a 1" riser turned sideways and glued to the side of the "normal" riser
for the extra width. This is cheaper than doubling an entire raised
section. In my case, I have a long UP style center passing siding about 7"
off the base plywood - it would have been costly to run a complete second
set of 7" high riser.
I also used the foam putty to help smooth out some of the transitions. Be
prepared to do a lot of sanding.
The pluses:
+It is fast. I did the risers and inclines for a 125' main in a week,
putting in a few hours each days.
+It is easy and pleasant work. The week I started this, it was averaging
over 90 F. in the train room. A fan, a face towel, and plenty of liquids
were all I needed to be reasonably comfortable. I would not have been
willing to tackle a job involving heavy lifting and sawing, which would have
been the case if I had been using plywood roadbed on risers. Sticky sawdust
on a hot humid day - no thanks! The foam risers are very easy to sight in
and glue down.
+ it can be done easily alone. When working with large chunks of wood, I
almost always need help from someone (usually my wife). The WS products are
very lightweight, and can easily be used alone. If fact, the week I did
this my wife was out of town.
+it is neat. No sawdust, no splinters, very little waste. When you need to
sand it does make some light dust, which should be vacuumed up. I did the
sanding once everything else was in place, just before I started to lay
cork. The only tools you need are glue, a sharpie marker, and a large
exacto knife to lay down the foam. If you need to sand, a power detail
sander works, as does elbow grease.
+it is quiet. Since no power tools are required, it can be done without
waking the baby, scaring the cats, or disturbing the neighbors. This stuff
would be ideal for apartment dwellers. While none of these was a
consideration for me, it was nice to be able to have the radio/TV on in the
background and actually hear it.
+ it can be done a few minutes at a time. Gluing down 1 piece takes just a
few seconds - about 1 minute to get out the glue, check fit the piece,
spread out the liquid nails, press and hold the piece, put away the glue.
This makes it a good choice if you can only spend a short time each day
modeling. If you have 10 minutes a day you could still make good progress
with this stuff; using methods involving plywood and power tools you can't
clean up in that interval.
The minuses:
- It ain't cheap. It cost me several hundred dollars more than if I had
just cookie cuttered the plywood. Admittedly, my layout is a somewhat
larger layout than the 4x8's WS uses as an example. Make sure and do a
rough materials estimate before you start, and are willing to pay the
convenience cost.
- It can be hard to find in quantity. For my 125 ft main, I needed a
boatload of this stuff. Most hobby shops only carry the standard WS
display, and typically that is not full. I pretty much cleaned out 4 hobby
shops to get what I needed. It would have been better to plan ahead, but I
had a window of opportunity (a full week home alone and not much happening
at the office) I wanted to take full advantage of.
- I really wish they made 1% slope inclines. This would also require 1/4"
risers. This would allow more subtle grades, and smoother transitions to
steeper grades. Not a big problem for my UP mountain division, but it would
be a nice option.
- The transition to grade is sudden. I've not found this an operational
problem in N scale for a 2% slope - the flextrack provides enough vertical
easement to make the change in slope smooth. I'm not sure if a 4% incline
would work as well. Visually I might prefer longer transitions.
- tracks which cross other tracks at shallow angles are a problem. With
plywood, you can cut just about any angle to butt up against another piece
or fly over tracks at different grades. The continuous Z shape of the WS
risers makes this a challenge for places where the angle is lass than 80
degrees or so. Plywood also has the advantage of needing support only every
foot or two. I've found the 2" thick foam can span a few inches at best
with no support, and the thinner stuff needs some kind of stiffener even for
very short gaps. WS needs a product to help here - how about a transition
block with a molded in lip just right for 3/8" ply, or some kind of
stiffening rod which could be pushed into each side of the foam?
- product quality. Shame on you WS! The actually height of the pieces is
not consistent. Two 2" risers stacked are not the same height as a 4"
riser. Even some 2" risers from different packages are different heights!
One of the real problems is when you go from a 2" piece to a {1" + 1/2" + 2%
riser} combination. The height here between sections almost never matches.
One workaround which worked well for me in places where the total height
was more than 2" was to glue down the inclines on the bottom of the stack.
Then, starting a foot offset from the first incline, lay the 2" piece as the
top piece. While this seem counter intuitive, it makes the transitions much
smoother and rides smoothly over the height variance between sections.
Admittedly, WS shows you covering the risers with plaster cloth _before_ you
lay track. While I can imagine this would help smooth out some of the
inconsistencies, I can't see covering up the space between the track and the
plywood so quickly. I like to have the track laid and running smoothly for
several months before scenicing.
One other quality note. I found about 20% of the 2% inclines to be unusable
right out of the box. The very thin starting sections are often warped,
malformed, or folded over in the box. I also broke a couple in handling
them, but I'm not counting these in the 20%. Fortunately the inclines are
very cheap, just remember to buy a few more than you need.
- I'm not real sure yet how to put in Tortoise machines. I lay my mainline
track using entirely flextrack and then go back and cut in switches. At
this point I am about ready to begin putting in switches, and don't think
the tortoises will work too well with 7" throw rods. I am contemplating
this issue now, so if anyone has any thoughts, feel free to jump in.
Anyway, that's my $0.02. I would use this stuff again in at least some
situations. It is easy and quick to do, yet it yields a firm foundations
that, with a bit of filling/sanding, is flat and smooth. It should also be
reasonably climactically stable, a big issue for those of us who live in
climates where the train room's temp/humidity can vary from 65F/10% in the
winter to 95F/90% for weeks on end in the summer
Dale