Scott, Welcome to the S scale group! As it happens, I'm only a few stone's throws from you, being over in Fort Wayne across that imaginary line dividing our states.
I notice that you are beginning your quest for your layout with track. I think that is all well and good, and the advice the others have already given is about as good as it gets. As an engineer, you know that the beginning for many a project is what is known as the "foundation". For a train, at first glance that would seem to be the track. However, many a train derailment has happened not because of faulty track, but because of a faulty base. The dirt/stone/ballast foundation under the track. When the base becomes unstable due to erosion, settling, or seismic shock, it doesn't take much for apparently good track to become a mess. The same may be considered to be true on a model railroad layout. You can lay beautiful scale track, perfectly ballasted, on plywood, or homasote, or almost anything, but if that base layer is not properly supported, the roadbed becomes an undulating mess. The second criteria for model structural underpinnings is audio in nature. Specifically whether the layout structure amplifies or deadens the sound vibrations of operating models. I would suggest that, as you are beginning your experience with track, that you might also experiment a bit with the structural underpinnings. As I am sure you are aware from your experience in HO, there are a variety of methods for layout framework, roadbed construction and support, scenic structure, etc. Every layout builder seems to have his own personal favorites for each of these, and I won't go into any of them here. I will suggest the following: There seem to be two methods I have heard of to make a "quiet" layout. The first I heard of about a year and a half ago when Jim Six began building his new layout. He uses a light wood structural base to support a single layer of rigid styrene foam, which in turn supports additional layers of ceiling tile. This is all glued together with various adhesives. The rigid foam is used ONLY for structural support, not for scenery. It is the ceiling tile that is carved for roadbed, ditches, hillocks, and the minor changes in elevation to be found on his "Northern Indiana" layout. This layout is very quiet. I believe it is the combination of the ceiling tile and the rigid foam glued together that does it. Since these materials have different resonating frequencies, they deaden each other out, as long as they are truly adhered together. The second I heard of by reading an old post by our own eminent Ed Loizeaux. Perhaps he can fill in the details. He mentioned a layout that used a roadbed made of either plaster or concrete cast in a re-usable trough. The track layed on this roadbed was absolutely silent. Perhaps this is more involved than most of us would consider for a home layout, but it certainly sounds like an option where one desires the silence of the trains. All of us that have a model layout have some degree of "noise" produced by the models, and it is my contention that the owner of any layout, over time, mentally blocks much of that noise from his mind. It is truly the visitor to any layout, upon hearing it for the first time, that is a fair judge as to just how "noisy" it truly is. The curmudgeonly Slobbering Period (1885) Freak Darrell Smith --- In [email protected], "lotus45356" <lo...@...> wrote: > > Who I Am: New member. Was an HO gauge guy in my younger days with a > 4x8 layout. Currently 47 and a mechanical engineer. I really liked > the S-gauge size I saw in a hobby shop and purchased a SHS Starter > kit with an SW-1 switcher and an S-Trax oval for Christmas. > > Where I'm Going: I've put in some pretty good time on the web, but > some fundamental questions remain. I plan to end up with a pretty > sophisticated layout over the years, and I need a good foundation > before I spend a bunch of money with regrets. I want realism, but I'm > not going to be hand-laying my own track. > The S-scale guys seem to be a diverse lot with some strong opinions. > I'd like yours! > > Thanks, > > Scott Rodriguez > Piqua, OH > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
