Have to say Drew Really Enjoying your series Excellent Work. You got a fan! Very Crafty on the rail bender too ! Love watching you hand laying track I've always wanted to do this you have reinspired me to try this.... Thanks So Much! from an Old school Scout!
You have so much more patience or time than I do. On your rail bender, you should make little marks so when you need the next curve of one you've already done, your not going to have to guess again. You're getting close to run some switching ops! - Jason
I considered that on the rail bender and I will probably give that a try, but the adjustments are so small that I'm not sure it will work. I may make some modifications to it though.
Yea cool! I'm building modules and the 1st 2 I got micro engineering flex track because they will be in the road but, the 3 and 4 modules I'll be building my own track. @@WhiteRiverLine
Thanks, John. I've encountered quite a few people that build their own switches, but fewer that hand lay track. I'm using techniques I've found in books from 20+ years ago.
Brilliant! Your best video so far. +1 for the hand made rail roller. Also, props for hand laying your track. It's amazing how many ties and spikes are actually needed. Very easy to underestimate. Looking forward to your next post. - Coxy
I think you've just shown me the best solution for building a long turn with flexible track along a shelf layout in the corner of my room. My layout will be On30 & the railroad will be the Salem Winona & Southern. Google that & you'll see we have something in common. West Eminence will be my centerpiece on a peninsula in the middle of my 11x11 train room. I've tried turning the corner with Micro Engineering flex track but the ties keep popping off the rails & they are impossible to reattach.
Love how your track laying is coming along. I did some track handlaying close to 38 yrs ago with HOn3. Came out pretty good and ran great until my brass shay split a gear. No way to fix it because for whatever reason the gears being used in a lot of brass was barely big enough to get on the axel which led to a split gear later on. In the long run that killed off my HOn3 adventures. Been using flex track since.
@@WhiteRiverLine Yup it is pretty cool. I torture myself every other month with the Gazette. Have a little bit of On30 stuff, but so far I keep resisting the pull.
I hand laid some HO track in the early 80’s. Back then, years before the internet, Railcraft was THE source for rail, ties & spikes, and absolutely none of the hobby shops in my region carried the stuff! Their universal response when I’d tell them I was looking for Railcraft products was “why?”! Homasote 440 was the sub roadbed of choice for hand laid track in those days. Fast forward to 2022, and there are many more resources for making handlaid track! I might actually give it a shot again one day! I need a good excuse for buying some of those Fast Tracks jigs and such! Ha! I’m 62, and had a 41 year career as a certified welder, so my eyesight, or lack thereof, might make it a no-go!
I actually just picked up some homasote for my next project. It was a little difficult to find. Home Depot did have 3 sheets, but it was buried in a far back corner of the store.
@@WhiteRiverLine If you have a Menards in the vicinity, they carry it. I suspect because the owner is a model railroader also. I found some stuff there also called insulation sheathing which I like better and is way cheaper. It is black on one side, grey on the other and comes in 4x8 sheets and is 1/2 thick. Interesting bit though is you may have to look in their warehouse for it also. I had bought a sheet close to 5 years ago. Went back for 2 more during the pandemic and it wasn't on display anymore. Went out to the warehouse to look and they had about 6 sheets left. Wrote down the item number and they sold it to me. This stuff used to be used on the outside of houses as a siding. So long as it's painted it lasts a long time. I suspect somebody had bought most of what they had because it was so cheap, $12 a sheet, and construction materials had gone way up.
Again a very nice Video and very inspiring. I recently finished spiking all the rails of one of my Segments using a Tool from micromark called Spike Insertion pliers. These have helped me a lot to speed up. Dont know if anyone uses or recommends it as well because i found no sources before buying it but I am really happy with it. I wanted to ask you if these tie jigs are commercially available? Seems like some other good Tool for speeding up. I may also try the bending Tool. Looks easy to construct and very helpful. I hope we See more videos from you. Thank you very much again
Thank you. I've seen those pliers on Micro-Mark's website, but I wasn't sure how much better they were than plain old needle nosed pliers. I might pick up a pair before my next round of spiking rail. The jigs I use are my design that I've gotten 3D printed by friends. So, no they aren't commercial available. However, Fast Tracks makes something similar.
Okay then probably i will build me a jig from wood or plastic. By now i just eyeballed positioning the ties. Materials from fasttracks are kind of expensive for me because they and 60 and up for shipping to Europe. So i am always calculating if something is worth the Price as i have to incluye shipping in my calculations. iI think you have to decide for yourself if you can use These pliers as they are Not cheap in my view for a single purpose Tool. What did you use as wheels for the bending jig?
The Fast Tracks stuff is expensive, but it is well made. Email me or DM me on FB/IG about the jigs. For the wheels on the bending jig I used some ball bearings for skateboard wheels. It was like $10 for a package of 10 on Amazon.
I'm using code 83 rail and small spikes from Micro Engineering. The ties are 3/32" square basswood from Midwest Products. I have links for both these suppliers in the video description. Please let me know if you'd like information on additional items and I'd be happy to provide it.
Here is a link to the ball bearings I used, but you could pick up something similar from a hardware store. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R7PR72H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
How much space do you give that transition between 1/4in and 1/8in cork? I'd like to do that on my small layout but I'm not sure I have enough space to make that transition.
The tie jigs are my own design. James just printed them for me as a favor, so I figured I give him a shout-out. Would you be interested in purchasing the jigs or maybe the files to print them yourself?
