As I wrote earlier, the plan that John Allen created was modified by Rick Van Lear. I used Rick's plan as the basis for my layout and adapted it yet again...
Modified Track Plan
"Field Modification"
I tried to color the track so the modifications would show up better. The green lines are the outside loop. The red are the mining branch. I didn't change the full size drawing glued to the slab. Instead I'm building the changes into the spline...
You can see that I'm running the spline straight through rather than turning to the left.
Normally I build the spline first and then elevate it. I started out that way but ran into a problem. Unlike the N scale layout the curves here are tight. I couldn't let the spline follow it's natural curve..
Spline
It took a while to get the spline to line up with the track plan. I had to rebuild some sections Spent quite a bit of time waiting for glue to dry. After a few days I had about 99% of the roadbed in place.
Next came the cork ballast strip. I used a commercial product this time and fastened in place with tacky glue. Once the cork was down I took the flex track from the "test" layout and relaid it on the new layout. I then disassembled the test section and last vestige of the N scale layout went to recycling.
Only the "mainline", the oval is in place at this time. It's enough to get a train running for the time being...
Current Layout
One other thing I did on this layout was put the fascia on. At least part of it, anyway. I was going to do this on the N scale layout but never got around to it. Quite a few models fell to the concrete below and ended up in the repair line or scrap box. I didn't want a repeat of this, so I ran the fascia on the sides of the foam slab. It's held in place with industrial adhesive and counter sunk screws. In the images you can see it is quite high. Better safe than sorry.
The branch line to the mine will require several turnouts. I'm debating on whether I should buy ready made Atlas products or build my own. I had tried building some turnouts in N scale. While they weren't acceptable, they did provide some experience with the process. Since HO scale turnouts and their parts are larger it may be easier to create some. We'll see.
While running the first train it became obvious that the roadbed wasn't level. I compensated for this issue by placing long thin strips of artboard under the ties. I checked everything with a small level getting it as close as I could. Then I ran a train and watched its progress very carefully...
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