# A Contrarian Point of View (JMOP)



## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

After fifty years of trying to improve along the lines of "best practices," I decided to unlearn everything I ever learned about model rail. "Heresy" is too strong a word, contrarian more like it. I am only an expert as to what I like. 


Turnouts. Turnouts are known as switches. Switches are known as derailment machines. Any slight variation in wheel or baseboard and off she goes into the weeds. I deliberately minimized the use of turnouts and may only use them in the yard where they can't cause too much trouble.
Build light. The lighter it gets the more she warps. Warpage in baseboard will communicate to the rails and off to the weeds we go. Not a fan of carpentry to begin with, I used 3x6 folding tables balanced upon cinder blocks to get the right height. Threw 3/4 inch ply slab on top of that. May yet have to add a little truss here and there to straighten out some of the warpage, but ez pz, Japanezee.
Bus wires. Fine, fine. Won't hurt. I got several hundred feet of track. One feeder to each main. No visible power drops. AC would be a different kettle of fish, entirely.
Diamonds. Not only a girls best friend, they add a whole new dimension to multi train operation.
DCC. Fiddling with CV steps and reverse contunderators is not my thing. If I want a whistle I switch on the MRC sound effect station or blend it into a video from sound effects. Who cares if the ditch lights turn on and off on command.
Track cleaning. Brass rail is fine, steel rail is fine, NS is fine. Expensive track cleaning solutions are not fine. Wahl Hair Clipper Oil strips grime and oxide and keeps the rails clean for months. $3 for a ten-year supply.
Steel wheels. Fine. If you can afford them. A study funded by the NMRA did actual clinical tests to see if plastic wheels fouled track more than metal wheels. The clinical result? No statistical difference. Steel wheels do track a little better.
Expensive sectional track, the more expensive the better, like Shinora. This Bachmann EZ track beats the band.
Ballast. Ballast is for the birds. Ballast is another word for "track ruiner." Once it's on, making an adjustment or repair becomes a Federal case. Putting it down means fouling derailment machines, aka switches, and hours upon hours of removing little grains that have welded themselves to flangeways and to the insides of rails. Not to mention the layer of glue that now insulates the rail surfaces formerly used to run electric model trains.
EZ track has plastic roadbed. Too shiny? A simple wash with dilute india ink or black matte and it would look great. Woodland Scenics foam road bed is a witch and any track spikes are liable to turn perfectly good track into automatic derailers because the ends tend to get bowed down into a micro arc. Cork is less likely to depress on the ends, but it is just so much fun trying to arrange it around curves and such. 

I doodled a Gordian Knot and went on the Model Train Forum and asked if anyone could use their CAD to whip me up a track plan that would specify exactly how many pieces of EZ track would be required and where to put them. Within 24 hours I had my track plan. The end result was I was short one fitter and two nine inch straights, but had enough spare track to knock it out with a hack saw.

As all the young people say, JMOP.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

All I can say to all that is that extruded foam insulation panels don't warp. Remove that 3/4" ply and lay down a 2" foam board. Maybe in TX you could only get 1" ones...get 2 of them.









Best table top surface


Good morning to all, New to model trains after a 40-year absence. Would like opinions on what type of surface is best to lay on top of the plywood table-top that I just completed. I know there are different types--cork, foam etc. What is best for creating an HO layout scenery, laying track...




www.modeltrainforum.com


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

As part of best practices, I tried 2 inch extruded foam. Several times. I'd also seen another guy use it for some modules for the club modular system. Well, I can't really say other than heck yeah it sags without proper support, and his modules, in the particular, were nearly unusable because of the sagging in the middle causing the ends to rise up bowing the track. We were going crazy trying to adjust anything we could for them to be functional on show day.

Needless to say, the gentleman, while kindly lending, neigh, insisting on having them included, was unable to attend the show due to other commitments. 

I am sure you are a much better carpenter the rest of us, and there are a lot of people who get it to work right. I am not one them.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Chops said:


> As part of best practices, I tried 2 inch extruded foam. Several times. I'd also seen another guy use it for some modules for the club modular system. Well, I can't really say other than heck yeah it sags without proper support, and his modules, in the particular, were nearly unusable because of the sagging in the middle causing the ends to rise up bowing the track. We were going crazy trying to adjust anything we could for them to be functional on show day.
> 
> Needless to say, the gentleman, while kindly lending, neigh, insisting on having them included, was unable to attend the show due to other commitments.
> 
> I am sure you are a much better carpenter the rest of us, and there are a lot of people who get it to work right. I am not one them.


ANYTHING sags without proper support. 2" foam on 18" joists will support my weight.

It's not about carpentry skills: your joists don't have to be straight, or at correct 90-degree angles, or perfectly spaced... they just have to be there. It's about using the proper techniques for the material you're working with.


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## Stejones82 (Dec 22, 2020)

Alright, I'll bite. What does JMOP mean? Even all-knowing google failed me. 

And I am not sure "heresy" is accurate. I've only been around a year or so and have seen many of these ideas discussed. In fact, I have found upon this board that no one advocates a "One Right Way." Even TF with his wonderful docs posted to all newcomers has latitude for diversion. 

I'm thinking about not doing ballast. I use WS foam roadbed, and while I can't prove it, I think it is somewhat quieter. Gluing ballast would necessarily create a solid sound transmitter. I like the smooth quiet ops of the train. You may not. 
Turnouts are also called switches, this is true, but it is precisely for the prevention of confusion of terminology that the standard has become "turnouts." You can call them alphabetinators if you wish, but don't be surprised if I confess unclarity as to your meaning! 

So, another interesting and enlightening post good for the forum and community. Rock on! 

PS: what does JMOP mean?


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Just My OPinion. Like most posts on this forum.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

The one "right way," or best practices, is mostly discussed in the glossies, like Model Railroader. There was a time when they routinely published photos showing the X2f coupler, now considered obsolete. Also, what passed for scenery, like varnished water, would be laughed out of existence today. 

Times change. All I am saying is that I tried my level best with many of these best practices, and gradually figured out they might be best for the guy with a great set of carpentry tools and the ability to use them properly. 

I wouldn't dream of telling a new comer to delve into Code 83 track, or a lot of other things. 

Years ago I was at a train show and this lady wanted to buy a train set for her seven year old nephew. I advised her to select one that featured built in road bed, such as EZ track, as laying set track directly on the carpet won't work. I think this guy got a bum steer. 

Nor would I have the terminity to post this broadside in a Fine Scale journal. It is a matter of taste and ability; I have little of the former and almost none of the latter, TBH. 

None the less, if it is a good quality Code 83, he might be able to salvage 50% of his outlay on eBay. JMBG.


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## MohawkMike (Jan 29, 2018)

A lot of problems noted are smaller scale specific, Another good reason to go S and up in size selection.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

That be true. Considered O27 years ago, but space and cost beat me into a retreat. Of all the scales, I rather like TT for the size, it of course lost favor quickly to HO and N. I am amazed at the TT craftsmen out there who doggedly work through all the problems. S is a lot better, but still favors the do-it-yourselfer.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Not all of us have room for S or O. Myself, I don't even have room for a small N layout.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Chops said:


> After fifty years of trying to improve along the lines of "best practices," I decided to unlearn everything I ever learned about model rail. "Heresy" is too strong a word, contrarian more like it. I am only an expert as to what I like.
> 
> 
> Turnouts. Turnouts are known as switches. Switches are known as derailment machines. Any slight variation in wheel or baseboard and off she goes into the weeds. I deliberately minimized the use of turnouts and may only use them in the yard where they can't cause too much trouble.
> ...


Chops;

As long as this is what you want, and it works for you, that's all that matters. Enjoy your layout, your way!

Traction Fan 😊 

Traction Fan


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## 65446 (Sep 22, 2018)

If installed properly, switches are not 'derailment machines' ! Metal wheels resist gunk..Plastic wheels attract gunk..Brass rail is not fine. It oxidizes green which causes stall outs and thus has to be cleaned more often, leave alone its orange color, code size, and black out of scale ties if its old Atlas snap track..
Tens of thousands of private and club MRRers across the globe would agree that ballast is not a 'track ruiner' if correctly applied.. But If you don't care about realism, don't ballast..

There are standards which need to be maintained in order to call it a model Railroad.
There are a few things about your viewpoint that don't jibe this way....
But if it works for you, as he says above, then that's all that matters...


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Fire21 said:


> Not all of us have room for S or O. Myself, I don't even have room for a small N layout.


Smallest layout I ever saw was a die hard enthusiast in the UK who had a Pacific type stationed upon a dynometer type thing in his window sill, so he could switch it on and watch the drivers. That was all the room he had available. I grimly admire that determination.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

Personally I like to have some turnouts and ballast, I used foam board and flex track, my layout runs great till it doesn’t and dcc is the way I want my layout to be run. But it’s my layout and my rules. As far as my rolling stock goes all wheels are going to be metal because on my layout they tend to attract less dirt and grime. I use knuckle couplers and crc to clean my track. I don’t say that is how to do it I say that is how I do it. Constructive criticism is always welcome and some things are taken with a grain of salt. The way I see it is to each their own and beauty is in the eye of the beholder


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## SF Gal (11 mo ago)

JMOP ...if this 63 yr old blonde gal can do scenery, run trains on switched track, lay flextrack on homosote, install and program DCC...well, you can too if you don't let it burn you out like it did me. 
I think your level of what you want to do is just fine...we all have our limits.


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

63 is the the new 36!

"Constructive criticism is always welcome and some things are taken with a grain of salt." A grain of ballast can really do wonders, too.😮


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