# The handlaid track thread



## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Over on another thread, I had a photo showing some of the handlaid track on my switching layout. norgale asked if I could share a bit more about the process, so I've started this thread.

I figure I'll spread this out over a few posts in this thread. This is actually the first layout that I've fully handliad, although I've also done some work with the handlaid track at my club layout as well. Anyone else who has experience with hand-laying track is welcome to join in as well.

Design Considerations

This is not a thread about design, but some things are worth mentioning. Without the restriction of commercial trackwork with fixed lengths, angles and radiuses, you have to keep yourself honest, and careful about the curves you're building. (That really goes for building any kind of layout with flex track as well.) You can draw and lay a curve that's way too sharp or too abrupt. The worst thing you can do is screw up the geometry on a switch. So, lay out your plan carefully to scale beforehand, and use templates for your switches and minimum curve radiuses to make sure everything lays out properly. Anyway, like I said, this isn't a thread about layout design, but you can kill the reliability of the whole project basically before you begin if your design is bad and you're trying to make your curves and switches too tight.

Fast Tracks (www.handlaidtrack.com) offers a bunch of printable templates for various switch numbers that you can download for free and print off. These are excellent for both designing the track arrangement and when you're laying things out.

Tools

The tools for handlaying track are very simple. You need a good pair of needle-nose pliers. Micro-Mark offers a set of pliers specifically for spiking, which has a T-shaped groove at the end for holding the spike vertically. Some modelers will modify a pair of needlenose pliers by griding that vertical groove in. So far I've had decent results just using a normal pair of needle-nose pliers.

The absolute most critical tool is the all-important NMRA gauge. This is something any serious modeler should have anyway, but is vital for reliable trackwork.

The other thing you'll need is something to cut rail to length. You can use a razor saw or fine hack saw or a dremel tool, but I recommend one of these Xuron track cutting tools:
http://www.micromark.com/xuron-track-cutter,9199.html

It's fast, easy and makes a very clean cut. I wouldn't trade this for any other tool.

Some small needle files to clean up burrs on the rails can be helpful as well.

For working with switches, you'll also want some larger fine-toothed mill files, for removing rail web to notch the stock rails for the switch points, and to file the frog rails off at an angle. I have a couple of "PointForm" and "StockAid" tools from Fast Tracks which help to file the rails off the the correct angle. (You can also clamp the rail in a bench vise and file away what needs to be removed, but these tools do help to get the angles correct, especially for the frog where the angles are pretty critical.) We can discuss this in more detail later when we look at laying a switch. For now I don't want to get too deep into this.

Next: tie laying...


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Starting Out - Laying Ties

At this point I'm going to assume that you've done all your design work, laid everything out on and drawn your centerlines and prepared whatever roadbed your track is going to be laid on, whether that be directly on plywood, or homasote, or cork roadbed, or some sort of spline roadbed construction.

I used scale wood ties from an outfit called Mount Albert Scale Lumber and re-packaged by Fast Tracks. You can scale wood ties from Micro Engineering and probably other sources as well. Wooden matchsticks actually work quite well for standard HO ties as well, although you need to cut them to length.

Laying the ties is straightforward. Run a bead of glue (I used regular white glue; yellow construction glue is also a good (maybe even better) choice and is waterproof so won't be affected by ballasting or other scenic work later on) down the center of the track and spread it out using a plastic spreader or scrap piece of wood, cardboard, cork, plastic, etc. Then lay down the ties, careful to keep them even, straight and aligned. Try also to maintain an even spacing.

Laying ties for long stretches of tracks goes quite a lot faster if you have some sort of spacing jig. Otherwise, laying one tie at a time gets pretty tedious. Fast Tracks (gee, I'm starting to sound like an advertisement for these guys) sells some laser cut jigs in several spacings, or you can make your own. There's a tie spacing jig at my club that someone made from a strip of wood, cutting the grooves with successive passes with a table saw with a low blade. A second piece of wood nailed on as a backing piece ensures the ends of the ties line up. Fill up the jig, run a piece of masking tape across the top and you can lift off the whole stretch and apply it as one piece.

I never took photos of ties in the jig (and my FastTracks jig is also at the club, and I'm out of standard ties anyway, so I can't just set up a shot), but this shows a few stretches being laid down:










Once the glue is spread, pull up the taped ties from the jig and apply them to the roadbed. Take care that the ties stay straight (especially if working the taped ties through a slight curve) and press down on the top of the ties to make sure they glue down well. Wait for the glue to dry and set completely before removing the tape.

I bought two bags of ties with my track supplies order. One of standard ties, and one of longer switch ties. Through the course of a turnout/switch, the ties gradually get longer as the track diverges, until the two routes start off with their own ties. I used the printed templates off the FastTracks site to cut the switch ties to the various lengths, and then laid them down individually.

You can see the result here:










The last step before colouring the ties would be to do a *light* sanding with a sanding block to even out the top surface of all the ties. Fine sandpaper over a block of wood works well here, especially if the edges are rounded a bit. Sharp corners can catch adjacent ties and rip them out if you sand them a bit too hard.

Colouring the Ties

Of course ties aren't natural wood. (And even if they were they'd weather pretty quick from their fresh yellow appearance.) Most ties are treated with creosote, a tarry substance, which gives them a dark brownish-black appearance.

Colouring the ties can be a bit subjective. Generally this should be a brownish-grey for older ties, and new ties will be a tarry dark brownish-black. This is a photo I took of the ties in front of the station here in my hometown:










At my club, where we also handlay all visible track, we colour the ties with a wash of thinned black acrylic paint, applied with an old toothbrush.

On my layout, I used some leftover dark walnut stain I found in my dad's workshop. I applied it strong with a foam brush and left it for a few minutes before wiping it off so that it stained the wood quite dark. Overall, I think I like the result.










If you're not real careful to evenly apply the stain or acrylic wash, then some ties will end up slightly darker or lighter than others, and using stain, the natural variation in the colour of the wood ties (which you can see in the photos above) also helps vary the tie colour slightly. This naturally gives some nice variation in the ties.

If you wanted to do some additional weathering to the ties to get a bit of a grey, weathered look, now would be a good time to do that, but I just did the stain, and moved on from there.

Next: straight track...


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

:thumbsup:

Subscribed!


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## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

Keep them coming


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## Lee_R (May 30, 2012)

broox said:


> :thumbsup:
> 
> Subscribed!


Ditto! :laugh:


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks for doing this 'how to' CV. Looks very interesting and your doing a great job explaining the process. This thread will get a lot of attention I'm sure. pete


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## gofisher2 (Jul 19, 2012)

I'm all in.:thumbsup:


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Straight track, or The Basics

OK, some basic techniques. You really just have to kinda play with it a bit and get used to it. You have to be careful and precise, it's not necessarily a fast process, but it's pretty straightforward.

Basically, you get the rail where you want it, and spike it down. OK, it both is and isn't that simple of course. 

First let's talk spiking. Spikes are easily driven using a set of needle-nose pliers. Grab the spike with the pliers so that the shaft of the spike is centred and is pointed straight down from the jaws of the pliers. (You're going to push down with the pliers to drive the spike.)










For the first push, I like to grab the spike so that only a little less than half of it is sticking out from the jaws of the pliers. You can let go and adjust once the spike is started to push it down the rest of the way. I find this helps keep the spike straight for starting it out.

Maintain a firm grip on the spike with the pliers and push _straight_ down. If you don't have a good grip, or you push it sideways or at an angle, it is very easy to bend the spike. Usually when you hit a hard spot like dried glue between the ties and roadbed.










One thing to mention here as well is that depending on the spikes you're using, the spike heads can sometimes (often) be a little bit oversized, and when driving the spike, make sure that there's enough room when driving the spike that the spike head won't push the rail out of gauge. You'll probably end up finding that the shaft of the spike needs to be driven just a little bit away from the edge of the rail. You'll start getting the hand of that real quick.

Now obviously, besides introducing bad kinks or too-abrupt bends in the track getting the gauge correct is the most critical thing here.

The NMRA Gauge is the final arbiter here. Measure constantly. Measure at each set of spikes you drive in. Measure between them. The gauge itself has the tolerances of the NMRA track spec. built into it. At the bottom of the gauge is the part for measuring track gauge. Press the small prong at the left against one rail. If the prong at the right can't fit down between the rails, the gauge is too tight. Just beyond that prong is a bit of a "corner" - if that falls down between the rails the gauge is too wide. The track in this photo is perfectly gauged:










Accept nothing less than perfection here. If a particular spot fails the gauge test, fix it. If the trackwork is done precisely, it will be extremely reliable. If not, well, you just won't be happy. "Good enough" simply isn't. Take the effort now to do it right. You may find that even if the gauge is just slightly wide, that most cars roll through it fine and don't notice it, but if you have cars with "semi-scale" wheels with the narrower tread widths, this will become an issue. Semi-scale wheels have taken some bashing in some circles for being more derailment-prone, but that's really not true - or at least, not the whole truth. The wider, fat-tread wheels will be more tolerant of wide gauge issues and the semi-scale wheels will be a bit more sensitive due to the thinner wheel profile, but if the trackwork is actually to NMRA spec, the semi-scale wheels will actually work 100% reliably. Any problems with semi-scale wheels derailing can actually be attributed to sloppy track (you'd be surprised at how out-of-spec some commercial turnouts can be - a carefully hand-built switch can be far more reliable than most commercial offerings).

These "3-point" tracklaying jigs made by Micro-Engineering are a great help for aligning and laying the track, and help lay things out in gauge as well. (Other companies also make similar tools.)










I like to use them to hold both rails and shift them to make sure the track will end up centred on the ties before spiking any of the rails down. Once located, spike one rail. Usually when spiking, I'll put one spike on each side of the rail at a tie. Then on average, the rail can be spiked every 5th tie or so. For a stretch of track that should be very straight, to try as much as possible to avoid waviness in the rails, I'll spike one location, move down about 2 feet and spike another spot, and then using a straightedge to keep the rail straight, spike the distance in between. Once one rail is thus spiked, you can 3-point jigs and NMRA gauge to lay down the second rail.

*Always* double check everything with the NMRA gauge. That's always the final judge, as the 3-point jigs may not be as close a tolerance. (Especially if you're using smaller rail and the jigs was designed to handle large code rail.)


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Side note at this point: 

One of the downsides to handlaid track is that it tends to lose the tie-plate details, and the spike heads can be a bit prominent - but check out some of the things these guys have on offer:

http://www.proto87.com/accurate-track.html

You can get really detailed with your handlaid track including etched tie plates and joint bars, and super-micro spikes that will actually spike through the etched tie plates are almost scale size!

This is the next level of track modeling.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Nice thread, nice work.:thumbsup:

But tell me, you say you are really into making a railroad that is as realistic as you can get.

How come you did not go with the super detail of the tie plates and joint bars, and the other spikes? $$$$?

Do you think you could grind just a little of the spike your using to make the head a bit smaller? Or do you need the head of the spike like it is so you catch the rail to secure it?

Looking good, nice how to do thread.:thumbsup:

I wonder if anyone will try it to their railroad now.
Anyone going to try?


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## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

Mabey have done it once or twice before


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Don't stop now. Your doing great. pete


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

norgale said:


> Don't stop now. Your doing great. pete



Rome wasn't built in a day.


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## Johnsonrail (Jan 6, 2013)

fantastic work. I hope to see more.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Johnsonrail said:


> fantastic work. I hope to see more.


Me too, I have been waiting for him to answer my questions since September.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Thanks johnsonrail. I've been a little side tracked lately with other things and other projects, and haven't actually made a whole lot of progress on the layout lately. Actually, just this past weekend I actually cleaned all the crap off the layout and spiked some rails down for the first time since before December.

Now with the exception of one spur which has to be laid yet (and I need some more ties fr that), all the straight track is done and I just need to finish up some switch points. 

I've also got one of the three sections mostly wired, although a few more feeders will be required when the last switch rails are laid. That sort of electrical work is also obviously kindof critical to getting a working layout, but doesn't really make for an interesting photo post.


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

I am to lazy to to hand lay the track. It really dose look great though.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

big ed said:


> Nice thread, nice work.:thumbsup:
> 
> But tell me, you say you are really into making a railroad that is as realistic as you can get.
> 
> ...


I think to physically ground down the head of each spike would be more effort than it is worth. If I can find a supply of spikes with smaller heads I'll definitely use those going forward.

This is actually really the first time I've handlaid a whole layout, even if it's reasonably smallish layout. It's the first time in a few years that I've had the space to even consider working on something larger than a freight car kit on my desk. I did consider some of the proto87 items, but ultimately decided not to bother at this time. I may experiment with some of those parts in the future, or mix handlaid track and micro-engineering flex track to get the different effects. I know that some people to use flex track because it has the spike and tie plate detail, and once properly painted and weathered it looks pretty good. On the other hand, pretty much the entire layout at my club is handlaid in the same fashion (and these aren't new techniques, modellers have been handlaying track this way since before prefabricated track was available), and except in close up photography, you don't even really notice the absence of the tie plate detail. What you certainly do notice however, is the nice flowing curves and crossovers that are possible with custom built track work. And a carefully built handlaid or other special work can actually be more reliable and on spec than some commercial products, and you can certain angles and switch configurations that are not commercially available.

One of the main goals of this layout was to practice handlaying all of the track. I've done a few of the switches but have a few to to do yet, learning and getting experience as I go. I've done a bit of tracklaying of straight track at the club, but the switches on this layout are the first I've actually handlaid myself. This layout is something to practice some techniques on, and scratch the itch while I am still living in an apartment. It's not intended to be my final someday dream layout. If and when I get the chance to build that, I will make my decisions on what types of track and details to use based on the desired results, products available, and a trade off between cost and effort and detail.


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## 05Slowbalt (Dec 19, 2011)

Man what a work of art. I need more pictures please!


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## dannyrandomstate (Jan 1, 2012)

As what the others have said... Very nice work you have done there.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I never knew you could get tie plates and the rest to lay the track.
I never really looked into how to hand lay rail.

It does look good.:thumbsup:
A lot of work!

After you posted I went and searched on hand laying track and saw all the parts you can get to do it along with some pictures.
Some of the pictures I had a hard time believing that they were hand laid.
They look like the real thing.

I just wondered why you didn't go with all the extra detail. Knowing you like to get as much realism on your layout that you can.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

CV,

You are either a master craftsman, or a masochist. I'm not sure which. Either way, the trackwork is superb!

TJ


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