Laying out the roadbed

I have studied the plan over and over again. The track has been purchased and the table built. It is time to put the roadbed down and start laying the track. I wish it was that simple. Since I am following a well documented track layout book, I feel confident I am prepared. So where to start? Well, I decided to lay the track out on the table first and see how it fit together. My only point of reference was to keep the track on the North side (from my camera perspective) and the East side one and a half inches away from the edge. The only dilemma I had was how much to lay out. What do I mean by that? I will show you. The book is broken out into stages (8 in all). So logically, you build Stage 1 first. However, I felt since I am laying down roadbed, I want to nail down all the non-elevated track at once.

Here is what Stage 1 looks like:

Boring! I am going to lay out all the track up to Stage 3 and that plan looks like this:

So let's get on with the action! The tools: Woodland Scenics Track-Bed and Foam Tack Glue, Atlas Code 100 track, switches, and track nails, a pencil, a ruler, and finally, a T square. Once I measured the edges, I laid the track out according to Stage 3. Here is what that looked like (minus the two switches you will see at the bottom of the above image):

I reversed the perspective so the terminal was facing me where I would sit. That wall behind will eventually be painted sky blue to provide that realistic background. Anyway, from here....honestly, I really wasn't sure what to do. So I traced the outlines of the track that had been laid down and then removed it. From there, I started to lay down the foam roadbed knowing that it is a little bit wider than the outline I drew. I used the Foam Tack Glue and a small art brush to glue down the roadbed. Here is what that looked like:

From there, I started to lay down the track. Woodland Scenics suggests that you glue the track to the foam. I thought that was a bit strange. So I decided to hammer the first track section down with the Atlas track nails I have. Big mistake! The problem is that if you hammer the nail in too far, it pushes the foam down and your track will be uneven. So I glued the rest. I did use a few nails as needed to hold the track in place. I may remove them later.

That's it for now. I am only about half way done. This is a critical stage where I will want to take my time and make sure the track is even and tight. Ugh, it may take me all week! I will post another update soon.

Coming up next.....ballast the tracks!