Tomix wide tram track.... Bury it or build up around it?

[nik_n_dad]

Because the Tomix wide tram track is so thick, I'm trying to decide if I should excavate the foam and "bury" it so it will be level with our streets, or if we should lay the tram track on the foam base and raise the rest of the scenery.

 

My concern with building the scenery up around tram track is now the mainline tracks will be lower than everything else.  The problem with burying the tram track is it will be a lot of work tondo that.

 

Thoughts?

[inobu]

The foam is your constant and your track is your variable. Trying to make the surrounding area level with the track is harder that shimming the track level with the foam. You can always fill in the low spots with anything the track will cover it.

 

Based on the possible margin of error and the ability to hide it I would bury it.

 

Inobu

[bill937ca]

Will all your track be street track?  While the prototype digs trenches to lay its street track, track on right of way is laid directly on the ground.  Pavement at level crossings rises up to the rail head level.

[David]

As a question on this very topic, just how thick is the Tomix tram track in mm? I've been thinking in the same direction, and I had been wondering if there was a foam product that would be close enough, so that they could both be laid down side by side.

[Bernard]

nik & Dad - Do you have any photos of the Tomix track laying on the foam? This would give a better understanding of the problem. If your foam is already set on the layout, you might have to shim away the foam which could be a pain, messy and not 100% accurate.

[KenS]

As a question on this very topic, just how thick is the Tomix tram track in mm? I've been thinking in the same direction, and I had been wondering if there was a foam product that would be close enough, so that they could both be laid down side by side.

 

I don't know about the wide tram, but Tomix's usual Finetrack is close to 6.25 mm base-to-railtop, and I suspect the dimension is the same for the tram track (it is for Kato's Unitram, which is about 7.25 mm base-to-railtop, matching the usual Unitrack height). On Unitrack, the railtop is about 0.25 mm above the actual track plate (which is 0.7 mm thick). That's a bit thicker than typical foamcore (the "1/4 inch" foamcore I have is 5mm thick). You'd likely have about a 1mm height difference with Tomix.

 

You could use 0.040-inch (1 mm) sheet styrene atop the foamcore to match heights.

 

In answer to the original question, trying to excavate insulation foam evenly is a real pain (I've done this; it never worked well). The only real way I've found is to over-excavate (using a Stanley Surform Shaver), then fill in with something like Woodland Scenics Foam Putty and sand smooth. And I could never get that to be perfectly even.  I'd recommend raising the street level to match the track instead.

[David]

As a question on this very topic, just how thick is the Tomix tram track in mm? I've been thinking in the same direction, and I had been wondering if there was a foam product that would be close enough, so that they could both be laid down side by side.

 

I don't know about the wide tram, but Tomix's usual Finetrack is close to 6.25 mm base-to-railtop, and I suspect the dimension is the same for the tram track (it is for Kato's Unitram, which is about 7.25 mm base-to-railtop, matching the usual Unitrack height). On Unitrack, the railtop is about 0.25 mm above the actual track plate (which is 0.7 mm thick). That's a bit thicker than typical foamcore (the "1/4 inch" foamcore I have is 5mm thick). You'd likely have about a 1mm height difference with Tomix.

 

You could use 0.040-inch (1 mm) sheet styrene atop the foamcore to match heights.

What I had in mind when I asked was Woodland Scenics thinnest foam sheets (I used one for the hill area on my layout). They're 1/4" (6.35mm) thick and come in 12"x24" sheets.