Once a design was finalized and the benchwork completed, it was time to begin laying track. As with any good plan, some flexibility in altering the master plan was necessary. Over the length of the layout, the track rises four inches from one reversing loop to another, while crossing over itself once. This created a maximum grade of approximately 2% with a minimum curve radius of 15 inches. To install the track, risers were attached to the benchwork and then half-inch plywood subroadbed was attached to the risers. In locations where there is only a single track, the plywood is only slightly wider than the track to allow room for scenery, while in towns and other switching areas, the plywood is much wider to accommodate complex trackwork and industries. On top of the subroadbed, is N-scale foam trackbed made by Woodland Scenics, which makes for a fairly quite railroad. The track that was used is made by Atlas and is their line of code 55 N-scale track and turnouts. Both flextrack and fixed length track was used with mostly #7 turnouts. Using this fine scale track did necessitate the changing of wheelsets on most of my rolling stock, but this just adds to the realism anyway. The track is attached to the foam roadbed using glue spread to a thin and even consistency. During the track laying process, extensive testing was done to insure that no kinks or other faults existed. A good running railroad is completely dependent on the quality of the trackwork. Next, comes wiring for the control of the trains.
