Building Reliable Model Railroad Track with Lorell Joiner (1984)

Lorell says real railroads have track standards, why not model railroads? Derailments don't have to be part of the hobby. Avoid derailments by planning your bench-work, sub-roadbed, and roadbed. Lorell helps you make your own track templates. Flex-track must be securely mounted to the roadbed or problems will arise. Good soldering practices make the task easier. Unpainted flex-track doesn't look right. Lorell has some suggestions. Scratch-building your track means staining your ties, laying smooth curves, avoiding kinks, and weathering the rail. Lorell covers it all. Lorell shows you how to install and improve commercial turnouts. Then he turns to scratch-built turnouts. Practice with Lorell's method of sub-assemblies: frog, stock rails, and points. You'll soon discover another fascinating part of the hobby. An overview of ways to move the points on all your new turnouts. Lorell offers some tips for super-detailing specific areas of your layout with rocks and paint.