Marcway 00 points

Matt Ots said the following on 23/02/2006 19:14:

Judging by the lack of responses, I guess no-one knows! I *believe* that Marcway are the "big blob of solder" variety, in which case you will have problems fitting cosmetic chairs. The chairs I have experience of (Exactoscale and C&L) both fit in such a way that the rail is raised off the sleeper. A rail soldered flush to the sleeper won't give you that clearance, and if you trim the chair it will sit wrongly against the rail. Personally, I would stick with the C&L kits you've been trying out :-)

Hi Matt,

Marcway pointwork is rail directly soldered to copper laminate "timbers" (printed circuit board). This is traditional "pcb" track, in which insulation gaps must be cut in the copper to maintain the rail insulation. Countless layouts in 00 and EM have been built this way, and it is very cheap to do it yourself and learn trackbuilding skills. Iain Rice has written a book about building this type of track, in addition to his book on finescale 4mm track.

But however neat your soldering (I can't comment on the blobbiness or otherwise of Marcway), the visual appearance of such track doesn't match modern chaired track from C&L and Exactoscale. To match the prototype, bullhead rail needs to be raised above the timbers by the thickness of the chair base (1.3/4" scale), so that there is daylight showing between the rail and the ballast. If the rail is flush with the timbers it is impossible to fit cosmetic chairs properly -- they will end up level with the rail top and the key will not locate into the rail web.

1.3/4" doesn't sound much, but it is approximately one third of the height of bullhead rail, so it is quite noticeable.

There are lots of pictures of layouts with pcb track in the magazines, Marcway track looks just the same. Marcway also do 00 gauge pointwork with code 75 and code 100 flat-bottom rail to match Peco, so don't get confused when comparing types:

You can easily build pcb track on Templot templates, many users do this. It is a cheap way to build track, and even on layouts using fully chaired track for the visible areas, pcb track is the norm for hidden sidings and fiddle yards.

Finally, if you are examining all your options, don't forget rivetted plywood -- this does allow the fitting of cosmetic chairs and you can't beat wood for looking like wood! Parts are available from the EM and Scalefour societies, and this is another traditional track construction method which has stood the test of time and is still favoured by many. Unlike when using glued plastic construction, you can easily remove the chairs, unsolder parts and make adjustments, then re-fit the chairs. So again this is a good choice when learning to build track.

regards,

Martin.

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Martin,

I've used plywood sleepers with C&L chairs in 7mm and used the Butanone supplied for fixing to plastic sleepers, and the chairs have stuck very well to plywood. I would expect the 4mm chairs to stick just as well.

An advantage of using plastic chairs stuck to plywood sleepers is that you can break the bond between chair and sleeper using a sharp scalpel style of blade so that you can modify or adjust the track after it has been laid.

Jim.

In message , Jim Guthrie writes

That's because the butanone dissolves some of the plastic, which then seeps into the wood and wraps itself around the wood fibres, so that when the butanone evaporates and the plastic solidifies again, the plastic chair is well and truly stuck.

Jim Guthrie said the following on 25/02/2006 05:35:

They do!

"Marc Weaver" wrote

No argument with what you say there Marc, but should you not declare an interest in saying so?

John.