James River Branch: Sectional Track

Sectional Track

It wasn't long before I realized that I'd made a wise decision switching over to Märklin sectional track for the hidden portions. Using 1/2-inch wide, 1/16-inch thick double-stick foam tape, I had the track all laid in a few minutes.

I obtained the foam tape from an online vendor (TapeCase), instead of the local home improvement store, and this was not only more economical, but it also provided an option to order the tape in black. This was a great find because the white tape I'd used previously tended to show through the ballast here and there, and the white flecks stood out.

The backing had to be removed from the tape prior to applying it to the roadbed because it could not be curved to follow the track route. After peeling off the backing, I gingerly positioned the foam tape with my fingertips; the highly aggressive adhesive was not affected by doing this.

With all of the sectional track in place, I was ready to apply shims to the remaining roadbed to bring the handlaid track up flush with the sectional parts. I used tracing paper to mark the outlines of the areas to be shimmed, cut the shims out of .040 sheet styrene, and bonded them to the existing roadbed with liquid cement.

Double-stick foam tape is applied to the styrene roadbed.

The assembled track is then dropped in place on the double-stick foam tape.

The white strips are sheet styrene shims bonded to the black roadbed.