Hi everybody


Ray wrote this in another post :

''On my C-track layout I use one screw per siding and one screw per metre on open track. This keeps the track in place with a minimum of sound transmission. I don't find that my layout is too noisy for my taste.''

And obviously that caught my attention.

On my layout only reed contacts are screwed. In all 10

The ideal would be to use more screws , I suppose ... but how many? I thought a screw at the beginning and end of the block, minimum 30 cm before or after the turnout and 1 meter between.

The train roll would be better and the transmission sound softer to the ear as Ray says

What do you think ?

Thank you for your replies

Thewolf

I only screw down my remaining C track at places where the brittle C-track connectors have broken off. In all other places the reed switch screws are enough. I also paint the plywood baseboard along the edges of all tracks with a matching grey to minimize any show-through when adding ballast. This paint seeps below the track and holds it nicely in place.

Other than that I have removed all screws to minimize the noise.

Hello

With C track, it dépends on the structure of your lay-out. I assume it will be noisy when posed on a large plywood sheet and may need noise insulation.

In may case, I have a strong wooden frame, transverse vertical 15 mm-thick plywood and the track rests on "contour" 10 mm plywood with an extra width of 12 mm from the C Track bed. Then the landscape is made of aluminium mesh covered with plaster bandage, carton imitation walls or foam imitation of bricks.

The result is that recent locomotives are very silent. Old style Marklin such as 3031 (Telex switcher) or CCS800 are Noisy by themselves and more and more I avoid using them. Also old style Marklin metal waggons are Noisy (metal wheels on sheet metal frame).

Track fixation: I use a Marklin screw every 4 or 5 rails. In hidden places (shadow stations) then I add a small colored dot where I have screws to remove the rails when I need it (typically because one switch motor is failing or because I need a new information -track detection- to my computer / Rocrail. This is because, crawling under the lay-out and remove screws on an intermediate level is no fun when you don't know where they are is painful.

On my next lay-out (if any) I will manage some places where the C Rail is cut cleanly so that I can remove it vertically without removing a large number of rails (typically one meter on both sides of the switch I need to replace. Note: I managed to have below access to most of my switches for motor replacement (I must have changed now 30 of them). Problem is that sometimes there is another track Under the switch you need to fix so you cannot work from underneath.

Cheers

Jean