Superelevated Track Demo

I superelevated the mainline on my N-scale test layout to see how I am going to superelevate the track on my CSX Dixie Line layout. This video shows a train on the non-superelevated siding, then on the superelevated mainline, then one train on each track for a side-by-side comparison.



To superelevate the track, I cut eight (8) strips of masking tape each 1/4" wide and each the full length of the curve to be superelevated. I then pulled the track nails out of the Atlas flex track and raised the track so I could lay the strips of masking tape below the track under the outside rail along the curve. For the first strip of tape, I used the entire length of tape. One inch of is cut off of each successive layer of tape and the shorter length is laid right on top of the previous strip. This staggering of the ends of each layer of tape results in a nice smooth transition between the superelevated and flat track. I will be superelevating all of the mainline curves on the big layout using this same technique.

One word about video quality: filming model trains is nothing like filming the real thing. Getting the focus and lighting correct is aespecially tricky. In fact, I just used autofocus because it proved better than manually focusing on a certain spot. However, because of this you will see a lot of focus hunting as the camera tries to find the ideal focus. Hope to get better at this as I find the time!

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