Track bases - P4 NewTrack Panels
NewTrack panels represent the ultimate in plain track for P4 modellers. Links to full information and assembly instructions are at the end of each section (PDF download).
18 sleepers per 45 ft panel
The NewTrack mouldings for 18 sleepers/45ft panel reflect pre-grouping (pre-1923) practice when many railway companies used bullhead rail in 45ft lengths on 9ft timber sleepers. Few companies used exactly the same combination of sleeper numbers and spacings and the NewTrack moulding has had to be based on one – the Great Northern Railway (GNR) being chosen. The GNR actually used 8’ 11” sleepers, but we are closer to the more common 9’, or 36mm in 4mm scale, for this moulding.
The GNR also normally used 12” wide sleepers adjacent to rail joints with 10” wide ones elsewhere. Other companies (e.g. the LSWR) used 45ft panels with the same sleeper spacing but with 10” sleepers throughout. To provide for this alternative, there are two extra 10” wide (3.33mm in 4mm scale) sleepers tacked on one end of the moulding. Snap these off where the web is grooved, leaving a 45ft panel with 12” joint sleepers.
To produce a 45ft panel with 10” end sleepers, cut away the 12” sleeper at each end of the 18 sleeper panel, making the cut in the web halfway between the sleepers Take the two 10” sleepers that have been removed and separate them. They can then be used at each end in place of the 12” sleepers – the remaining sections of web should give the correct sleeper spacing for a 45ft panel.
Click the link to download the full instructions for NewTrack 18 sleepers per 45 ft panel.
24 sleepers per 60 ft panel
The NewTrack mouldings for 24 sleepers/60ft panel consist of 18 sleepers, most of which are spaced at a scale 2’ 7” (10.33mm) but with the end three sleepers at both ends of the moulding spaced appropriately for a rail joint. The last (joint) sleeper at one end is a scale 10” (3.33mm) wide while that at the other end it is as scale 12” (4.00mm) wide.
If you want only to have 10” joint sleepers, then make 60’ panels by cutting off the last six sleepers from each moulding at the end with the 12” joint sleeper and use the resulting 12 sleeper pieces in pairs with the closer spaced sleepers at the outer ends.
Conversely, if you want only 12” joint sleepers, then make 60’ panels by cutting off the last six sleepers from each moulding at the end with the 10” joint sleeper and use the resulting 12 sleeper pieces in pairs with the closer spaced sleepers at the outer ends.
If you need a mixture of 12” and 10” ended panels, then you can make two 60’ panels, one of each, out of three mouldings. Cut three sleepers at the 12” end off the first moulding, three sleepers at the 10” end off the second moulding and divide the third moulding into two nine sleeper sections. You can then arrange the pieces so that one 60’ panel consists of a nine and a fifteen sleeper section with
10” joint sleepers and a second panel consists of a nine and a fifteen sleeper section with 12” joint sleepers.
Click the link to download the full instructions for NewTrack 24 sleepers per 60 ft panel.
26 sleepers per 60 ft panel
26 sleepers/60ft panel are used on curves of less than 20 chains radius (5280mm in 4mm scale). The NewTrack mouldings for 26 sleepers/60ft panel consist of 15 sleepers, most of which are spaced at a scale 2’ 4” (9.33mm) but with the last two sleepers at both ends of the moulding spaced appropriately for a rail joint. The last (joint) sleeper at one end is a scale 10” (3.33mm) wide while that at the other end it is as scale 12” (4.00mm) wide.
If you want to have 10” joint sleepers, then make 60’ panels by cutting off the last two sleepers from each moulding at the end with the 12” joint sleeper and use the resulting 13 sleeper pieces in pairs with the closer spaced sleepers at the outer ends. Conversely, if you want 12” joint sleepers, then cut off the last two sleepers from each moulding at the end with the 10” joint sleeper and use the resulting 13 sleeper pieces in pairs with the closer spaced sleepers at the outer ends.
In transition curves, it will make sense to change from 24 sleeper panels to 26 sleeper panels when the radius reduces to about 2000mmm and to have 0.1mm of gauge widening at this point. Gauge widening of 0.2mm is likely to be about right with curves of 1200mm radius – and possibly more than that if it is intended to run large steam locos or to reduce the radius further.
Click the link to download the full instructions for NewTrack 26 sleepers per 60 ft panel.