David keeps the hammer down and drill humming, as he works to install the joists and subroadbed sections across the entire HO scale East Troy Industrial Park (ETIP) model railroad. Watch, learn, and discover clever insights to adding the critical components used to create realistic trackwork and scenery set at various elevations.
Be sure to keep up with the construction progress by linking into the Trains.com Workshop Webcam (available 24/7), and the full series of helpful, instructional videos rolling out every month until the effort concludes. Even then, the fun will continue in frequent Trains.com articles/updates and Model Railroader print features, beginning with the January 2026 issue. You won’t want to miss the Expert Tips and Techniques the crew will share with you along the way, as they have a bit of fun bringing the ETIP into fruition!
Sub-road bed is the skeleton of your layout it could be anything from a sheet of plywood to a sheet of foam the purpose is to hold the layout up and to reduce the noise. On my layout I use foam secured in place with glue and the track is placed on top of that is secured with nails. On the Atlas true track I secure it with Velcro later this will be glued in place. It is important that you get the sub-road bed right because this thing holds the whole layout up.
Hi, a couple of quick thoughts if I may. First the easy one. For those places where you glued the joist on because you couldn’t drill from below, you might want to try a pocket hole jig. There are plenty of basic ones that sell for a reasonable price like the Kreg mini jig. Obviously not for production work, but perfect for those situations.
The other is a question on why you screwed the roadbed down directly to a joist rather than from below on a riser? Won’t screwing from the top be harder to adjust later on?
Thank you.