Hyper-Elevation with Martin Tärnrot

In this video lesson, modeler Martin Tärnrot will demonstrate how to take the appearance of trains moving through curves to the next level by creating stunning hyper-elevation. This hyper-elevation, or the appearance of trains banking in a curve is achieved by gluing spacers under the outer rail.

Martin uses Evergreen strip styrene for these spacers. When gluing the spacers, he has found that it’s not necessary to glue styrene strips onto every tie, so instead he glues it onto every ninth tie. It may seem that every ninth tie is too sparse, but a lot of ballast glue will keep this track in place in between the spacer on the outside. As he puts the track in place, he secures it with pins where the spacers are. Once the glue has dried, he removes the pins, and it’s time for ballast.

Martin uses a ballaster to lay down his ballast, so application is as simple as just moving the ballaster along the tracks so the ballast falls in place perfectly in between the ties. After that, it’s easy to vacuum the excess from the ties, leaving a bit of distance in between the nozzle and the track. If there’s still some remaining ballast on the ties, these can easily be brushed away with a paintbrush.

He then soaks the entire roadbed with a mix of the nine parts water and one part isopropanol. Martin then moves on to demonstrate the equivalent process used for HO-scale track with an N-scale track. For more videos like this on working with curved easements or designing curved track sections, visit the Model Railroad Academy archives.