Laying track: from plan to baseboard

Benjamin | TrackDrawer.com · published 10 November 2026

A plan transfers best to the baseboard if you first print it full size, mark the centre lines and the turnouts on the board, and then lay the track loose, turnouts first. Run trains for a few evenings and only fix the track once everything runs without a hitch. Work the other way round and you discover a skewed turnout or an open joint only after it has been screwed down.

This article covers the step between a finished plan and the first screw. How to arrive at that plan is explained in making a track plan in seven steps; we will not repeat it here.

Get the baseboard right first

Track never lies better than what is underneath it. Before you start, check that the board is flat and does not sag anywhere, and level the legs with a spirit level. A board that warps puts turnouts and joints under strain, and you notice that later as derailments at the same spot every time. Which kind of base suits your layout is covered in open frame or solid baseboard.

If cork or another sound-deadening layer goes under the track, lay that first. It does not change the order: you then mark the centre lines on the cork instead of on the wood.

The plan at full size

A scale drawing is fine for looking at, but not for building from. On a 1:10 drawing an error of half a millimetre is invisible; on the board it is 5 mm. Lay the track on a 1:1 print and you see at once whether every piece falls into place.

With Pro, TrackDrawer prints the plan full size in tiles from A4 to A0, portrait, with 5 mm overlap, cutting lines and registration marks. Each tile shows the track bed, the track and, if you tick the option, the item number of every piece. An overview sheet shows where each tile belongs. This is how many tiles you need:

Print at 100 percent, never with "fit to page". After printing, check one straight line on the paper with a tape measure: if that one is right, the others are too. Cut each tile along the dotted line, lay it on the registration marks of its neighbour and tape the seams.

Transferring centre lines and fixed points

You can lay the track directly on the paper and leave the paper in place until the track is fixed. That is the quickest route. If you want to remove the paper, for example because cork or ballast will follow, transfer the important lines to the board first:

• The centre line. Every few centimetres, push an awl or a nail through the track line on the paper. After removing the paper, join the holes with a pencil. On curves, prick closer together than on straights.
• The start of every turnout. Mark the tip of the switch blades and the direction of the diverging route. A turnout is the piece with the least play: once it is right, the rest follows.
• Holes for point motors and wires. If the point motor sits under the board, or you bring feeder wires up from below, mark every hole now. Drilling is easiest before the track is down.
• A reference line. A straight line parallel to the front edge, at a fixed distance, helps you check later whether a straight really is straight.

If you prefer working on the computer, TrackDrawer also exports the plan as DXF, with the centre line of every track on its own layer.

The order: turnouts first

Turnouts and crossings have a fixed shape and decide where everything around them must go. So start with the turnouts, then the pieces that sit between two turnouts, and work outwards from there.

1. Turnouts and crossings in their marked positions.
2. The pieces between two turnouts, such as the compensating curve and make-up piece of a passing loop. That is where there is least play.
3. The curves, from the turnouts towards the middle of the curve.
4. The straights, until only the last gap remains.
5. The closing piece last, preferably on a straight, where a small deviation does the least harm.

If you use sectional track such as Märklin C track, the plan closes on the drawing board and should close on the baseboard too. If a gap of a few millimetres is still left, look for a swapped piece before you start pushing; see your layout does not close. With flexible track, lay all the fixed pieces first and only then bend the flexible track in between, so that the fixed points set the shape and not the other way round.

Test laying and test running

Lay the whole layout loose, with the rail joiners pushed fully home, and connect one feed. Then run two kinds of train:

• The shortest loco you own. It reveals dead spots and poor joints, because it picks up current on only a few wheels.
• The longest train with the longest coaches. It reveals curves that are too tight, S-bends and places where two tracks come too close.

Run slowly and in both directions, over every turnout in every setting. Then push a few wagons by hand over every joint: a wagon that hops or twitches sideways points to a joint that is out of line. Leave the layout like this for a few days. Whatever you move or improve in that time costs nothing. A derailment you only discover after fixing the track costs an evening of unscrewing. If the cause is at a turnout, the checklist in train derails at the turnout will help.

Check before you fix

Go through these points before the first screw or track pin:

• Every joint closes. The railheads line up, with no gap and no step in height. Lay a steel rule across the joint: it must sit on both railheads with no light underneath.
• Straights are straight. Sight along the track with your eye at rail level. You spot a slight wiggle better that way than from above.
• Turnouts lie free of strain. The blades move freely and close properly in both positions.
• Wires and motors fit. The holes are in the right place and the wires run under the track without lifting it.
• You can reach everything. Every turnout and every piece of track can be reached by hand, including at the back.

When all is well, fix the track from the middle outwards, starting with the turnouts. Which method suits your track is explained in fixing track: pins, glue or screws.

Frequently asked questions

Should the paper stay under the track?

It can, on a board that will not be finished further. If cork, ballast or paint will follow, remove the paper once you have transferred the centre lines. Paper under glue and ballast goes soft and can ripple.

Why the turnouts first and not the big curve?

Because a turnout has no play and a curve made of separate pieces has a little. Once the turnout is in place, you take up small differences in the pieces around it. The other way round, the turnout has to adapt, and then it lies under strain.

From screen to baseboard

Check your plan in TrackDrawer for closure errors and collisions, see in the parts list whether you have every piece, and then print it 1:1. Enter your track and let the Auto-designer lay a plan that fits your baseboard.