Looking for tips on cheapo track elevation. Here is the situation.
6’ x 7’ layout
inner circle is the traction line
outer oval is for the steam loco
my spending priority is train cars, not scenery.
i am doing Toy layout, not realistic modeling.
Using the experimental method, i concluded that even a small incline is not great with my space limits. But by using 2x4 blocks to elevate the oval all the way around, the layout became more interesting.
A plastic elevated peer system would cost about fifty bucks and may not look all that much better. Buying trains is more urgent.
So, is there a way to dress up or camouphlage the 2x4 blocks to make them look a little better? I do not want to build a permanent structure because i rearrange the layout every week. Maybe i will make a folded eight some day.
Should I just leave it flat? At this moment, it is flat, no elevation.
These photos of my bridge piers may help you.
The wood was made to look like stone. This is a speckled piant you can buy at Lowes, Menards, Home Depot, etc. The dremel tool cut out the blocks. The trim is just strips of basswood that every hobby shop carries.
Here are the piers I made to look like concrete. The 1x4s were cut to a small taper. If you use some of the Scenic Express vines glued to piers they look really great. I like working with 1x4 because I have more flexiability. You can see the glue joint in the first photo. The small round pads on the top of the piers are elastomeric "pot" bearings. If I had not put bearings under my bridges I would have never heard the end of it from the CTT crowd.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Buckeye,
you have broadened my thinking. I was not planning to use bridgework and my elevation was only going to be two inches. The idea was to simulate the kind of low ridge you see train tracks running on beside a country road.
The speckled paint definitely looks like stone. Maybe i should paint the lower part of each block green so that it blends into the grass, and the upper part like stone.
Pot bearings? What are they smoking?
Like this?
This is "The idea was to simulate the kind of low ridge"
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Kev, how do you keep those piers from tipping over? Screws from below the table?
It is sitting on the table without screws. Wood legs are glued to the top plate with one screw to dry the glue. Simple and works good.
I tried to post another picture and this place scrubbed two others!!!!
I don't know how to make it work so maybe PM me. It was easy and it does not move.
See this.
Kev, how did you make the low ridge?
your pictures look great on my end.
i like your layout , those guys standing in the gondola are nice. Is that a thomas train?
Kev, heck, that is a long train.
https://www.shutterfly.com/picturepicker/viewTabletPicturePicker.sfly?fid=36b7a600d01e71bac9f3edf1ebadc1fb
This is my mess. I ran out of 2x4 blocks.
Gnome,
I don't use 2"x4" it looks way to big when a 1/4" in scale is a foot.
What you see is 1"x3" but it is smaller than that like all lumber.
Talking "Cheapo"
continued: Not to scale but definitely "cheap"
Traindaddy,
are those things table legs? Like from a coffee table? Or did you make them from some large dowel rods?
Here is what I play with,
We had an old umbrella on the pool deck that "saw better days". Ditched the canvas, took the pole and cut it up. Thanks for asking.
Kev, your estate sale will earn a fortune for your heirs.
Traindaddy.
repurposing. That’s great.
Everybody, thanks for the input. The problem is now solved.
The idea of Repurposing lodged in my brain and i remembered a box that i was saving because it had packing material that should be useful for something. Crawling on the floor under the table seven feet over then seven feet back retrieved the box. The packing material looks like styrofoam but is softer and more rubbery. It does not crumble and it does not stick to everything. Anyway i cut it into piers and sure enough it works great. It has a pebbly surface. It cushions the track a bit. If you get some of that stuff in a package, do NOT throw it away.
KRM: Kev,very nice. Wish I'd have your layout space. (Well, maybe, someday!)
Update:
My foam piers worked great with my little Porter but when the heavier Mogul arrived, there was too much bounce. So I took them out and went back to flat.
But the Mogul does not like little bumps in the track and will derail if you look at it funny. So I parked it. It looks great sitting on the side of the layout.
Meanwhile, I ran across a youtube series by a guy from the UK called Budget Model Railways or something like that. He does interesting things with cardboard. Maybe I will build a ridge around the village with layers of cardboard to elevate the track. The budget guy assembles his scenery away from the layout to avoid mess. After gluing the layers of each section, some kind of putty can be used to cover the sides. Then paint and perhaps sprinkle on some grass.
It seems practical and low risk. But not this week. I am working on a Circus building. After that, a new church.
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