I am in the process of adding a few road crossings over the tracks, I am using Atlas 100 code in HO scale. Do you remove the ties in that section of the track that the road is going over, I am going to use strips of styrene in between the rails. My concern is about couplers hitting the filler strip between the rails. How do most of you do this and what thickness styrene should I be using?
Leave the ties on. Use plastic or wood that is thinner than the rails to keep coupler pins from hitting it. Leave flangeways adjacent to the inside of the rails. Test the crossing before everything is set up.
Leave the ties in place as they will support whatever material that you choose to use to make your crossings.My track is also code 100, and what I learned was a piece of the paperboard that they use to make milk cartons out of, worked really well to create the needed room for the wheel flanges. Ultimately I used a small amount of plaster to fill in the roadway between the rails. I simply sanded it just low enough that most of my coupler trip pins cleared it easily. The rest of the trip pins got adjusted to match the the ones that cleared the crossings.
Don H.
My track is Atlas Code83, and I made crossings using Evergreen .080"x.100" strip styrene. Atlas ties are styrene, so a solvent-type cement (I use lacquer thinner) works well for securing the planks in place. For tracks such as Micro Engineering, where the ties are engineering plastic, use contact cement or ca. The .080" thickness places the top surface of the crossing .003" below the tops of the rails, and four strips at .100" wide fit perfectly between the moulded-on spike heads between the rails. For your Code100 track, use strips .100"x.100", which should place the top of the crossing flush with the tops of the rails - if your coupler trip pins clear turnouts, they'll clear the crossings, too. Placing the planks between the spike heads also leaves a suitable flangeway for the train's wheels.
For the approaches on either side of the track, you'll need two strips of material, as shown in the drawing bleow. The shim (in red) should be as thick as or slightly thicker than the height of the spike head, while the filler (in green) should bring the total height equal to (but no higher than) the top of the rail.
Before cutting the individual planks from the styrene strips, drag a razor saw along its length to create some "woodgrain". After cutting the planks to length, bevel the ends slightly, as shown below: this will help to lessen problems if a coupler with an errant trip pin happens by. I used a brush to paint the surfaces of the individual planks, using PollyScale paint, first applying black, then, while it was still wet, adding some streaks of brown. The strips were then cemented in place.
You can use the same technique for gravel roads, too, simply by eliminating (or not) the two middle planks:
...and it's also useful for creating set-offs for handcars:
Wayne
Wayne, thanks for the nice example. A related question...would these strips have the flexibility to use in a curve? And a slightly unrelated question...how do you make your adjacent concrete roadway? Thanks.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
The strips are flexible enough to work on a curve - I pre-bent mine to roughly match the curve before cementing them in place.Because our curves are much tighter than prototypical ones, the curved planks are necessary, but not, I think, very prototypical. Still, once they're in place and become only one element in the overall scene, they don't really stand out as abnormal. This one (aerial photo courtesy of Secord Air Services) is on a 34" radius:
The roadway in the first set of photos was done using pre-mixed drywall mud. While it's very easy to use, it shouldn't be applied too thickly, as it then tends to crack in a non-prototypical way. If you use it, build it up in thin layers, allowing it to dry between coats. It's very easy to sand, but it's also very easy to damage: the apparent patches are for real, as layout vacuuming or placing a camera on it none-too-carefully will easily gouge it. I filled the gouges with more mud, then used a brush and some thinned PollyScale to accentuate road repairs made at various times.The road in the photo above was done as part of the surrounding scenery, which is Durabond-90 patching plaster over aluminum window screen. It can be "worked" much the same as the drywall mud, but contains a catalyst which causes it to set in 90 minutes (they offer it in other setting times, too, denoted by the number in the name). Once set, it becomes difficult to sand and when fully hardened, extremely difficult to sand. It does, however, stand up extremely well and can be applied to just about any depth without fear of cracking. I colour it with thinned PollyScale but any water-based paint should work.
Here's the same spot from the viewpoint of a motorist:
Noooo, leave the ties alone. Build up the cross over with strips of styrene or wood, or even gravel depending on the road in question. As long as the covering does not exceed the rail height, you will not have a couple interference.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
peahrens Wayne, thanks for the nice example. A related question...would these strips have the flexibility to use in a curve? And a slightly unrelated question...how do you make your adjacent concrete roadway? Thanks.
While you can curve the materials, I admit to being lazy on this count. Blair Line sells prefabricated wood crossings, etched to make it look like they are composed of short straight sections, and include a thinner strip for outside the rails.
They cost $3 each (sold in sets of 2) and come in 15, 18, 22, 24, 30, and 36" radius versions.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
What a timely topic as I am just making some wooden level crossings today. I was also making a cattle guard crossing as I remember these on the ranch. You could drive the pickup or tractor across and the cattle would stay put.
Googling cattle guards on train tracks brings up many examples. A cattle guard over the tracks is something else that can add to a scene.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I normally build crossings from stripwood attached directly to the ties. Flexible CA like Microbond or Poly Zap works well for this application and is durable. Scale 6"X8" stripwood works well with code 83 rail, but you may want to go thicker with code 100.
here's an eary stage of building a crossing. I chamfer the ends like the prototype to prevent any dragging equipment from catching. Properly tuned coupler trip pins don't hang down between the rails anyway.
This is the same crossing when it was completed. Paint, ballast and weathering blend it in.
This close-up illustrates a wood crossing in an asphalt road made with sanded tile grout. Assembly was the same as for the example in the dirt road. I added the crossing timbers first and built the road up to them.
Here's a more normal view of the same road. The grout discolored the wood, but I could easily re-color the wood as part of the final weathering.
Rob Spangler
Good-looking crossings, Rob, and I always enjoy seeing your very well-done right of way. The skillful blending of the modelled scenes with the backdrop doesn't hurt, either.
Thanks, Wayne!
I was reminded that I had prototype photos that might be helpful. These are on the UP's Malad branch in northern Utah.
x
For a more contemporary look, these are prototype photos from Bloomfield CT (rubber strips and ashphalt) and Stafford Springs CT (timber and ashphalt).
Co-owner of the proposed CT River Valley RR (HO scale) http://home.comcast.net/~docinct/CTRiverValleyRR/
Grade crossings for model railroads should be installed so that the track or rails stick up above the roadway about 1/32 inch. This allows you to run a bright-boy on the track without letting it scrub on the road part of the crossing. It will still look good and you or visitors will not notice the height difference.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
These grade crossings showed up on sale in the Walthers flyer one month, so I bought some. They are from Blair Line. This is code 87 track:
Or, from 90 degrees away:
My roads are done with Durham's Water Putty from the hardware store. I drew the lines with a gel pen.
These came out nice, but to get the outer strips to butt up against the rails I had to notch them lengthwise so they would fit over the molded-on spikes on the flex track.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
wp8thsub I normally build crossings from stripwood attached directly to the ties. Flexible CA like Microbond or Poly Zap works well for this application and is durable. Scale 6"X8" stripwood works well with code 83 rail, but you may want to go thicker with code 100. here's an eary stage of building a crossing. I chamfer the ends like the prototype to prevent any dragging equipment from catching. Properly tuned coupler trip pins don't hang down between the rails anyway. This is the same crossing when it was completed. Paint, ballast and weathering blend it in. This close-up illustrates a wood crossing in an asphalt road made with sanded tile grout. Assembly was the same as for the example in the dirt road. I added the crossing timbers first and built the road up to them. Here's a more normal view of the same road. The grout discolored the wood, but I could easily re-color the wood as part of the final weathering.
Your back drop is amazing! It looks so realistic, it is hard to tell that it is a backdrop. An excellent job, it can't get much better than that.
Kyle noticed: Your back drop is amazing! It looks so realistic, it is hard to tell that it is a backdrop. An excellent job, it can't get much better than that.
And some of his prototype photos look almost as good as his models!
Rob, nice work on the crossings and an excellent job of blending the road in
the background!!