Do abanded lines look good on a layout?

[waltersrails]

Thanks for the replys. I'm starting on a small abanded line. now on my layout i will have pics soon on my website http://ztrainman.tripod.com/ more help if u have any Thanks.

[howmus]

If done well, absolutely! I am putting a short span of abandoned line including a switch where I had ripped out a section of track that created an S curve causing derailments (especially with larger steam locos). Rather than rip out all the scenery, I boarded up the tunnel and put down some code 70 track on hand laid ties that are partially taken out. I think the effect will be very good when it is finished. The story behind it was that a few years earlier there was a tunnel cave-in and the tunnel had to be relocated a few hundred feet to the west. Some day I will post some photos of the area. [:D]

[dinwitty]

an abandoned line could also be no rails or track, but the telltale signs of a long extended hump on the ground. It could be a long abandoned interurban line or early RR that didnt last. It might be just some odd bridge your pike goes over with the abandoned line underneath, short but sweet.
But if your like me...you don't want any abandoned lines!!!

[leighant]

One of the common situations modelers have to face is that they get to the corner of the room, and need to put in a 90 degree turn-- which was rarely done on the prototype without some justification.

One justification is a crossing of two lines at right angles, a diamond with a curve interchanging between the two lines. This could be done with the layout oval taking the curve, and the two supposedly crossing mainlines running into the background just beyond the diamond-- dummy tracks.

But suppose two arms of the crossing lines were kept and the crossing and lines beyond abandoned. Then one would have a justification for that right angle curve and for the alinement that doesn't go anyplace. It would be interesting modeled as torn up track, with only remnants of the rail line.

[exPalaceDog]

Short pieces on abandoned lines often end up as spurs suitable for storing unneeded cars and other such functions.

Consider a scene from the OC&T at Titusville, Pa. The old Pennsy main line crosses route 27 and extends for maybe a hundred feet. The stub is used to store one of the lines unneeded coaches.

Have fun

[wctransfer]

thanks so much, and i think for short little abondonments, ill go buy some real wooden ties and lay them down! Thanks,

Alec

[Anonymous]

paint rails dark brown with a touch of orange. Old rails usually go darker with age,I've seen them almost black after many years of sitting there.Also paint some ties,light gray.almost white and pale tan,before you put down track take out a few ties and spread the rest of ties,cut some shorter and split some ends if you can,this makes it look negleted, add plenty of weeds and such even all fallen tree branch and other junk as people tend to throw stuff away at these spots,(pallets, tires ,etc). Through the fifties,sixties and seventies, railroads abandoned and usually , quickly tore out everything,now state and local governments step in and sometimes preserve the right of way for future concerns,so more tracks are just left there.

[wctransfer]

I always love these type of topics. I like timbowa's idea. Where i go railfanning, they still have the right of way, and track still in the road. Sadly , they are beggining to rip it up, but i have a question. How do you make rail look nice and rusty for abondon lines? And for those that dont have much space, make a track in the yard that is abondon.

Alec

[rtstasiak]

Abandoned track is everywhere in the Northeast US. On my model railroad, I use overgrown right-of-way to hide turnback curves and other necessary nasties. I also use HOn3 ties, narrow roadbed, and steep grades to save space for active lines and other scenery.

[Anonymous]

If you have the room, but remember most roads wanted any assets left to turn into cash,especially if whole road went belly up (the O&W for instance),so rails,frogs turnouts and sometimes bridges were salvaged or cut up for scrap. A small junction would work, just leave cinder roadbed and lots of weeds,as even ballast was scraped up and reused or sold.

[bn7026]

This is a diorama I kept from my last layout. One of the lower tracks is an abandoned line.. the ties are there and the rails are still in the road crossing.

Tim

[BRAKIE]

If you have the space yes and IMHO it leads to believability in ones layout especially if they model a freelance railroad since it sets the mood for your freelance railroad's past history..I would not over do it but,would use a hint of long abandon trackage such as (say) a length of flex track that looks like its isolated from the main line where the switch use to be,painted rust,lots of weeds and earth covered rotten ties..I would have this section of track disappear behind a hill or under a highway bridge..
I remember reading in one magazine(MR or RMC) years ago where a guy used a tunnel portal and boarded or bricked up the entrance to show abandon trackage. .

[cnw4001]

As has been noted, how much space do you have and how much realism do you want in that space.

Not only abandoned lines add to the visual impact but junkyads and buildings in various states of decay also add realism.

Not everyone has the skill to model this stuff.

Even more interesting was a module which I saw at the recent National Train Show during the NMRA convention in Cincinnati. It depicted a tornado complete with the clouds and moving sprral of the tornado itself.

Dale

[bn7026]

THere was a show layout a few years ago in South Australia if I recall correctly which represented an abandoned railway.
The only activity to be seen was a work train at one one. From the magazine report I read it was well recieved and may have won some prizes.

Tim.

[TrainFreak409]

When I was little, maybe about 7 years old or so, my Mom took me to a modular layout display, and on one of the models, an abandoned wye. It was cool, the mainline was in great condition, but then the ballast spreads, and splits off to a really crummy area, with old ties marking every here and there. There was even a little brief description of the Wye. It doesn't just add realism, it adds facts too, depending on how you do it.

[csmith9474]

Recently removed diamond, signal heads turned, overgrown right of way; you got me thinkin' now. Sounds really cool. The gears are really starting to turn as I think of all the possibilities with this. Thanks!![^]

Smitty

[siberianmo]

Many of the model railroads that I've put together over the years reflect the images contained within my mnd's eye - so to speak. An abandoned right-of-way reflects what we see all the time while riding the rails. It doesn't have to be anything more than an industry siding, lost in time, and even without the industry itself. A couple of rusted and weathered box cars - there it is! [tup]

This has given me an idea for one of my pikes! Thanx ......

[IRONROOSTER]

I would say yes. For extra interest you could make it a different gauge and have a road crossing with rails in the road. Another consideration, depending on your era, is the ties may not have been salvaged, sometimes not even the rail.
Enjoy
Paul

[twhite]

They can add a great deal of visual interest, especially if--say--you're modeling the 'original' line that runs near the 'improved' one. Out west, both Santa Fe and Rio Grande did a great deal of rebuilding and improving of their main lines, reducing grades and curveatures, and leaving the embankments of the original lines. In the 1920's, when Rio Grande modernized their line along the Arkansas River, not only did the roadbed of the original main line cross and re-cross the new trackage, but also the abandoned roadbed of the Colorado Midland was mixed in at points along the river. It makes for some VERY interesting topography.
Tom [:D]

[Dr. John]

They certainly can add an air of realism as well as a point of interest. Abandoned junctions take up little space and are easy to model. You can determine if you want it to look recently abandoned (track still in place, but rusty and weed-grown, maybe with a boarded up tower or empty signal masts) or just give a hint of the former line with some roadbed and a few rotten ties. You could even create a rails to trails path with a paved walkway with joggers and people on bikes.

[Anonymous]

I think it could definately add some realisim. Maybe even an abandoned locomitive and or rolling stock. That would be cool. I agree with the other posts about not wasting usable space, though. then again, if you're using that space to model abandoned stuff......is it really a waste? I guess it all boils down to what YOU want to do. It's my opinion though, that it would be cool.

[SpaceMouse]

[#ditto]

What are you trying to convey?

[ndbprr]

A number of factors apply here:
1. If you are modeling any time after the 1940's it could add historical significance
2. Do you have the space you can afford to do that?
3. What are you trying to convey with an abandoned line?
4. Are you modeling an specific prototype and qa specific location where it is pertinent?
My opinion? Sure but not at the cost of reduced operation or industries.

[waltersrails]

I want your theory. Thanks.