?? Height of a pier from the water ??

[gandydancer19]

My layout will have a car float operation as well as a fueling pier for fueling a tugboat and fishing boats.

  What is the height that you use or have from the top of the "water" to the top of the pier?

I am planning on using Luan for the water surface and finishing as required. The pier will a concrete type and will be a foam sheet glued to the Luan.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[carknocker1]

On my layout my hieght from my dock to the water level is 1 1/8" , but I also model my port at high tide .

I too use foam glued to wood , I how ever used hard board for my base.

[BATMAN]

Remembering that tides come into effect on the salt chuck your pier can be set at any height you want, as a 10' change in height ( more or less ) happens twice a day. A higher pier requires a longer OR a more complex ramp to the car float. For the sake of space my carfloat will be getting loaded at high tide. A fuelling dock often goes up and down with the tides so hoses can be passed aboard more safely. I would think 3 to 5 ft. would be a good height for that.
Send pics when done please as carfloat ops. is something I would like to include on my layout someday.

[jawnt]

Gandydancer,

Alot depends on your water front local --- in New England tides vary as much as ten to twelve feet between high and low tide while along the Gulf of Mexico tides only vary two to three feet. that coupled with wheather you are modeling high or low tide give you a starting point.

Most piers I've seen are at least 6 to 8 feet above high tide -- some much higher. I'd hesitate to go less than 4 feet above high tide.

Hope this at least gives you a starting point.

John T. in the dry land cow pasture.

[wedudler]

I had a grade to the apron.

It depends on the water level you want. Do you have a river, a lake or ocean with tides. 

Here     you will find a few pics.

Wolfgang 

[concretelackey]

Does anyone know of any modeled docks/peirs displayed at low tide? The reason I ask is this thread got me thinking of how to model barnacles and other assorted salt water life in a somewhat real fashion.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.....

[gandydancer19]

Thanks for the answers!!!

I had thought about tides, but in our model world they really don't go up and down, but at the same time a high tide shouldn't swamp the pier or come too close, thus the reason for the question in the first place. Since I am using a foam sheet for the pier, the one inch thickness should work.

Batman, I hadn't thought of the fueling pier going up and down, so that makes it a sort of detached extension of the main pier.  Like a floating boarding pier for small boats.  Thanks.

Nice work and pics Wolfgang.

  Ken, as to barnacles, I recently heard of someone mixing talc or cornstarch with brown pain to simulate crusty or 3D rust on models. It may work just as well for barnacles, just use the appropriate color of paint.

[pcarrell]

The easiest way to model barnacles that I know of is to apply thicker glue (like 5 minute epoxy) with a toothpick so it's small and kind of comes to a point, and paint it once it's dry a nice grayish whitish color.  It's kind of tedious, but it works.

[dehusman]

I have also seen people cover the piling with glue or paint and then a layer of fine sand or ballast, sometimes repeating that couple times.  They paint it grey or brown then dry brush on a chalky white.

Dave H.

[wm3798]

You're talking about Cape Charles, right?  Isn't there a floating apron that rises and falls with the tide so the rails meet the ferry regardless of the tide?  I seem to remember there being some kind of boom over the loading ramp that provided some guides or counterweights or something.

I took some pictures last time I was there, But heaven knows where they are now...

Lee 

[gandydancer19]

Well Lee, my RR is generic, so no specific location will be modeled, but I did need to get some idea of the correct relationship between the top of the dock and the water level.  But my limited research has shown that most, if not all, car float aprons can be raised and lowered for the tide changes, thus, an overhead bridge structure of some type is required.

I was originally thinking of using two inch foam, but kept thinking that it was going to look too far to the water surface, but at the same time, a one inch difference may not be enough.  That was the reason for the original question.

[Anonymous]

Here is a source for piers and pilings.

http://www.modelrailstuff.com/

You might use their heights.  One items says:

HO 811 - High Tide 1-1/2" x 6"L (Not Pictured)
HO 812 - Low Tide 2-1/4"H x 6-3/4"L (Not Pictured) (1/pkg.)

But I am not real sure what they are talking about.

By the way I did e-mail Model RailStuff directly about the heights of their other retaining walls and they never replied.

-John

[markpierce]

Answer to post's question: The track on the pier should be a bit more (if modeling low tide), a bit less (if modeling high tide), or anywhere in between, compared to the track elevation on the ferry.  You don't want a grade extreme enough around the apron to cause unreliable train operation. 

Mark

[camaro]

The same products from Model Rail Stuff including piers can be found at www.scenicexpress.com. The also carry the same brands as Model Rail Stuff plus more.

 

Larry

 

[gandydancer19]

More good stuff posted!!

I actually have some sample pier retaining wall material/kit/pieces.  I had forgot about them, so thanks for the reminder. 

(Don't we all collect stuff that we think we may need for projects later on and forget about some of them?) 

And of couse, as mentioned, the grade from the pier to the carfloat can't be dramatic, so the height of the barge is going to have an affect too.  I've got two car floats, so the measurements won't be hard to get.