My layout is going to have a carshop, and I was planning on having the entire industry be on conrete or pavement. I have all the stuff from Woodland Scenics for their smooth it roads, but as my track is already laid and on cork, not sure if there's any things I should do.
Thanks
"Keep your stick on the ice" - Red Green
ontarionscaler My layout is going to have a carshop, and I was planning on having the entire industry be on conrete or pavement. I have all the stuff from Woodland Scenics for their smooth it roads, but as my track is already laid and on cork, not sure if there's any things I should do. Thanks
I have seen the situation you seek to model at a bulk oil terminal. A few features. First, from the perspective of an automobile driver, the level of the concrete is very close to the top of the rail. I imagine this is also important for workers and others walking in the area, particularly at night. Second, on the prototype relatively little space was left for the wheel flanges; because of our wider than scale wheels and deeper than scale flanges, this is not always possible on a model. Third, on the sharpest curves there were guardrails embedded with the track (or maybe it was special rail rolled with the guard rail as an integral part of the rail?) Again not so easy to do on a model althoughit could be possible to mimic that look with paint. And fourth because the pavement was new concrete it was very "white" not the tan or biege that older concrete tends to get. Ffth there were concrete posts or barriers painted yellow to keep errant trucks from smashing into stuff. It also looked like it was well lit although I was not there at night
I would not rely on the Woodland Scenics smooth road stuff entirely for the seamless smooth look you want. I'd build up the surrounding concrete area with styrene. Even between the rails. It is easier to control -- to cut and file to shape and that is important to the close-fit look you want.
Dave Nelson
I built a yard without considering the scenery years ago. It was HO scale code 100 track and i used WS foam roanbed. When I got to adding scenery, I wanted the track level with the ground, not elevated on roadbed. At the same time, I wanted to maintain the level of the tracks. So, I bought a few sheets of foam board and fitted them between the tracks. This worked perfectly.
Your screen name makes it look like you model N scale, so you might need a different material of a different thickness.
Proto 87 makes "girder rail" in HO scale, which is the kind of low-profile track designed for trolley tracks and prototype street running. I don’t know if they have it in N scale. They also have various thin sheets of plastic paving that match up to the girder rail and result in a very realistic track profile. I used this for a short section of street running on my layout. I like the result, but laying this track is not for beginners. It's actually for a carfloat terminal, so great care must be taken to get bulletproof freight operation.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I use N scale, and I had a locomotive shop with concrete yard and in the shop itself.
I made it out of styrene. I won't say it was easy, but there was nothing too difficult, either. The curve of the tracks was the most difficult.
I pressed a sheet of paper over the tracks to make an imprint, cut that out with a scissors, then laid it on the styrene as a template.
I cut out the styrene shapes, making everything a hair bigger than needed, and I used sandpaper to get the fit exactly. Outside the rail, the styrene went exactly up to the tracks. Inside the rails, I had a gap for the wheel flange.
Several places, after running a car through the shop, I had to remove the styrene inside the rails and sand off more. Finally, I painted it all, and attached it to the tracks and to the table using some caulk. The caulk allowed a long drying time to position things, and allowed easy removal even after it cured.
That layout doesn't exist any more, and I'm trying to find some pictures.
York1 John
I read earlier about using .060" stryene sheets for HO scale. Correct? Just not sure how to handle curves.
Don't follow my approach of making the concerte out of PoP and then making wheel set indentations using extra wheelsets. Not smart. It made a mess!
kasskaboose I read earlier about using .060" stryene sheets for HO scale. Correct? Just not sure how to handle curves. Don't follow my approach of making the concerte out of PoP and then making wheel set indentations using extra wheelsets. Not smart. It made a mess!
I model N scale. I use .020 styrene, but that is not quite thick enough to make it level on the ties. I pad under the styrene with whatever I have on hand.
For curves, I just lay a piece of paper on top of the track and press the paper along the tracks with my fingers. That leaves an indentation that can make the template for cutting the plastic.
Before fastening anything down, run several cars through the area to make sure the styrene doesn't affect the wheels in any way.
Hope it goes well -- have fun!
York1 kasskaboose I read earlier about using .060" stryene sheets for HO scale. Correct? Just not sure how to handle curves. Don't follow my approach of making the concerte out of PoP and then making wheel set indentations using extra wheelsets. Not smart. It made a mess! Before fastening anything down, run several cars through the area to make sure the styrene doesn't affect the wheels in any way. Hope it goes well -- have fun!
Regardless of scale, it's critical to test before anything gets glued.
About 15 years ago I made a 4 track yard but not a concrete look but steam era gravel. Although my track was not on roadbed. I used plaster and troweled even with the top of the rails. Then ran a extra car truck to cut the flange ways while the plaster was still wet. After it dried I used piece of sheet metal to deepen and widen the flange ways. After that I spread on some white glue and sprinkled fine sand and ground up coal. I mixed the plaster with a tan latex paint to tint it through its thickness. I also added some potholes and shredded newspaper from a blender here and there. Weeds were planted in drilled holes.
I can't see why you can't do the same for a concrete slab look. You can scribe in some expansion joints a a few cracks here and there.
Pete.