I am adding a trolley that will run through the center of a town. I am wondering whether I should ballast the track or run the street cement up to and between the rails (e.g., using Woodland Scenic Smooth-it). What is the correct prototype?
THANKS!
Normally in town trolleys run in the street. In the old days paving around the track was often cut stone or brick to about a foot outside the track. Latter asphalt or concrete were often used.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I've got a short section of "street running" for my trolley. I don't have a good picture around right now, sorry. I pave right up to the outer edge of the rail, using Durham's Water Putty. Between the rails, I use a styrene strip cut to shape. I paint both with the same color - plain Gray out of an acrylic paint container, no mixing. I use the paint straight for the styrene and in a thinned-out wash for the putty. I find I have to weather the styrene with an India Ink wash to keep it from being too flat and uniform in color.
I'm still working on hexagonal cobblestones. If I can get those to come out well, I think I'll put an abandoned trolley line over on the other side of town with cobblestone streets around it.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Trolleys run in the streets except when they have their own exclusive right-of-way, where their tracks are ballasted like any other railroad track.
Dave's Electric Railroads provides a ton of prototype street trackage from every major traction company in North America...
http://www.davesrailpix.com/index.html
The Johnstown Traction Company was known for hosting the largest PCC fleet in the smallest city that had a PCC traction system, and its pictures should be sufficient to give you perspective at...
http://www.davesrailpix.com/john/john.htm
Trolleyville Schoolhouse models street trackage...
http://www.trolleyville.com/school.shtml
The Trolleyville trackage articles are meant to be read, and read, and read, to see what you missed in your first reading(s). There is "no fat" in these street construction articles. You will see just enough clearance for wheel flanges with the rest of the street paved or bricked. Note that the articles suggest Durham's Wood Putty for concrete, how and what to paint, and even instructs how to crown the pavement for adequate water drainage.
The pictures at each site are priceless to model traction & interurban trackage. You will see at a minimum, a street width that allows for one track and two passenger cars plus sidewalks which is sufficient to minimize the amount of "rutting" for car tires to get caught.
Note that prototype tracks are usually located in the center of the street whether it is one track (both direction operations) or two tracks (one for each direction operations), and; don't forget to allow a pedestrian island in the middle of the street if you have the room for it.
Track ballasting occurs for interurban trackage once the traction street trackage runs out. You can also have a reversing loop at the end of a trolley run that will actually be fine-cindered as if the cinders were pavement on both the inside and outside of the track, and this loop could still be in the city, but not usually in the downtown.
Another good source of modeling and carving traction street trackage using plaster is at...
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=12348&page=1&pp=15
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956