dose ho track come raised in the curve ?? and why hasn't anyone figured out a way to bump out the sides on the gondola cars ?? any help would thanked
arcus
Superelevation on a curve is for the modeler to reproduce. It isn't hard. Do a search on "superelevation" on this forum.
What do you mean by "bump out the sides on gondola cars"? If you mean dents, people have done it on plastic models by carefully using a heat source. Haven't tried it myself. Never saw the need. Examples I've seen show the effect is easily overdone.
Mark
A problem with pre-superelevated track would be that there is a gradual incline into the curve and it depends on how long your curve is. It is really a curve by curve situation and as stated above it is simple to do. You should easily find references to it if you search this forum or the Index of Magazines at Resources at the top of this page.
Good luck,
As a matter of fact Precision Scale (P.S.C.) does make superelevated flex track. It has small nubs under the ties on one side (and I am sure someone out there has put the nubs on the wrong side when laying a curve!)
At least in my case (double track main, 40" and 42" radius curves) it takes about two pieces of flex track to make a 90 degree curve. So what I do is cut one piece in half. The very center of the curve is one 3' piece. At either end the curve continues with the half piece, where I have snipped off the nubs at the bottom to gradually create the super-elevation. For the most part it works out well.
The bigger challenge is to lay the track using adhesive caulk since the nub lifts the tie up; ballasting is a similar challenge. Also any attempt to fasten the center of the tie to the roadbed with a nail or spike is likely to pull the rails together. Where I needed to fasten it I put the spike nearest to the lower rail
Yes it makes sense for the superelevation to actually be below the roadbed or subroadbed. But the PSC track looks good (somewhat of a bear to "flex" but I use the Ribbonrail curvature tools) and it actually got me to try superelevation, which really looks great.
Dave Nelson
I did this gondola by doing the following:
I used a hot soldering pencil to concentrate the heat on the inside of the car, heating it, softening it, then gently pushing it out with a small screwdriver.
I kept the dents between the ribs, although a couple of the ribs got bent, too, which is okay. I also kept the dents above the floor line.
I went back and cut the floor out of the car, then used a flat file and sandpaper to smooth out the flash and blobs caused by the soldering iron.
I then nested the shell down over the frame to lower the ride height. The car on the left is a factory Micro Trains car for comparison.
I used scribed Evergreen siding to replace the thicker floor I cut out, then weathered the car inside and out, using dark stains and rust on the interior, and washes of grime and spots of rust on the exterior.
Here's another car that I lowered, but didn't ding up (yet!)
You can see that the depth of the car is a bit shallower than prototype, but the weathering helps, and half the time the car is loaded, so it's not too big a deal.
Hope this is useful.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Nice cars! I've been wondering how to do sagging gondolas. Thanks for the ideas.