First, I carved out the hole in the foam where the track would be. I sealed the edges with caulk, then painted it burnt umber, so no light areas would show through.
Next, I added some basic scenery.
A thin bead of acrylic latex caulk would hold the track in place.
I Super-Glued a loose piece of rail cut from a piece of Atlas flextrack to the piece of track.
Added some more vegetation to give it an overgrown look.
Then brushed some Bragdon Weathering Powder to tone down the color.
Neat idea and nice job. I have never seen a single section of track left somewhere like that though. I have seen abandoned sidings where everything was left in place and overgrown. I also used to hunt in an area that was logged by railroad back in the late 1800’s. The rails were all removed from those tracks but the ties were left in place and rotted away. The effect that was left is little mounds where the ballast is still in place and dips where the ties rotted out.
I’m not sure of what you’re conveying here? Is it an abandoned siding, branch line or fallen flag? How does it relate to your operating railroad? When was it abandoned? If it’s recent, the rest of the roadbed would still be partially seen, if it’s really old, more of mother nature would be seen, trees, taller weeds and no visible ties. It looks just like does, you planted it in the middle of the layout. Check web sites of former railroads, some times there are photos of former row’s. Along with the advice above, I would also have taken off the rail on one side and had it laying on top, also tore off about a third of the ties and spread the rest to give it that uneven look. If it’s really old, paint rails almost black, as it will turn that color after many years.
Thanks, I appreciate the suggestions. To answer some of the questions, it was part of a parallel track siding. When the new warehouses were built, they were much larger than the old one, so the track was torn up to just past where the new warehouses were built. The workers just left it as it was. The rail left on top was just a piece of rail that got tossed on top of the track they left behind. I’ll take some pictures so that you can see how it fit into the layout.
Had the opportunity in my home town to observe the demise of abandoned ROW and spurs. At least 5. Some of them took as much as 30 years to effectively “Go Away” while I was paying attention. One local old ROW has not been used for almost 100 years, and it was just in the last 10 years that the rail and most of the ties have been removed. A local club had been trying to obtain financing for rebuilding it for an excursion railway. They only salvaged about 10 miles to go with an old E-7 and a couple passenger cars. Some of the overgrown embankment and ballast is still visible. In fact, until about 12 years ago, there was still an old abandoned motorcycle style trackmobile sitting about 100 feet from a roadway. Even one of our main streets in town was finally rebuilt, old interurban track was just burried under asphalt, occasionally showing through the old brick pavers.
Abandoned track seems to have a kind of a life cycle: After abandonment, first the rail loses the shiny top, then starts rusting overall. Weeds start overgrowing the ballast. Ballast starts getting washed or pushed away, exposing the full depth of the ties. Ties start rotting away in spite of the creosote or other preservatives. Crossing get asphalted over. Eventually, even small trees start growing between rails. Eventually, rail starts getting pulled up in small quatities, usually from the farthest end. Sometimes the rail is pulled, but sits along the embankment for years before it’s picked up for recycling. Then the ties are pulled, again sometimes sitting for years along the abandoned ROW. One thing for sure, short unconnected sections of abandoned track I’ve seen are only at covered over grade crossings, with just short ends sticking out. On a couple, even part of the ballast is almost all gone, leaving unsupported rail ends, and even parts of ties still spiked to the rails The semi-intact
I’m inclined to agree that a short section of abandoned track would be pretty unusual. Most abandoned railways I have seen - even with track completely gone - you can still see where the track went - usually because of a raised roadbed.
Sorry, but the modelled piece of track just doesn’t convince me in any way.
It just looks like a random short piece of unconnected track in the middle of nowhere. There’s no appearance of it actually being part of a former roadbed. It’s just a piece of track in a depression in the middle of a field. Old roadbeds can remain clearly visible for many decades after rails and ties are pulled up.
Also, such a short piece being left over is not convincing. They likely would have torn up the whole thing, or abandoned the whole thing in place, just removing the switch that leads to it, and possibly areas right at the old warehouse if the industry wants the clear the area and use it for a driveway, truck dock, building extension or simply clean it up. In this case they’d just pull up everything on the warehouse property itself. Everything outside the fence is railroad property and might be left to rust.
Rail is heavy, it wouldn’t just be “tossed on top” of a short piece of unlaid track. If the rail was being pulled up, everything including that short piece you have left would have been lifted and carted off for re-lay or scrap. If for reuse, it would be stacked and stored in a maintenance yard somewhere.
Anyway, you have such a short piece, it makes no sense. The whole spur would really be an all or nothing deal. And wherever the rails and ties have been completely removed, the original roadbed shoul still be clearly identifiable.
I think it’s pretty creative, regardless of whether it may or may not be something you encounter in real life. But what do I know? I’m new. I think the photography and description of the process are helpful to people like me who are trying to absorb everything they can. If I were to model something like that here in Michigan, I would have to include a couple of unemployed auto workers trying to steal the rails to sell it for scrap.[;)]
Now if a short section was sticking out of pavement it would fit. Many times rail was just paved over for parking lots or even roads. If that was sticking out behind a parking lot it would look better.
In Chicago, near the old Northwestern Station (now Olgive Transportation Center or something like that) there was a piece of track, about twice as long as the OP’s, between a friend’s apartment building and a auto parts place. It wasn’t paved over, but was so sunken into the dirt that people did drive over it often as a shortcut to her parking lot. If you looked at it, it seemed to actually go under the two buildings it sat between. Heck, for all I know, it did. Chicago low-bid construction and all…
First, I carved out the hole in the foam where the track would be. I sealed the edges with caulk, then painted it burnt umber, so no light areas would show through.
Next, I added some basic scenery.
A thin bead of acrylic latex caulk would hold the track in place.
I Super-Glued a loose piece of rail cut from a piece of Atlas flextrack to the piece of track.
Added some more vegetation to give it an overgrown look.
Then brushed some Bragdon Weathering Powder to tone down the color.
