I am presently working on the Walthers Cornerstone Track Scale. I saw the MR Beer Line article this past spring that described and showed photos of the version with 4 rails, which is prototypically more accurate- no issue there. If I want to model this as a single track (2-rail) “light duty” version, I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some construction hints in going that route.
For instance, using an Atlas Code 100 straight track section, the center “wood” platform between the rails seems 1/8" too wide and sits on top of the track’s inside molded rail spikes. Has anyone done this light duty version on their layout?
Is there real world justification for a 2-rail light duty version? I saw a lot of 4-rail images in Google.(yes, I know I am the master/chief engineer of my little modeling world, but am looking for some connection to reality here).
As always, I am grateful and appreciative for any feedback!
an HO scale is probably one of the easiest scratch building projects you can think of. that way you would get exactly what you want. i built two of them, one on the yard lead with a shanty and a smaller one at an industrial siding that just has a little shed for the scale mechanism.
grizlump
IIRC, MR gave the justification you are looking for your single track scale in the very article - was it in the April issue?
To my knowledge, single track scales were used, where weighing was done only occasionally or single cars only, as the weighing procedure involved more effort, i.e. each car needed to be moved individually to the scale.
When I built mine I made a run around for the scale tracks. I made a new platform instead of using the Walthers one. I was considering trimming it down but decided to scratch build instead. I suppose you could build a weigh in motion scale with just 2 rails. It would have to be a modern line. Weigh in motion did not become popular or practical until the 1980s. Locomotives were not allowed on the scale tracks until they were outfitted with strain gauges instead of a weight bridge.
Pete