I’ve got a 5x9" intermodal area with tracks running through it (under and near an intermodal crane). Thought ot put in paved track, so vehicle traffic can travese w/o issues. How do I create paved track? Should I cover the ties w/ POP and leave enough room for the trucks, lower the rail profile into the sub-roadbed, or some other method.
TIA!
You can use styrene sheets cut to fit or use plaster of Paris, some would use Durham’s water putty or Durabond.
I would use PoP dyed with a suitable powder or liquid paint. I would mix and pour, level, let it cure, and then clear away what needs it with a Dremel cut-off disk or grinding stone in disk shape, maybe picks or hobby blades, even a needle file.
By mixing the colourant with the plaster, and not painting it later, you won’t get the white underlayer exposed when you do the cleaning of the flange faces of the rails.
Crandell
Take a gander at “Paving Streets” at Trolleyville Schoolhouse:
These downloadable articles don’t miss a trick as they say.
Eh? LIONS are cheap. Him used corrugated cardboard. The point where it abuts the rail has only the top thickness. Be careful painting it as the paint will cause it to curl, and the curl will derail your train. Burnishing the edge of the cardboard down by the rail works just fine. The cardboard is also easier to pull up again if I need to repair or move the tracks.
(This is supposed to be the repair yard at Coney Island, I have not built the building yet, but the carbody is up on jacks so that the trucks could be removed.)
LION has also used asphalt. Well, not the real stuff that we used to pave the road outside, but I mixed some N gauge cinders with Elmer’s glue until it was the consistency of well, asphalt. and then spread that over and around the tracks, being sure to cut an edge where the wheels will run. This would make a nice touch for a rural transfer point where concrete would not have been used. But then you could use plaster of Paris for this just as easily.
Sometimes the LION just modeling clay for a quickie job. There are always quickie jobs around the railroad where they just slap down a patch of some sort.
The other thing that may be used is rubber. Look at 1:1 grade crossings, the new ones have a rubber thing in there. I have modeled this with chipboard (single ply cardboard) . In stations the LION has used bookbinders paper over the top of the chipboard to give the platform a nice finish. That stuff also makes good awnings on your buildings.
ROAR
I like selectors method, but I would put a strip of styrene next to the inside of each rail (where the flanges will run) then pull it out when your surface is dry. Saves time and the possibility of scratching the track up, while trying to get flangeways cleaned out. I have seen this method used for road crossings in some of the MR videos.
Good luck,
Richard
I use 1/32" basswood and plywood for paving between tracks, painted as appropriate. It’s roughly the same height as the code 70 rails on ME track when laid to bridge across the tie ends between tracks. Since I model an older era, I use wood planking between the rails.
Richard: How do you get the styrene to adhere the inside of the track? Wedge it in with a track nail or …? Especially on a curve? Thanks, Joel
If I remember correctly, in the MR video, they used rubber cement. Once you put the filler inbetween the rails, that will hold it. The rubber cement does not harden quick enough to make removal difficult. The ones I did weren’t on a curve, so I had no problem.
Good luck,
Richard