is their such a thing as elevated track in HO ???
Welcome to the forums.
By elevated track I am assuming you are referring to the elevated tracks that are often found in cities. If you mean is there pre-made, not that I am aware of. There are many people who have created elevated track scenes on their layouts, hopefully they will see your post and give you some suggestions.
Good luck,
If you mean elevated like in the Chicago ‘El’, no, there is no track made to duplicate the extremely sharp curves or support structures of such a system.
The structure system for the Chicago L is available in S, HO & N. saw it at the Springfield show, it’s stunning: http://www.imaginethatlaserart.com/component/content/article/13-ho-scale/26-chicago-l
Micrp Engineering Co makes a city viaducts series. Uses standard HO track.
Several examples of big-city elevated railways have been published in the model press over the past half-century or so. In all cases, the modelers had erected the bridges and support structures from structural shapes, almost as complex a task as the process of building the same structures full size.
If modeling the later New York overhead structures, which are plate girders rather than trusses, commercial bridge kits could be used as a source of visible girders. That would still leave the internal girders, the cross-connections and the heavy steel support columns as an exercise for the scratch builder.
As far as, “Extremely sharp curves,” the sharpest curve I found in a Mapquest exploration of the Bronx was on the order of 22 inches radius in HO - well within the capacity of the appropriate cars. One that I remembered as a flange-screamer is actually a (by model railroad standards) comfortable 36 inch radius. All of which proves that our model curves are far sharper than any the prototype would willingly use.
One thing to consider is that all of the elevated routes and most of the subways I have encountered used EMU trains fitted with third rail shoes, and appropriate third rails. The exception was a subway route in Tokyo that used pantographs - the third rail (not a wire) was mounted to the tunnel roof.
Chuck (Ex-Bronxite modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Boston’s elevated tracks included a mix of 3rd rail (Orange Line), and overhead trolley (Green Line). Most of the structure has been removed. It’s very very strange seeing the sky over Causeway Street by North Station/Boston Garden! The old elevated North Station stop had both lines converging there. There’s still a stretch of the Green Line running on the gorgeous viaduct over the Charles River and then on some of the classic girder to the Lechmere station.