Grade Crossing

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello Forum - we are fairly new to the hobby and still working (3 years now) on our first layout. We have just about finished with laying down cork road bed and will be applying code 83 flex track. When we laid out the initial track plan, we had concentrated mainly on the track configuration and some industries to serve within that configuration, but never gave much thought to roads for vehicle traffic to get to those industries. I forgot to mention that we are working modern error in a freelance suburban city environment.

Anyway, we are now realizing that roads have to be included and need to create a grade crossing that will carry our road across the double main line and then across a siding that serves the lumber yard. The double main line crossing is on a curved section of track. So we have two obvious concerns. The first is how do we handle the construction of the actual curved grade crossing. The inside curve is a 20" radius and the outside curve is 24" radius. The siding is straight, where the road will cross.

The second concern is regarding grade crossing signals and gates.

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

2

I’m modelling an earlier time and made my crossing with sheets of styrene for the approach roads and then strip wood to create the crossing between the tracks.

If you want to have an automated crossing the cost adds up really quickly.

Here is what you need.

Tortoise slow motion machine

Tortoise semaphore/crossing linkage kit

Gates from NJ International or similar company

Activation system, I used Grade Crossing Pro

Plus a sound generator that can be triggered by the activation system.

To automatically protect and activate all 3 tracks you would need 3 cascaded Grade Crossing Pro’s.

There are other ways of course but automation is going to cost well over $100 to achieve.

3

These pictures weren’t really intended to be a grade-crossing photo essay, but they’ll have to do for now. The first one is a shot of “downtown” Moose Bay. The roads in the foreground are complete, made with Durhams Water Putty. In the background, though, you can see the styrene sheets cut up to the outer edge of the ties. I use styrene like this to form a sub-base for the road. In this case, the styrene is level, but it works fine for ramping up or down when the road and tracks are not at the same height. (By the way, since you’re new to the forum, welcome aboard. You can get a larger image of many photos by clicking on them.)

Durhams Water Putty is a hardware store item. I mix it with water so it’s thick enough to hold it’s shape. I add a bit of vinegar to the mix, which retards setting. (Otherwise, this stuff sets up very fast, and you don’t get much working time.) When freshly mixed, I like it to be about the consistency of yogurt. I spread it on with a putty knife, trying to get it relatively smooth. Then, I take a foam brush and a cup of clean water, and smooth out the surface of the putty as it hardens. If the water gets cloudy, toss it outside and get more water. (With all these putty and plaster products, think about what a big job it would be if they hardened inside the plumbing underneath your sink, OK?) With a bit of practice, you can get a smooth, even surface.

For grade crossings, use that foam brush to bring the putty right up to the rails. My styrene sheets are roughly even with the top of the ties, so the putty comes up the rest of the way. You want the putty to be just barely below the tops of the rails on the outside. Don’t try to use putty between the rails, only on the outside. By the way, you will get putty on top o

4

This is what I did:

And more street & track pictures.

Wolfgang

5

While I model an earlier era, you could use a crossing similar to the one pictured below for your lumber yard crossing.

The track is Atlas code 83. I used .080"x.125" styrene strips, from Evergreen, to simulate the two “planks” between the rails. They were simply butted against the sides of the moulded spike heads and glued to the ties with lacquer thinner. The .080" height keeps the tops just below the head of the code 83 rail - for those using another rail code, adjust this thickness accordingly. The resultant flangeways are wider than prototypical, but allow most rolling stock to pass unimpeded. The “planks” on the outside of the rails are also styrene: a piece of .040"x.100" butting against the railhead, with another strip of .080"x.125" cemented to that. I layed both strips on a sheet of glass to cement the edges together, then flipped it over to cement it in place: the .040" piece sits atop the moulded spike heads, with the .080" thickness atop the ties. You can fill the centre section with gravel, as shown, or use more .080"x.125" strips to plank the entire crossing, as shown below.

The road here is done with drywall “mud”: you could also use it to fill-in the centre section, instead of planks. For your road crossing on the double tracked curve, I believe that Walthers makes a modern rubberised grade crossing kit, although I don’t know if it will work with curves. In the “city” area on my layout, I used .060" sheet styrene for the roads, and also used it, with .020" styrene spacer strips underneath, for the crossings. The centre sections butt against the sides of the moulded spike heads, as before. Technically, I think that the sections between the rails should have been edged with either planks, as in my first example, or a

6

Wolfgang - how did you do the concrete in the back of that picture. It’s really outstanding.

7

Doctor Wayne,

LOVE the crossing in your middle picture. Looks like a main road with those rubber ‘planks’ over the ties.

Haven’t seen any wooden planked crossings yet. They would be a good choice for a crossing on a curve, with short planks laid to follow the curvature. Very prototypical through the transition era, less common (but still used) today.

For the situation the original poster described, planks for the through tracks, pavement over the siding, gates, crossbucks etc. protect all three tracks.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

8

MisterBeasley

the street is painted and then weathered. Here’s another example:

The lines are made with a felt tip pen.

Wolfgang

9

Thanks, Chuck, although I guess it’s time for me to get busy on finishing these crossings by adding some recessed nbw castings to hold the planks in place. I’ve also seen reference made to the use of boat spikes, which might be less work to replicate.

Wayne

10

There is really amazing work up there! Wolfgang, you’ve done it again! Doctorwayne, incredible!

This came at a pretty good time, as I had been meaning to prepare a small tutorial for curved crossings and roads for another forum.

My material of choice is styrene plastic. I purchase it in the form of 15"x19" “For Sale” signs at the hardware store.

The first step is obviously to mark where your road will go:

Now, get out your hobby knife and cut the roadway. While I experimented using the printed side, because a scrap piece fit pretty well, use the white, unprinted side. It will require far fewer coats of paint to fill in the undulations.

I formed the curve for the outside of the rail by putting pressure on the plastic to create a bulging spot that marked the rail.

For the center, I took a piece of paper and did the same process, putting pressure to form a bulging spot that is the rail. Using the paper, I marked the inside of the track curve, placing the edge of the future plastic right on the inside of the spikes.

A test fit before proceeding. Make sure that the roadway does not interfere with the passage of rail cars. If it does, just trim a bit.

Of course, the plastic for the middle of the crossing is not high enough, but all that needs to be done is make another copy of the center piece. Two layers are perfect for code 83 track at the thickness of plastic I was using. Remember to cut carefully and keep the knife on the inside to ensure that the second piece comes out just like the first.

Give the plastic two coats of plastic-compatible spray paint from the hardware store.

Now, to form the approaches to y

11

V nice Yoshi, the wooden strip method you describe is exactly how I did mine. I glued the strip wood to a small cardboard template to get it level with the track and to give me a pattern to glue to.

12

I have several grade crossings on my BRVRR layout. Only one is automated but it is on a curved portion of the double main line. I modeled it on a couple of local crossings which are constructed with asphalt.

I used Berkshire Junction signals and control circuitry because it was the most economical at the time. No crossing gates, but the circuit controls allow for them. I chose the IR option because the controls have to operate in the dark, but there are other options.

There is a short, photo essay on my website on the construction of the crossing and installation of the BJ controls. Link is in my signature. Once on site, push the How’d You Do That button and scroll down to the thumb nail of the RR crossing.

Good Luck!

13

I learned a very good way to make grade crossings. Jeffery-Wimberly (I hope that’s how you spell your user name Jeff) told me to use Drywall compound. This really works because you can form it in any shape you want. Also, many people say it will crack, but so far I haven’t seen ANY cracking at all. All that really needs to be done is sanding of the top coat and it’s good to go.

I will try to get you some pictures ASAP, but I don’t think I’ll have any till tommrow.

14

Very cool thread with all the photos and “how-to” info…

15

As you can see, there about a million ways to do a crossing. Mine is a little different. It assumes you have a few things. I used the Walthers Street Track kit and has some curved and straight sections left over. I’ve also been using Woodland Scenics roadbed for the rest of the layout and have some of that left over also. I had to transistion from a brick street to concrete because I was using the Walthers Brick Street kit and ran out of brick. I also wanted the road going out of town to curve a little to give it some visual interest.

I used the Street Track curved and straight secions for the center of the track and the sides. I used the WS roadbed material to build up a grade to the tracks and between the two tracks. I then covered it with .010 styrene and painted and weathered it to look like concrete. I also built up gravel shoulders for the roadway, something that’s frequently overlooked but it’s always seen in prototype crossings.

This is a general view of the crossings. You can see how I turned the road to head out of town at an angle:

Here’s a view of the crossing from street level. If I did them over again, I’d try to do a better job of lining everything up but I think it’s OK as long as you don’t stare at it too long. [:)]:

16

I used 1/16 inch cork gasket material for my roads and crossings. Its the perfect heighth for between the tracks and cuts easy with scissors. I plan on covering it with a layer of joint compound.