any suggestions? thanks to all the guys who helped first time round [:)]
it is good!!! i love it …i am using wood land scenics rod kit!!!
Excellent James…
If I lived a little closer to Brisbane, I’d probably try to drive my truck over that excellent-looking RR crossing 
[(-D]
On the left? [;)]
James, if you tire of the wood boards between the rails, or if you are still uncertain about how it all appears, I recently came upon a crossing where the railroad had inverted several rails, cut to length, and placed them close together so that they formed a very solid crossing surface. I had never seen that previously, but there it was. Worked great, too. Of course, you would have to weather the flats facing uppermost, and leave them buffed near where the tire treads kept them clean, but it might be something to consider. As it is, looks good.
-Crandell
wow, sounds interesting, maybe i’ll do that with my other crossing when i extend the siding. i’ll have to do some major Roadworks for the siding anyway.
thanks for the tip!
[:)]
James, here’s another easy way to model a modern crossing. I took this pic about 10 days agon on a BNSF mainline. UP is doing the same thing.
Tom
is that just ply sheets ?
interesting…
That white stripe should be at a right angle to the road - not parallel to the track (no matter what the angle of the track). It’s the cars that have to stop at the white line - not the trains.
(The top picture looks right, the lower one doesn’t).
[:O]
wow I didn’t think of that, here in aus the white line runs parrallel to the track. oops [oops] i’ll fix that up tonight [:)]
James,
One lesson I learned the hard way is that, on model trains - unlike the prototype - you need to allow for wheels that may be wider than the railhead.
The track shown in the drawing was something I laid about 10 years ago [before I knew better[B)]], I thought that the tile cement was exactly level with the railhead on the outside edges, but there was a slight bulge. My locos kept stalling at certain points because the wheels on one side would “ride up” on the pavement and lose contact with the rail. I corrected the problem by dremeling slight depressions on the outside pavement surfaces [indicated by the bright-green dotted lines].
Just thought I’d share that and save somebody the pain…
WOW! I’ve bean modeling for years and never throught of that,I’ve torn up road crossing and redone them because of stalling problems
Here’s something that you guys that are modeling in the modern era just might be interest in. It’s from SummitUSA and they don’t look too bad. But I don’t think that they make them for radius turns.
http://www.summit-customcuts.com/products/concretegradecrossing.html
James, just for your info, I personally haven’t seen any wood crossings around today. Most crossings are either concrete inserts or assphalt continuing through the tracks. I say this because it looks like you are modeling a modern era, but I don’t know how prototypical you want to be. Nonetheless your work is not bad and I do think that Modelmaker51 is right about the painted bar–it should be at a 90 degree for the cars not parallel with the tracks.
Keep up the good work.
First I think the roads look nice.
As for CSX_road_slug I know the feeling I use Scultamold for roads and had the same issue as you did. I fixed it with sanding slowly with a sand block and fine rit sand paper took me a long time to get it down. Then like you I found the dremel does wonders so I used that a lot. I also use it to cut the flanges in the rail since using wheelsets dont get all the plaster out of the way. Hoping I am using the right terms for things been wild where I am.
It appears to be angle iron filled in with concrete. Here’s another picture. Based on the slots in the concrete, it appears as though they might be prefab and set in place with a forklift.
(click to enlarge)
If you’re interested, I can try to get some more photos and some dimensions. It will take a while though since my camera died last week.
Tom
Looks ok, but needs more detail and the wooden crossing is a weird color, but it is a good start!
Sculptamold, eh? I’ll have to check that out next time I do embedded track!
I used ceramic tile cement (a.k.a. “grout”) on mine, I liked it because it didn’t crack [the way joint compound did] when I covered large areas. But when it dried, it was hard as rock…![:O] Dremel was my only option.
I’ve been paving my port area for the past month and a half and have finally finished the plastering part. I used Vinyl Spackling Compound, it’s light weight and sticks well to the foam base. I added a bit of Woodland Scenic’s concrete paint to the plaster so that even if the plaster chips, the color goes all the way through.
The plaster shrinks a bit as it dries, which is good because it settled just below the railhead, I only had to do a little bit of sanding to smooth things out. By keeping the pavement below the rail head you’re less like to mess up any weathering when cleaning the rail.
The most tedious part of the job of course, was carving out the flangeway. That actually went pretty well and quickly with a modified dental tool I had, (it used to be a dental pick that was shortened and sharpen to make a scribing tool for styrene). I let the plaster set up a couple of days, so it was hard but not fully hardened which made carving easier. I also used a chisle blade to shape any high spots near the rail head.
I still have to add the styrene inserts between the points of the switches.
Here’s some pix:
I like the way your road is comming along, I have a question for you, how did you put the double solid line down the middle of your road, is it paint, if so how did you get them so fine? also If you grossing gates at the RR crosing, is it necessary to have the RR crossing signs painted on the road itself? I have 3 crossings on my HO layout and was wondering if I need the painted ons on the road? Thanks, Mike
Maybe you can get some more ideas here: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm
What you have is looking good, though.