OK…Since the members of THIS forum are the wisest and most knowledgable model train enthusiests in the world, I need to know how to overcome an issue. For those of you that have used any of the track that has the “attached” roadbed, like Fastrack for an example, I have found that most if not all of the building kit manufacturers do not take this “added” hieght into consideration when designing thier kits. This in turn makes the loading docks and dock doors too low to line up with opening doors on rolling stock. Now if one builds up the foundation of the building to an acceptable hieght, then the foundation and surrouding scenery are now above or at least level with the top of the roadbed. This would not be a problem with the trackside loading dock, but what if one has a truck unloading/loading dock and/or stairs. Now all the surrounding terrain needs to be built up as well.
Any ideas? You guys have helped me with info more times than one so I doubt that there will be any lack of ideas regarding this one.
After hearing some of the stories on this forum, I sometimes wonder about the wisest part [:-^], but knowlageable - certainly!
A couple of observations:
US 50 runs parallel to a UP main line west of town for 10 or 15 miles. The track is roughly level, but the road bed thickness varies from 8 to 10 feet below the tracks to level at grade crossings.
I was invloved in the construction of a factory in Bowling Green, Ky. a number of years back. Once we started building, the first order of business was site preperation. We had to knock down some high spots and fill in some low spots to make a level spot to build the building. The building ended up on top of a slight hill, maybe 3 feet tall, in the middle of the lot.
With this in mind, you could set your building so the loading dock was at the proper height relative to the track, then do some blending with your favorite scenery material so the building looks like it is on a slight rise. If there was room, I would use 5 or 6 inches around the building to blend back to the surrounding terrain. I would also cover up some of the plastic balast on the fast track to help it blend in and make it look like the road bed was built up over low spots on the ground to maintain the grade of the track.
Just a suggestion. Others on this forum have much more experience in these matters than I. My current layout is the Ping Pong Plains division of the Katy Central. The last scenery I built was on a slot car track decades ago.
In a lot of industrial areas, the track is not ballasted, so sidings sit at a lower profile than the mainline. You could use a Fastrack conversion piece (or make your own) and finish the siding in 027, which would create a slight downward grade. Cover the ties with whatever scenic material you use for dirt and you’re set. That’s what I’ve done.
Ken…Welcome to my world of actual construction and elevation changes. Dirt is cheap, so in real life we would add dirt to the site so that the truck dock and stairs would fit to the terrain. Tracks would stay in the same place because of the cost of changing elevation.
I solved the problem by building up the area between the tracks with 2 layers of black foamcore, then ballasted those to look more like a yard would. You’re right, though, that where the yard ends, I had to taper the foamcore so it would slope down to natural ground level. If I were to do it again, I might do as suggested above and use Fastrack transition pieces and make the yard out of Atlas track.
In my travels to various train yards and sidings across Tx, I have found that the main line is usually 2-4 feet higher than the siding leading down to the cotton gin or loading docks. So I like what Dadurling said above. I think his looks real nice and is kinda prototipical.
Top of railhead for Fastrack is only 1/32" higher than 031 tubular track. As others have posted, you can shim up your loading docks. Or if you are savy with a with a plastic cutting blade in a table saw or dremel, shave off some of the tapered section of Fastrack roadbed base and bring the rails closer to grade.
