Looking for tips on cheapo track elevation. Here is the situation.
6’ x 7’ layout
inner circle is the traction line
outer oval is for the steam loco
my spending priority is train cars, not scenery.
i am doing Toy layout, not realistic modeling.
Using the experimental method, i concluded that even a small incline is not great with my space limits. But by using 2x4 blocks to elevate the oval all the way around, the layout became more interesting.
A plastic elevated peer system would cost about fifty bucks and may not look all that much better. Buying trains is more urgent.
So, is there a way to dress up or camouphlage the 2x4 blocks to make them look a little better? I do not want to build a permanent structure because i rearrange the layout every week. Maybe i will make a folded eight some day.
Should I just leave it flat? At this moment, it is flat, no elevation.
The wood was made to look like stone. This is a speckled piant you can buy at Lowes, Menards, Home Depot, etc. The dremel tool cut out the blocks. The trim is just strips of basswood that every hobby shop carries.
Here are the piers I made to look like concrete. The 1x4s were cut to a small taper. If you use some of the Scenic Express vines glued to piers they look really great. I like working with 1x4 because I have more flexiability. You can see the glue joint in the first photo. The small round pads on the top of the piers are elastomeric “pot” bearings. If I had not put bearings under my bridges I would have never heard the end of it from the CTT crowd.
you have broadened my thinking. I was not planning to use bridgework and my elevation was only going to be two inches. The idea was to simulate the kind of low ridge you see train tracks running on beside a country road.
The speckled paint definitely looks like stone. Maybe i should paint the lower part of each block green so that it blends into the grass, and the upper part like stone.
Everybody, thanks for the input. The problem is now solved.
The idea of Repurposing lodged in my brain and i remembered a box that i was saving because it had packing material that should be useful for something. Crawling on the floor under the table seven feet over then seven feet back retrieved the box. The packing material looks like styrofoam but is softer and more rubbery. It does not crumble and it does not stick to everything. Anyway i cut it into piers and sure enough it works great. It has a pebbly surface. It cushions the track a bit. If you get some of that stuff in a package, do NOT throw it away.
My foam piers worked great with my little Porter but when the heavier Mogul arrived, there was too much bounce. So I took them out and went back to flat.
But the Mogul does not like little bumps in the track and will derail if you look at it funny. So I parked it. It looks great sitting on the side of the layout.
Meanwhile, I ran across a youtube series by a guy from the UK called Budget Model Railways or something like that. He does interesting things with cardboard. Maybe I will build a ridge around the village with layers of cardboard to elevate the track. The budget guy assembles his scenery away from the layout to avoid mess. After gluing the layers of each section, some kind of putty can be used to cover the sides. Then paint and perhaps sprinkle on some grass.
It seems practical and low risk. But not this week. I am working on a Circus building. After that, a new church.
Talking “Cheapo” 