Concrete Roads

[Alan Curtis]

Can anyone point me to a model railroad which has concrete roads or to pictures of full size roads? I want to lay a concrete road on my layout and wonder what are the easiest methods to achieve this. I would rather not use plaster, or similar and thought of using card or styrene sheet. Any advice appreciated.

 

[montanan]

Here are a few photos that I have posted in the past.

Depending of the area, the driving lane would be 10 feet wide, 12 feet in some areas depending on the time period.

 

[jwb]

The easiest way to do it is probably the Walthers concrete street system http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3138

 

[montanan]

I made these street by going to a hardware store and bought a cheap styrene "for sale" sign and spray painted it a concrete color. Once dry, I used a fine pencil to draw in the seams in the concrete and added a few cracks with the pencil and also added a greasy steak down the center of the driving lane with chalk and then sealed it with a clear flat spray paint. Guess you could use Testors Dull Coat. I have been using Krylon clear flat as it is a lot cheaper than Dull Coat.

 

[Alan Curtis]

Thanks for pics Chet, and the dimensions. I had guessed about right. As my road will be basically straight I think I will use styrene. Do concrete roads usually have a join in the center (separating the lanes), and do any have yellow lines down middle of road? Also do you have a slight crown in middle of road?

 

[tootnkumin]

Here's another suggestion, Post #5 http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/...eet-lights-on-main-street&p=407872#post407872

 

[Alan Curtis]

Here's another suggestion, Post #5 http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/...eet-lights-on-main-street&p=407872#post407872

Thanks for the link. Inspiration indeed!

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Alan,

The majority of concrete roads I have seen (Australia) are virtually flat with expansion seems running across the road/lanes. The width of the road will dictate whether or not there is "centre seem" though. From memory, all of the concrete roads I saw in Australia were 4 lane highways so they did have a center seem.

Not sure where these were taken but they will give you an idea of concrete roads:

 

[montanan]

Thanks for pics Chet, and the dimensions. I had guessed about right. As my road will be basically straight I think I will use styrene. Do concrete roads usually have a join in the center (separating the lanes), and do any have yellow lines down middle of road? Also do you have a slight crown in middle of road?

Expansion joints are usually cut into the concrete. Usually one is down the center of the road and I believe about 25 feet apart between them down the length of the road. This photo may give you a better idea.



There could be a white or yellow stripe down the center of the road. I used a gray primer to simulate aged asphalt in parking lots and alley ways.

 

[logandsawman]

As far as stripes and expansion joints, that depends a lot on your era. Here in Minnesota we had white centerline stripes on 2 lane roads up until the late 60's, now they are yellow.

For average usage roads they are spaced 20' apart and to the center line. For heavy use roads with thicker pours they are spaced 12' apart.

You can use regular sheet rock joint compound for your material, that is what I used for my parking and turn around areas.



The weathering could be ratched up but the texture is pretty realistic.

 

[Alan Curtis]

Many thanks Tony, Chet and LASM. I will shortly be making my new road so will be showing pictures of progress.

We do have concrete roads here in the UK, but not so many as previously, also many have been covered with asphalt. The concrete roads were cross-tamped which made driving on them very noisy! I think they have largely fallen out of favour. But I rather like the idea of having one on my layouts as the cracks can be added making the road more interesting. Hope I can do it as realistically as some of you guys. Time will tell

 

[tootnkumin]

We had a concrete bridge over a river estuary near me, that was in use until only recently. Took seemingly forever to get across. If you wanted to test out a car's suspension/comfort, it was the "go to" place.

 

[Steve S]

Instead of styrene, you might consider PVC foamboard (a.k.a. Sintra). It has a slight texture to it which would be good for concrete.

Keep in mind that aged concrete tends to be as much tan as gray. I think I've mentioned this technique before on this forum. I use a technique I call speckle painting. First paint a base color of off-white (bone or antique white.) If you're using plaster there's no need to paint a base coat. Then I cover the floor of the workshop with newspaper and lay the concrete parts on it. I hold a couple of cans of spray paint about four feet above the floor and give a few bursts of each. The particles will settle on the parts giving them a speckled look. I use a couple of shades of brown (Valspar Sagebrush and Krylon Brown Boots) or something similar. Avoid very dark browns.

Then I dunk everything in a wash of alcohol and India ink.

Here's some slabs of plaster I did using this technique. The one on the left makes a pretty convincing road slab. The ones on the right were done to simulate a really old bridge pier or abutment.

Steve S