That's pretty much what I did with a grade crossing, pedestrian or vehicular. The only thing I did different was to place a business card along the inside of the rails so I didn't have to carve anything out, just smooth and tidy it up.The way I'm leaning is using joint compound to fill in the space then carve out the inside rail edges.
Hadn't thought of a business card, genius.That's pretty much what I did with a grade crossing, pedestrian or vehicular. The only thing I did different was to place a business card along the inside of the rails so I didn't have to carve anything out, just smooth and tidy it up.
I should clarify, this grading will be on the track located at the concourse of the station I am building.I buy them pre-made from Omega Industries in Portland, OR. That appears to be the manufacturer of the ones in your photos. Here's a photo of one from their website, giving you a but more detail on how they're made. The black part is hard rubber.
View attachment 28383
Oh, wait... You mean for model trains? Joint compound should work well as you suggest.
If you truly want to model that specific crossing, they should be rectangles that are 8 feet wide. Those panels are pre-fabricated and are just a touch over 8 feet long. You could probably do a 6 foot version and get away with it looking good. If you want to be really picky, you could put the metal edges on them as well (Paint them on).
For most railroads, especially any that aren't in the modern era, pedestrian crossings would be made of wood planks, or asphalt paving. You'd only want concrete panels if you're modeling the recent era, and that style would only be used on a main track in a high traffic area. So you'd see it on a mainline or more commonly a streetcar / trolley, but a typical branchline is just going to use asphalt.
I should clarify, this grading will be on the track located at the concourse of the station I am building.
Greg - A long time ago I used hydrocal ( because trhat's what I had on hand ) and put stripwood along side the rails and poured the hydrocal between the rails. It was a learning process.Could a modeler make a mold(s) out of strip wood and then pour soapy plaster or Hyrocal into the mold to make a ped crossing?
May save making a mess on the layout where you are installing the ped crossing.
Greg
Here are my wood plank crossings.I've built a few out of balsa wood. Cut thin strips then lay/glue them in side by side. Then I take a flat exacto blade or razor blade and shave them flush with the rail height.
The link worked fine and those look really good, well done!Here are my wood plank crossings.
(Hopefully the link works...)
Those look fantastic! I think I just found my pedestrian grade.Here are my wood plank crossings.
(Hopefully the link works...)
Now.....you tell me!I would suggest one minor change though. The ends should be straight, not V shaped. That is something you see on those model railroad re-railers that are designed to guide trains back up on the track. On a real railroad, they would be straight across, with a 45 degree bevel. The bevel helps prevent something that's dragging from catching on the edge of the crossing. For example a change or a low hanging air hose. It would hit the bevel part with would act like a ramp and lift it up. At least in theory, if the object is to heavy, it will just rip the whole thing up. As with most things on the railroad, there are exceptions, and you'll find some that don't have the end bevel.