Old Track


W

Weller

New Member
Hey guys, I am trying to model an industrial section where I want the track to look like it should have been replace 20 years ago. I want the cars to wobble back and forth and the train creeps down the track. If the train went any faster, it would risk derailing. I'm sure one could hand lay track to accomplish this, but I'm using Atlas flex track. I'm guessing I may need to distort some ties with some heat?
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks!
 
I think using heat would just ruin the plastic ties. Short pieces of sectional track might be easier to do this with. You might just kink the rails slightly with two pairs of pliers. Covering the ties completely with soil and 'trash' would go a long way toward making the track look neglected. Making the track too rough will make it difficult to keep the cars on track.
 
To model warped & wavy track like you see on heavy industrial sites is almost impossible in Model Railroading. Alcoman has the right idea about weeds & such & trash spread around. To keep anything on the track you're car would have to weigh quite a bit. If you're going to do that anyway I would make the tracks the way you want & leave 2 or 3 cars sitting there all the time not to be moved.
I use to service a Chemical Co. down in Clewiston, Fl. years ago that had some of the worse siding tracks I had ever seen. Even Prototype trains derail constantly w/bad tracks.
 
Yeah, I'm not trying to create a situation to derail my train, but I want it to look ugly. Maybe weeds and garbage is the way to go. Although, I may try a bunch of short sections and arch them to get a roller coaster look going. You know the look of track when heavy cars have been sitting there for some time? Just a thought.
 
Weller said:
Yeah, I'm not trying to create a situation to derail my train, but I want it to look ugly. Maybe weeds and garbage is the way to go. Although, I may try a bunch of short sections and arch them to get a roller coaster look going. You know the look of track when heavy cars have been sitting there for some time? Just a thought.
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Even a smidgen of difference in MR'ing causes derailments. Sometimes when you lay track & the track connector causes the rail to stick up just a speck it will derail an engine or a bunch of cars. Now, if you have O scale or G scale, that's a whole diff. situation.
When you build a grade & the transition from the slope to the flat is to sharp it causes derails. I've been doing this for about 52 years & beleive me I've done just about everything there is to do w/track.:D:):rolleyes:
 
Modeling bumpy track is something I've always wanted to do. The look of an engine bobbing and weaving on the tracks just looks cool to me.

I know track work really needs to be pretty good for smooth operations, but I wonder if scraping or sanding down very small bumps/gouges in the track would work? I think if you did it evenly to both sides if the track (so that the axle hits it evenly), the car would at least be alittle more inclined to stay railed.

And if you really wanted to, i think you could just add an insane amount of weight to a few cars and then beat the track alittle bit to get the desired effect. Sure, your locomotive will haul less of the heavy cars, but arent short trains what are found on bumpy track anyways? I'm sure you would still find problems with derails, but I think it'd be something to think about alittle more.
 
If you use code100 and flex track maybe you could make it uneven. Just a shim under one side then the other would do it. I wouldn't want to run a lococ over that area(at least not my crappy ones) the other thought would be to put waves in line. Make sure they aren't too tight together. I wouldn't beat on the rails or heat the ties at all. Just asking for derailments. It's hard enough to keep them on whenn track is perfect.
 
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