railroads running in cement


railBuilderDhd

railBuilderDhd

Active Member
I wanted to know if anyone has a way to model rails that are laid in cement. I want to model a rail at the docks and wanted to know how I can model the rails that run in the docks that are made of cement or blacktop.
Thanks,
dhd
 
dhd,

One way to do it is use drywall mud. Lay your track without the cork roadbed. Then place small strips of styrene against the inside of the rails (to be removed later). Use a large putty knife and smooth the mud wherever you want the concrete to be and even with the tops of the rails and in between the rails. You don't have to make all of this look perfect the first time.

Usually mud will crack as it dries if it's too thick, no worries. Once the mud has dried, use a sponge and water to smooth it all out to your liking. Or put another layer on if needed and smooth it out again. Once you get it to the level you like, and it's completely dry, carefully pull out the styrene strips you placed against the inside of the rails.

I took a very sharp xacto knife and etched in the expansion lines in the concrete. Then you can either paint it or stain it to the color your happy with. Make sure you clean the rail tops very good after all of this. I use this method to make all roads, sidewalks etc.

I'm sure others here will have some great ideas also.
 
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The first time I built my intermodal terminal moduals, I used the drywall mud method described above, but I glued strips of styrene between the rails, instead of using mud.

When I rebuilt my moduals, I used sheet styrene for the whole concrete lot. You can buy styrene in 4x8 sheets at a plastics supply store. The styrene is far more durable then the drywall mud, but will be more expensive.
 
I'll second the styrene method. It's easy to measure and cut, you can laminate it if you need more thickness, and there's no mess involved. Once it's in, it's easy to paint and weather to look like asphalt or concrete. It's also cheap if you use plastic "For Sale" type signs from Wallyworld as your styrene source.
 
OK, but how do you cut the styrene to match curved track and turnouts? I'd expect that there would be lots of areas where the edge of the plastic wouldn't meet the side of the rail, and it would look awful. With a plaster street, that wouldn't happen.
 
Hi Railbuilder, I have your same problem, and these folks here gave me so many ideas, but the bestand less messy way is building it in styrene (if you find any in nearby hobby shops ) or else do as I did, I used Balsa wood, which is not so expensive and also soft to cut. In curves I would suggest to place the balsa undert he track and draw an edge line to have an approximation of the curve, and if you won't manage to get an exact fit, you might fill on those gaps with plaster or drywall mud, but this way it would be much less messy.

I have a whole thread about this, you might give it a look to get some ideas.

River Side Dock Thread
 
See if you can find the Walthers Cornerstone Series Street Track Inserts Kit #933-3140. Discontinued now but it pops up on ebay from time to time.
As for styrene, to get a track pattern try putting a sheet of paper over the track then rub a dirty track cleaning block over the top to copy the curves, then transfer over to the plastic.
 
Rico, the street track insert system is not discontinued, just not in stock. Most larger hobby retailers still have it available and, according to Walthers' web site, it's supposed to be back in stock on December 26.

I used the street system for both my brick street and street trackage. It's not cheap but easy and foolproof to use. The one caveat is that it's sized for code 83 rail. I made it work with code 100 but it took a little work. If you buy just the street track insert system, you can use styrene for the rest of the street, dock, or intermdodal terminal and save some money. I would have done that if I didn't also want the brick streets.
 
Dave,
This is one example:
638throughdowntonwXmasMedium.jpg

I'm modeling a small town in the deep south with a courthouse square. The era is kind of indeterminate depending on my mood but somewhere between 1950 and 1975. My oldest units are F-3's and my newest is a GP-50 if that gives you an idea.

The Walthers brick street and track system are a great combination. Brick streets are still not uncommon, especially in the south and midwest. I probably get more comments about my brick street thamn any other feature of the layout.
 
Oops, you're right Jim, it is just out of stock.
Hard to find around here just the same tho.
I used them in my engine terminal, with styrene for the rest as you suggested.
Rico
PS: love those brick streets and the weathering!
 
Ronzzr11 said:
It looks like another pair of cars are going to be picked up by that switcher very soon !!!

Ronzzr11
Click to expand...

That's why Engineer Spike is out on the front platform yelling at them. :) The LOL in the Gremlin is trying to turn right and Spike is waving at her to stop and get out of the way. Such are the joys of street running.

Rico, thanks for kind words. I liked doing those brick streets with the street trackage and the Walthers system made it pretty easy. A little better planning on the part of management would have put those tracks down the middle of Main St. instead of offset to one side, which would have helped Engineer Spike's blood pressure. :D
 
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