styrene foundation question

[dekker]

I just finished an HO scale Pikestuff modern day small engine house. I am putting it on one of the side tracks in my yard. I want it to have the finished concrete look inside. I have scraped away the ground covering and the ballast from the track. I want to give the structer that NEW building look set on a fresh concrete foundation that also is even with the tracks on the inside of the building. What thickness of styrene should I use? Thanks

 

[UP2CSX]

Do you mean how high should the foundation be or how thick should the foundation be? A modern engine house wouldn't have a foundation, per se. It would have a concrete pad poured in place with the rails embedded in the concrete. The concrete pad would just slightly larger than the outside dimensions of the engine house and have anchor bolts in the pad. The steel walls would then be bolted on, leaving a few inches overhanging on the outside of the engine house. If you want to try it this way, .060 styrene should be just about rail height. You can cut the styrene so it butts up against the outside of the rail and then glue another strip of styrene to the inside of the rail, leaving enough room for flangeways. Paint the styrene with Floquil Concrete and glue the engine house to the top of the pad. It isn't hard to do and will make your engine house look a lot better than having bare track running into it.

 

[jbaakko]

Well, that's hard to say, without knowing what code of track you use. Code 100 is .100" tall, and code 83 is .083" tall...

 

[ICG/SOU]

Sorry to piggyback, but I'm doing something similar, with Code 100 track. I have thought of getting the Peco inspection pits, but since mine is two stalls, I didn't think two inspection pits would be correct.

 

[UP2CSX]

Good point, Josh, I was thinking of code 80 track. Using .060 styrene brings the "pavement" close enought to the rail tops without having the problem of the wheels trying to run off the top on the styrene. I use .080 styrene for code 100 rail.

Trey, two inspection pits in a two track engine house isn't common but it's not unheard of either. If the engine house is used mostly for routine maintenance, one pit would be more usual. If the engine house has a couple of RIP tracks, two inspection pits would be more common since their might be several locomotives at a time that are red tagged and waiting for minor repairs.

 

[ICG/SOU]

Thanks, Jim. Originally, the Atkinson Engine Facility (what I bought) was only going to have one bay. When I got the kit, and found out that it could be made (easily) into two bays, I put it together as such. I had though initially of doing an outside inspection pit since I'm not sure how visible the pit will be on the inside of the shop (the side walls are closed).