Time to turn my main line into a bike trail

[Jim 68cuda]

Well maybe not. But all the track (and surrounding scenery) will need to be ripped up and new track laid as you can see in the photos. The track by the station is where its the worst.
I built the layout in mid-90's and completed about a third of the scenery then. It was and is my first build of a train layout. At the time I couldn't really use power tools as there was always someone somewhere in the house sleeping, so my benchwork is entirely styrofoam insulation resting on shelving units at one end and hanging on wall brackets at the other end. The trains ran flawlessly on this layout for probably about 12 years, then I started having derailments. Then over the last few years, the track has come unglued from the base and buckled and bowed in places tearing up surrounding scenery as well in places. My biggest mistake was my method of laying the trackwork on the styrofoam. I first put down double sided carpet tape. That held the track in place and allowed running the trains during construction. I then glued ballast down over the tape which also glued the plastic ties in place. That worked great up until a few years ago when the carpet tape started separating from the styrofoam and the track started bowing and separating from the foam, tape and ballast. The layout is in an attic room and it appears that years of summer heat and winter cold in the attic has caused the carpet tape to fail. I will have to rip up all the track and surrounding scenery so I can remove the tape, they I will neet to relay track and blend in new scenery. I was thinking it would just be easier to remove all the track and replace it with a bike trail like so many 1:1 cities and towns have done.
Luckily I never finished the scenery at one end of the layout so it will be easy at that end. At that end of the layout it took almost 10 years before I decided on a plan for the scenery. But, once I decided on a plan for the remaining scenery, I never got past just roughing it in.
There are places on this layout that can't be reached without tearing up acres of scenery, and even then it won't be easy.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

Here are some more photos of my track issues. You can see where the street adjacent to the track is also torn up like there was an earthquake.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

Even the parking lot and sidewalk for the station has been torn up.

 

[lmackattack]

Look at it this way... now you can have a fresh start and not make any mistakes that you made the first time. Every layout I have built was better than the last one.

Regardless it looks like a great first layout.

 

[weekendrailroader]

WOW! That's pretty drastic! I've never seen the likes of this before.

However, I think the track may be salvageable. If were you, I would remove short lengths of rail from the bowed sections until they lie flat again. Nail or glue them down again, and I think you'd be good for awhile at least. It would save a bit of money too..

 

[RW&C]

Dump some water over that and call it Japan.

Looks like you know what you're doing, anyway. Good luck with the rebuild.

 

[Rico]

Don't panic, you just have to repaint your locos into Central Manitoba Railway colors and you'll be fine.
Seriously tho, it will take some work but you should be able repair it.
You may need to remove the tape from under the track in those spots.
I once wired my track down thru the roadbed on an earlier layout that did the same thing, that worked too.
Good luck, great looking layout you have!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

I once wired my track down thru the roadbed on an earlier layout that did the same thing, that worked too.
Good luck, great looking layout you have!

Thanks. I kind of like your wire down the track method. Nailing the track to styrofoam wouldn't work and reglueing it would only have a chance of working wher the track has bowed but not where the tape underneath had coume loose. But I would only use the glue method if I could get the glue under the ties without removing the track and causing more damage.
If I could wire it down by looping the wire around ties and running it down under the layout I might be able to get by without ripping up most of the track, or at least the track in the difficult to reach places. Tonight I separated the track where I was bowed the worst and was surprised at how little the track over lapped when it was laid flat. I might be able to cut off less than 1/8 of an inch of rail and get that area to lay flat. If the wire idea works in most of the other problem areas, then the chances will look pretty dim for the residents of this town who have been lobbying for a new bike trail.
I may still replace a few stretches of track, but maybe rail service to this community does have a possibility of returning. As I looked at the layout, I realized I also used double sided carpet tape under parts of the streets and sidewalks, rather than permanantly glueing in place. I will likely need to remove some streets and sidewalks to remove the tape, and then reinstall, but that doesn't scare me like the track work does.

 

[Rico]

Keep us posted on how it goes, there's likely others who will go through the same thing.

 

[CNR Glen]

I had to replace aqbout 90% of the track on my original section last year. It wasn't the flextrack but the turnouts that were going bad. I also had alot of add-ons over the years that needed to be re-done. I replace the track with peco turnouts and track runs great with no derailment problems now

 

[Scordicus]

A true model railway layout is never ever really finished!

Once you think it's finished, most people start to upgrade things they are not happy with and/or replace parts of the layout (buildings etc..) with newer versions that have subsequently come on to the market.. Remember that at the end of the day we are recreating the world in miniature and just as in the real world we have natural disasters due to mother nature (as has happened here) and upgrades to buildings and the surrounding infrastructure..

So don't be disheartened, look at it in a positive way as an opportunity to upgrade and change the things that in your opinion, given your now years of experience, were not done well enough the first time round..

Oh, and don't forget to put in place a rail replacement bus service for all the little people!

 

[trailrider]

Lay some track next to the "bike trail", letter the locomotives for the Chicago & North Western, and say that the railroad you pulled up was the North Shore Line out of Chicago!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

A true model railway layout is never ever really finished!

Oh, and don't forget to put in place a rail replacement bus service for all the little people!

I just wish the part I thought was done had stayed done. I do have a couple buses on the layout, but last I looked, there were no passengers. The locals are pretty much staying home till rail service returns. Sad thing is, several of them aren't too bright. There are several with suitcases in hand still waiting on the platform for the next train.