A couple weeks ago I finally started a reconstruction project I had known should be done for some years but couldn't bring myself to tackle. I have a turn back curve which I superelevated, which I've done successfully in the past. I must've miscalculated and not caught it, because the final result was just too much. Here are a couple pics, they show how a train looks in the curve. The first one is terribly out of focus, sorry. But it shows a key turnout well. This turnout was built because I wanted a passing siding turnout within reach of the end of the peninsula (why is another story!). I also wanted no interruption to the 30" radius turn back curve. So I used lathe to mark the routes for a track on a 2 inch center to merge with the 30" radius. Believe it or not, most trains went thru both routes really smoothly. You did notice I said most. I first noticed that certain brass locos would short at multiple places along the curve. One I noticed the pilot hitting the outside rail. Others must have been in the valve gear or brake hanger. Then I found that coal hoppers went thru smoothly empty, but when I added loads, those cast ones that tend to make cars top heavy caused them to tip over, creating an environmental disaster! Luckily I was ready for it, no trains were injured in the making of this story. The second pic shows a switcher on the Garfield branch waiting for a train to pass. The turnout in the distance connects teh branch to the main. It also was built to maintain a constant 30" radius to the main line, while the branch departs from the outside of the curve. The superelevation here made the laying of ties for the branch side of the turnout interesting, as I wanted the superelevation on the branch to end as quickly as possible. You can see that in the pic. Well, rework is in process, and I'll show some progress pics soon.
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Yes...It does seem a bit much....I wouldn't want to be the engineer in one of those locos....

Steamtrains Wrote:Yes...It does seem a bit much....I wouldn't want to be the engineer in one of those locos....

Good point! I didn't think to take any in process photos till I had removed the ballast and ties bu this pic shows that after i had pulled the spikes and lifted the rail I placed white butcher paper on the ties and pencil etched the ties to duplicate, as I wanted to use the same pieces of rail already filed, etc. The wire from the switch machine remained in place, and the track would be laid back down in reverse of the norm, starting with the points. I reckon this will be interesting.
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To the point of the thread title, if I had used yellow glue I wouldn't have been able to remove the ballast and ties without significant damage to the homasote roadbed. I liberally sprayed hot water on the roadbed, waited a few minutes, and scraped, and ballast and ties came off pretty easily, with only minor divots here and there in the roadbed. I let it dry for a few days as the basement is quite humid in the summer despite a dehumidifier. When dry, I sanded and applied a light coat of spackle. Here's a pic of that throwbar wire the turnout will be rebuilt around.
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The other turnout:
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This shows how far back I had to go to reach the end of the superelevated trackage. Just beyond there is a scene with the track crossing over a street on a girder bridge. I had a problem with that too and decided it would be redone as well.
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Elevation of curves, from "The Mechanics' Handbook " Dec. 01, 1903:
" The best authorities on this subject place the maximum elevation at one seventh the gauge, or about 8" for standard gauge of 4 feet 8-1/2 inches. The gauge on a 10 degree curve, elevated for a speed of 40 MPH, should be widened to 4 feet, 9-1/4 inches.
All curves, when possible, should have an elevated approach on the straight main track, of such length that trains may pass on and off the curve without any sudden or disagreeable lurch."
At the end of the paragraph......"It is a striking fact that experienced trackmen never elevate track above 6 inches, and many of them place the limit at 5 inches".
8" = 0.091954" in HO scale.
6" = 0.0689655" in HO scale.
5" = 0.0574712" in HO scale.

Anyone who has knowledge of mechanical engineering will understand what "moments" are, and those do not scale. The moments of scale model trains, are such that even at a scale 80 MPH, no elevation is required to "counteract the centrifugal force developed when a car passes around a curve". ( and in fact, the "non-scale" amount of drawbar pull, more than compensates for centrifugal force, actually pulling the cars into, not out of, the curve )
The weight distribution of model rolling stock, is that radically different from the prototype.
Superelevation in model trackwork, therefore is strictly "visual", and should be kept to a bare minimum, even when operating at scale speeds. and most that I've talked with about this recommend no more than 0.020" for the height difference of the outer rail.

There are curves on the club layout, that I cannot run any autoracks on, at any speed, because of the "stupidelevation"..............they always fall to the inside of the curve!
It may look neat, but it doesn't work in scale anyway near the way it does in full size.

Sumpter250 Wrote:All curves, when possible, should have an elevated approach on the straight main track,

This I knew, hence the long stretch of ties beyond the curve I needed to remove. I just had a brain fart and used a different dimension wood strip than I intended. I can dig your frustration about the club track, as it was the same thing that drove me to redo mine. However I do have a superelevated curve which works fine, you can't tell by the rolling stock as it rolls thru, but if you sight down the track as a loco appears you can tell, and it's nice. That said, in my relaying there is to be no superelevation!

I mentioned in my last post that I was unhappy with a bridge scene. Another brain fart. Here is a pic of the scene which inspired me:
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Here is a pic of the scene on the layout. Big problem! I bought the bridge kit and it is a close match for the bridge, I need to add details but it should be close. I built the bridge as it came without thought to the length of the legs. I built it as is and figured I'd bring the roadbed up to it. I didn't think about the scale height. It is obviously too high. But it wasn't until I bought a bus and put it in the photo that it dawned on me. But I had taken some time to build those x braces from etched brass and thin styrene for gusset plates and didn't want to redo them. So I left it knowing that someday I would go back and fix it. Now is as good a time as any!

Oh, the star of this photo is an Erie 2-8-0 which is the first steam kit (MDC, 35 years ago) I built and painted. And in the background is a train hauled by disassembled Athearn 2-8-2. I swapped the tender to a Vanderbilt one by Bachmann and added sound.
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I thought I'd post a few old photos of that scene that show it off a bit better.
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Sorry, one more. This seems to be the best one of that area, and I think it is the one I entered in the very first old Gauge photo contest. I came in second, to Shamus, whose work many of us will remember.
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You bringing back memories sir! I remember that last pic well. I guess it stuck with me all these years as well as some of my favorite photos from MR mags do. And coming in 2nd to Mr. Templar was an awesome accomplishment in itself; may he rest in peace.

Matt

Thanks Matt! Well, I cut 1 1/8" off the legs of the bridge, and built new x bracing for them. Bridge is reinstalled and ties have been laid, so I am now ready to ballast, yippee. One of my most detested things to do! Although much easier with no rails to work around.
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The area behind the bridge in this pic is to be the home of a foundry. The track crossing the street beneath the bridge will serve it. It is a good size area and I welcome any photos or links to a prototype I can use as a base for a model. I'd like to have one building with the saw tooth style roof so common.
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JGL, I think it was a good move to lower the bridge. Although there was nothing "wrong" with it being up high, it just didn't have the "flavor" of the scene in the pic. That is some nice work, and the lowered bridge just "feels" right.

When viewing your photos and knowing yuo wanted to lower it, I was thinking "how is he going to lower the entire upper track? But then I see that the track loses elevation fairly quickly on each side of the bridge. Lowering it also gave you a less steep grade.

Overall, good job!

Thanks Gary. You are correct, the approach from the left was on a 1% grade, the other close to 1.5%. The grades were never a concern however, and I do regret the locos being a bit lower where they enter the curve, they were at a perfect height for me to enjoy! I'm just glad the riser on joist system of l girder made it so easy to lower and readjust the grade.

(Sticking finger in mouth and then "wiping" a short vertical line in the air) Mark one up for the old "L"-Griders! It is easy to make changes like the grade change you just made when you are built on the trusty old "L"-Girders!

Linn Westcott lives on in every layout that sits on "L"-Girders rather than a grid or some other form of under-structure!

With this next (last) railroad that I will be starting after the Challenge is completed, will once again rest on "L"-Girders.

Hello everyone. Well I've fianlly finished this project. It was a very frustrating experience! The month of August was just brutally hot, and even though the basement is usually a nice option for escaping that, this year it was very uncomfortable. The humidity was at unprecedented heights, and the dehumidifier just couldn't keep up. I was emptying it every 10 hours or so, compared to the more usual 24, and it was still nasty. Much warmer than usual I suppose because the ground had warmed up so much. Plus, my eyes just aren't up to this work anymore. I'd put a spike in needlenose pliers and attempt to get in in the center of a tie, butted up against the base of a rail, and I couldn't see if I had it in the right place. Part of that was the shadow my hand caused. So I used clamp on lights for more light, which was fine but the heat from the light wasn't fun. So I would get aggravated and have to stop because the aggravation seemed to make me hotter and more uncomfortable. But I stuck with it, working perhaps 15 minutes at a time. Some pics:

Ties laid and ballasted, I've placed the point assembly in place. This is very weird, as the points are the last thing I build in my ordinary sequence of building turnouts.
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And the points of the frog, they were tweaked a bit shortly after this pic
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Here the stock rails have been put in place.
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I only thought to take this photo at the last moment, I had forgotten I meant to show how I attach feeders. Sorry about the focus. I drill a hole for a press fit for 22 gauge wire in the bottom ot the rail and solder at the workbench, then place it in a hole drilled in the roadbed. This makes soldering very easy!
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The frog basically complete, ready to roll a boxcar thru for initial testing.
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