interesting track work

[RAM]

Now if you want to make some interesting track work try this.  http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1614077
This was at Columbus, Ks. 

[az2rail]

Shows you just how small the wheel flanges are.

Bruce

[jward]

what i find interesting is the location of the insulated rail joints. evidently 2 of the routes are signalled, but the third is not. very odd as a junction such as the one this crossing is destined for should be fully signalled on all routes.....

[richG]

Double frog turnouts.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1171464

Rich

[Yampa Bob]

This is a unique thread, my contribution:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ogden_UP_yard.JPG

[jward]

how about a layout in HO scale? this trackwork is definitely beyond my skill level......

http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=5

[OkieRick]

Bob, I thought this would be near & dear to your heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Railroad

What locomotive is this - not line but EMD, GP, etc?

           


Rick

[jward]

that locomotive is an alco c420. atlas makes them in both HO and N scales.

note the low clearance placement of the air horns and bell. my guess is that it was probably one of the old lehigh valley units that were sold to the d&h. d&h had trackage rights on the northeast corridor and ran under overhead wires which would affect placement of those items. after all you wouldn't want  25000 volts arcing through the locomotives because the air horns got too close to the power line.

[Terry Toenges]

The Bronx terminal has great possibilities for someone wanting to expand a simple oval of track.

[Woody Elmore]

Haven't been in the South Bronx for a few years but the last time I was in the area of the terminal the trackwork had been much simplified. One problem they had in the 70s were the locals who amused themselves by hurling cobblestones at locomotives. That's when Penn Central, and later Amtrak and Conrail, adopted "Ghetto Grates" over the windshields.

The original would be a really interesting project but to model it accurately would require a lot of room and special trackwork. 

A lot of the trackwork was in a cut. You could actually park on the street and look down at the trains going by. Some local streets were also paved with Belgian block; that's what often provided the ammo for the miscreants who liked to target trains.

That part of the Bronx has undergone revitalization. Next time I'm over that way I'll take a look. 

For many years there was a purple Chateau Martin reefer parked on a siding not too far from the wye. I often wondered what became of it. (for you newbies out there, Chateau Martin was a wine producer and they had a fleet of refrigerator cars painted in a grape purple. They had a warehouse in the South Bronx that had sidings for their cars.)

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

For many years there was a purple Chateau Martin reefer parked on a siding not too far from the wye. I often wondered what became of it. (for you newbies out there, Chateau Martin was a wine producer and they had a fleet of refrigerator cars painted in a grape purple. They had a warehouse in the South Bronx that had sidings for their cars.)

No foolin'? I remember AHM (I think it was AHM) used to sell an RTR reefer lettered and painted for Chateau Martin Wines. I never knew it was "for real," though.

Here in Philadelphia we have Chateau Lucerne. I think Chateau Lucerne is up in North Philly, somewhere. ...

[CNE Runner]

Mommy...these guys are making my head hurt!

Ray

[BestSnowman]

how about a layout in HO scale? this trackwork is definitely beyond my skill level......

http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=5

Wow... I just spent a lot of time reading through that project. Hopefully I will be able to see that layout in action sometime because there is no way I would be able to reproduce it.

[Santa Fe buff]

Aw, you guys make me want to hand-lay my track now! I might, but I have a off-topic question:

Is it cheaper to hand-lay track, if so, E-Z track gotta go! (No offense, I like to do things that take longer so I can have a more self-accomplish-feeling layout... That made no sense, did it?)

Anyway, that would be a great way to get visitors. Perhaps styrene for the securing side-attachments to avoid short-circuits and regular track for the rails? It will call for some more 'precise' ballasting... there goes the spoon, on comes the... well I guess you could use the spoon still.

Joshua

[jward]

from my experience, handlaid track works out to about the same cost as flex track. your savings are in the switches. i can build those for a couple of dollars apiece, vs 16 or so for the ready made ones.

jigs are available but they are somewhat expensive. once you have them, though, you can build as many switches as you want for the cost of rail and solder.

for ties, i use cut down match sticks. you can't get much cheaper than that.

i started handlaying track on my dad's layout about 30 years ago in exchange for trackage rights over his line. we both had model railroads which connect3ed. once i was out on my own, i continued handlaying my track as a way to keep construction going from pay to pay. with regular track you can spend a fortune on track and have it all down the same day. i can only handlay about 3-6 feet of track a day.....