Thoughts on overgrown right of way from a former engineers point of view. Its not the little clumps of stuff that shows a track as unused. Its the stretches of weeds (think car length or so) that mark a track as not used. Many tracks can grow up quickly without traffic. And even short weeds will keep an engine from getting traction. Have been in spurs where work halted because the engine couldn't get enough traction to move even a few cars, but more important, could not stop accurately to spot cars. Have been in spurs that looked totally grown up, but manicured to axle height and still in regular use since the rails per se were clear. Unused tracks sprout saplings with amazing speed. Don't know if this helps, just thought I would pass it on. Robert.
Very true. The Milwaukee Road crossing of the Cascade Mountains in Washington was quickly becoming impassable, many areas, in only a single year of becoming fallow.
I would look for something wooden, steel cars would probably still be in service and they're worth more as scrap.
This siding is modeled after a disused line near where I once lived. Some of the roadbed was washed out from under the ties.
In N scale, i'm not sure, but you might raid your yard. Tiny twigs and smal plants, cut them dwn, and dry bake em to make sure things are dead, then plant in oadbed. Applysrips of tiny masking tape, strips, medical tape to protect tops of rail. Scenic like you would a rocky cliff. Sparingly, but green. Vary the sizes of your foliage. Alot of growth comes from seeds on tops of cars rolling off the cars, so outer edges of the rail should be worse than the center. Also, locomotives leaking oil will contaminate sections of tjecenterline. Lots os abandoned sidibgs have abandoned railcars, some are even included intoa building. Would double as a couplwr gauge.
And in the prototype for everything, two examples. When the nkp line the indoana transpprtatoon musuem runs on was landlocked, there are still three boxcars in their Pc and conrail schemds.a.part.of the.warehouse now. Abd in souther indiana, one perfectly good hopper w a z set out for wheel problems to be toeed back forRIP Track work, basic stuff. Sat on that siding for over a decade.didn't pull the hopper til they pulled the suding. Oh, abd the Pc derailment on a branchline. Slated to be closed the next day. Somewhere in michigan, theres still an rs3, and train in a forest where they wrecked.
Another tip from a locomotive engineer. Track doesn't need to be abandoned to be overgrown. Grain hoppers leave trails of seed everywhere. Even the newest track will start growing grain if it isn't regularly sprayed. I was noticing last night how the new (less than 2 years old) north end tail track at Stacy Yard is turning in to a grain field; and it is super new, well drained roadbed with concrete ties and a thick bed of ballast. In springtime, if you clear out Stacy Yard it looks like a plush beautiful green field .
