Wooden Dock Advice

I'm in the process of partly replacing a concrete dock space with a wooden one to support a Micro Train Cannery. The time frame is 1960s, the location Tacoma Washington. The wooden dock area is L shaped, one component is 5"x3" and is the linkage between the concrete dock and the 6"x9" cannery dock.

My question is this, I want to cover the "concrete" blue foam dock with 1/16"x3/32"scribed basswood for the decking. Any thoughts, positive or otherwise, would be appreciated.

Mike

 

Make sure you blanket the scene with the "Tacoma Aroma"

Personally, I've always seen scribed basswood as too perfectly lined.
Nothing says plank deck like "plank-by-plank" construction.

The big question: are tracks running over this wooden dock?

If so, caulk 1/32" x 3/64" stripwood to the foam, as it matches the FastTrack PC board ties exactly and you can Gorilla Glue the PC board ties at 3/4" intervals.

Here's what I did on my "Alameda-Belt-In-A-Box" layout:



After soldering the rails to the PC board ties you can go back and paint the copper ties to match the wood.
(I have a step-by-step in the Nov-Dec 2012 and Jan-Feb 2013 issues of N Scale Magazine)

If you don't want the wood planks squished together, then paint the foam underneath acrylic black (no solvent-based paints!) and then use a plank to space all the planks out, like how I did for the carfloat dock:



And here's both side-by-side:



Plank-by-plank takes more time, but the visual effect is very, very much worth the effort.

 

Same cannery but a different approach. The 2nd structure which will connect to the cannery has the concrete. I just lined the edge with wood and bollards and rubber bumpers for vessel tie ups. The cannery represents a structure built in the 1910-20 era while the 2nd building is more along the lines of a 1940s era.

 

On this one everything is wood and again the rubber chaffing pieces and bollards plus a extended edge that protrudes slightly.


The last is a composite with a wooden dock surface laid on a cut stone foundation and the extending pier is all wood on pilings. I have an interesting mix of styrene and actual wood left over from some other projects.

 

Thanks for your response. What material did you use to surface your dock?

Mike

 

And the answer to the track placement is yes and your work is stunning. Not sure I'm up to that but you have me thinking about how track gets incorporated into both the concrete and wooded docks. Many thanks.

Mike

 

Hi John. Like the roofing. The wood construction is what led me to want to switch from a concrete to wood dock but I'll model it as a structure that survived into the 60's alongside a more modern concrete grain elevator.

Mike