I admit I've never done this, but was thinking : Razor cut shallow slots across rails in visible places, kind of staggered about every 30 scale feet (or, what ever was common length rail on the 'realroads' )..Could add a nice look and sound to pre ribbon rail era layouts..I don't think dirt would be any dif than present rail-ends we have. It's always dirty rail heads and tires anyhoo..Any dibbs ?
Yup. I knew some fellows with had a huge HO layout in Seattle, about twenty five years ago, took a Dremel and nicked the rails every 39 scale feet. With metal wheel sets installed, it did work nicely.
I think that would be neat, assuming your locomotive motor was very quiet. Railroading trivia....jointed (pre-welded) rails were 39' because the gondola cars that carried the rails were 40'.
Even with flex track I seem to have enough joints and turnouts that I always get the clickety-clack anyway. I think adding more would be too much.
Just cutting a vertical gap in the rails would not make much of a clickity-clack sound. Cutting a small V groove in the ball of the rail will. Just do not make it too large so it causes derailments. On the prototype, tight joints and well maintained roadbed does not make the clickity- clack. Loose joints that allow the rails to move up and down as the wheels pass over them do. You do not need to cut gaps every 39 scale feet, just a few strategically placed around the layout will do the trick. Metal wheels are better than plastic at making that sound.
Nice to know it wasn't such a whacky idea. Apparently not an uncommon practice. I do seem to remember as a tot with dad on LIRR there was a regular ba dom ba dom,,,,ba dum ba dum,,,, ba dum ba dum...Or, maybe it was when I was on my bike fixed in one spot to watch trains the 'ba dom ba dom' was due to one or two particular joints or frogs right there, not entire trackage..Anyway, more than sound, I think the visual would be nice. Especially weedy spurs. I'll make a trial track, wheather it up and see... Instead of a saw how about a flat file on its edge; angle it one way then angle other way forming a small V ...
For sure ! Yeah, not directly across from one another..Maybe a few though. Actually, we have that defaultwise due to so many uncut, 3' flex ends..But rest could/should be staggered unevenly...
Mark, if your train is slightly longer than 3', then you'll always hear clicking because at least one wheel set will be passing over at least one flex joint. I'm concerned that if you place a "gap" every 39 scale feet (3" in N, or 5.5" in HO), you'll end up with continuous clicking, possibly an annoying din, like an engine with a noisy gear train.
just hang out at the regular track joints! [video=youtube;bzZn83ha2co]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZn83ha2co[/video]
Hard to hear the clickity -clack sound over the sound of the loco's. Now you have to file some flat spots on the wheels.
I don't have a layout (yet) but attend shows with several N-Trak groups. I run a 50 hopper car coal drag with metal wheel sets. I you stand near any of the module joints you can hear that wonderful clickity-clack sound. I will eventually change all plastic wheel sets to metal and run 75-90 hopper coal drags. Will attempt to record this weekend at Danville, VA.
I love the clickety clack and plan to cut gaps for sound and appearance. Greg Amer The Industrial Lead gregamer.com
Yes - this is what I'm talking about. When we are watching a real train and hearing it clack over the joints, or even when riding in a passenger car - we experience almost in entirety the effect of one gap or joint at a time. When running a train on a layout however, we tend to hear the entire train clacking over all the joints. Start adding more gaps for more sound I think it's going to be overkill.
And hear I'm thinking cutting holes in track is how we collect and accumulate dirt and grime in the rails... but that could be me. I'm alsoin agreement with the others, sound doesn't scale down and I'm not sure you'll get the sounds you want to hear. the clickity adds a nice touch, as seen in the video, but that's a layout that's what, a quarter mile of mainline? compare that to your own layout's run, too much cick is gonna ruin the effect. Same as chuff rates on steamers, or maybe I'm the only one who slows my rates down on non-cam equipped engines because the "correct" rate sounds more like an overheating dog than a steam locomotive. Regards to a comment o nPg1, frogs, switches, and diamonds will produce a louder, or at least more cacophonous sound than the usual ba-dum, and I can tell you that even napping on Amtrak in Chicago you can tell when your crossing another track because the gliding whoosh of welded rail is replaced by a rather loud racket. Tell you what though, I'd love to be able to reproduce some of the creaks and groans rail makes. I like those sounds, the reminder of just what it is in motion, the weight, the power, the almost gravity defying nature of 60tons of steel crawling over the surface on steel rail and wheel. That, and I'd love to model an area with pneumatic switches like they have in Indy, that's a cool sound.
River Eagle's video is excellent, but I assume the microphone was placed right next to the gap so you're hearing only that one gap as Jerry pointed out.
The standard rail length was 39'. Also each joint had to be on a tie leading to many "misaligned" ties.
If you want the look of jointed rail, there was a company that made HO scale joint bars with an adheasive backing that you stick on the visible side of the rails. I don't know the price or if they are still available. It would be nice if some company would make a sound decoder with a small speaker that replicates the sound that you could place under a spot on the layout and activate with a function button on your controller.
