Have any of you thought of having a branch line on your layout that had bad trackwork on purpose, to simulate a poorly maintained branch? I model the Chicago North Western, and I'm thinking about incorporating this into my next layout. The main points I thought about: Roadbed-None Ballast-Little to None Track-1/2 sections of sectional track, to simulate 39' sticks of rail Connections would be soldered, but I would leave a bit of a gap between sections. Once the track was done, I would just cover most of it with groundcover, maybe with a couple low spots with standing water on the ties. My goal is to have a realistic looking branch line, with track work bad enough that you have to take the trains slow to avoid derailments, but good enough to allow train operation. I've never seen this done before, on purpose, and wanted to see what everyone thought.
I did something like this on an old NTRAK module that has since been rebuilt. I had one siding that kind of went along the backdrop that had rail that was bent and kinked. The ballast was covered with ground foam dirt and grass so you could hardly see the ties most places and was even with the top of the rails in other places. The rail was painted rust on top so you could not run an engine on it if you wanted.
Interesting idea. I think you would be happier to use good quality trackwork to assure smooth operations. You could then camoflage the track work by the other scenic suggestions you made such as little or no roadbed, poorly maintained ballast, weeds, etc. Be sure to really weather the rail and ties. A few missing ties might be a good idea as well, although they should not be so many as to cause guage and alignment problems for the track. Now you have me thinking about this for some sidings on my layout......
my layout is HO but i think my story will apply here........I nailed down my track then took a hammer and pounded some sections to make dips in the rails. You could go the hard way and connect several short pieces together to look like a branch but felx track works just as well. At grade crossings I cut the rails just short of them and also at the one diamond on the lay out too.
I agree that this is an interesting idea. My layout does have an abandoned spur leading to an old coaling tower. I modeled it in the process of being torn out, so the rails are gone (a few sections piled on the side), and only the ties remain. I have an old tractor parked to the side and some ties in piles, but it's something that no one seems to be in a hurry to finish (sort of like my layout). I’ve seen seldom used track that has a wavy look. It would be nice to recreate that, but with the understanding that it probably could not be actually used (out of gauge).
Yeah, something like this???? (Texas Transportation Company, San Antonio, TX, about 1998, since removed) This track was in daily service, and the 'main line' between the SP main (left) and the Pearl Brewery. This shot is NOT compressed with a telephoto lens, by the way. Yes, those are overhead wires. One of the very last common-carrier electric freight operators at the time.
Hasn't been a problem - I get bad trackwork while trying to lay it perfectly.... A few years ago, either great model railroads or model railroad planning had an article on an HO CNW theme layout where the owner loosened some joints, etc. to get the rock and roll of a prairie branch. In N, with slow speeds, short trains and weighted cars, it is probably still feasible to a degree. However, I think that you should go for smooth track, use homosote sheets to avoid roadbed profile, and simulate the bad maintenance with weeds, cinder ballast, etc. and perhaps a few old spurs with bad track, but also out of service. That would be convincing enough.
I love the look of old, wavy track like in the pics above (plus old street trackage) and and considered trying to do this in N scale myself. It would be tough to get the look right, but not cause the locos or rolling stock to unrealistically jump around and shake rapidly (where a real loco and rolling stock would slowly rock because of their mass, weight and springs). I would not try to significantly damage the track with a hammer or anything, but some subtle kinks and waves could be produced as the track is laid down, I would think. I also agree with the suggestions above of making it look old and unmaintained by adding weeds, etc. Russ
I am planning on adding an abandoned branch line complete with derilict bridge. I will do about 3 feet of track and another couple feed of roadbed with the rails pulled. I will use it to store empty grain cars on the layout.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this idea! Part of my future plans for my VARR Layout is to model poorly maintained and bad shape sidings and other trakage in addition to the twin mains. While I love the look of well-maintained track, even the best Class 1 roads had/have some poor looking, dirt covered, almost-abandoned-looking track right next to their mainlines. I think it is important to model such real-life trackage in our modeling! It adds a realism factor many a layout is misisng IMO. Good Thread!
For the industrial spurs on the layout, I use flex track and cut all the ties apart from each other. I then pull out about every third or fourth tie and realign the ties so that they are spaced farther apart. Between the cutting and the respacing the track gets a lot less straight. "Non-careful" laying helps too. This isn't original with me but I don't recall where I saw it. I superelevate some curves with .010 styrene but I can see using bits of it under one side of the track (perhaps alternately) to simulate the "ups and downs" of less maintained trackage. Hmm, I might have to try that!
When we were getting Tower 17 ready to move, UP ran a local switch job over what they called the "shoe fly" between the UP and BMSF mains a couple times a week. Most ties were rotten and the rail was almost buried in a few places but the engines and cars managed to stay on the track. Here a leased GP-20D is passing the upper story of the tower as it heads over to the BNSF to pick up some loads. In places you could see the rail sink a few inches into the ground as the engine passed over.
I think the idea may be to have good trackwork that looks like bad trackwork. Something like this, on my railroad: The telephoto condenses about 20 feet of track length. If you purposefully made bad trackwork, you wouldn't have much fun. Pete
Like Rossford Yard said, I have a heckuva time getting the track laid as perfectly as I can, and it still looks as bad as the shots posted of the 1:1 scale branchlines....
I agree with Pete Nolan and others about having good track work and making it look bad. Probably better to leave the dents to a larger scale. Maybe shimming is a good idea to get some rocking, but in N scale, it isn't going to take much. From Russel's picture, and some others, the ties are not visible at all. That is what I want to do, but haven't done it yet. I have a few more sidings to put in; maybe I will get to that. On the San Antonio shot, randgust, didn't that trackage go down the center of a street on the way to the brewry? Pretty neat.
