Thanks Mike -- I really like what I see there and they have a wide selection too. I'd have never found these guys otherwise -- again, thanks!
Those who have been in the hobby a while may remember that Chooch products used to suffer from severe warping. I found some old Chooch retaining walls last night, probably 35 years old and badly warped. I had to laugh upon discovering that they fit in place nicely on this curve on my layout. After many years, they may have found a home.
snip... Meanwhile, I can continue on with my foamwork (is that a word?) and look at the products you suggest in more detail. FoamWorx is a secret, under ground, advanced, model railroad scenery R&D lab. Much like Lockheed Martins Skunk Works. (But you didn't learn that from me.)
So young modelers pay attention. Buy the product(s) now and plan on using it 35 years later Sorry, couldn't resist! BTW, it looks really nice, and agree on never throw stuff away. Although I just did, so don't listen to me So do you have more of the bent stuff?
Setting tunnel portals in place, so need a clearance train. There's no way my c. 1970 Atlas 86' auto parts hi-cubes are going to clear tunnel portals located on 11" radius curves and that's okay because I never planned to run them anyway. Instead, I made up a clearance train of what I hope to run, with a dome car, 60' High Cube and another passenger car. (The WM boxcar has an M-T on one end and a Rapido on the other). So far, so good - the portals on curves can remain nearly centered.
I would say to run cars you don't expect to run. What if your friend wants to run an autorack train behind a trio of DDA-40Xs? What if another friend wants to run a whale-belly tank car (http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/railwhales/bynumber/gatx096500.htm) behind Cotton Brute? While you may never plan to run something that big, occasions might arise that bring foreign equipment, and a non-clearing event would be a bad day ... What's the hurt in a little extra clearance for those 86' autoparts boxcars? All kidding aside, I love how your Chooch products are suddenly useful now!
I would run the APHC boxcar, just to see how close it is to making it through the portal. You might be able to adjust the position of the portal across and/or along the length of the track enough to work (it appears to be close to longer radius tracks.) OTOH, Your layout, your rules!
With some very careful positioning, I could probably make it work. I'll mess around with things a bit more. As President & CEO of the DS&N, one thing I won't permit is a ghastly modification of my portals to match what NS did on the N&W Pocahontas Div., notching the corners of each portal to clear stacks. Ugh! (Not my picture; by Billy Hager)
Make my tunnel portals round! [10/16/1994 @ Paw Paw, WV at the west end of the B&O's Magnolia Cutoff]
Hi Hardcoaler, It was cheaper to add the notches than lowering the floor of the tunnel. In other locations it was cheaper to lower the floor of the tunnel. The corridor projects were a good idea, sadly a new group running the railroad and PSR got in the way of seeing the corridor's take truck traffic off the interstate highways as they were intended. That is the great thing about model railroading, it's our little world and rule #1 always applies
Yep, the "Heartland Corridor" clearance work on the N&W main was necessary for it to remain relevant in an age of declining coal traffic. During its construction (2007-2010), NS diverted many trains south to use the SOU's Allegheny crossing between Asheville and Old Fort, NC (aka The Loops). It was a golden time for the SOU route and its last hurrah. I enjoyed my time railfanning the line and wish I could have done more. With the loss of coal, the Loops now see only one puny daily local and west of Asheville, an every-other-day manifest. It's a sad reality for a line that's close to my heart. Coal train on the Loops near Old Fort, NC [11/2007]
Just got some Kato MAXI-I's recently and now I might have to go prototypical on my layout portals!!!!
Try adding some "concrete footings" to raise the tunnel portals up, instead of cutting them. That should give you the necessary height clearance and retain a plausible look. These could be as simple as balsa or styrene strips cut to size and positioned at the bases of the portals. Simply paint or stain them the same as the portals. You can easily raise them a half inch to an inch to get needed clearance and have them look realistic.
