What is the best way to make a grade crossing. I'm using Kato unitrak and thought about using roofing paper for the roads on top of cork to level with the track. Another idea I have is to use plaster. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Also what is the proper width of a country road in inches. Thanks, Bill
Sheet styrene is another good method for roads and crossings. For longer roads you just carefully glue the pieces end to end with a thin supporting piece spanning the joint underneath. After sanding, painting and weathering the seams become invisible. Somethin else to consider for crossings are the BLMA or Blair Line- I've never tried them with Unitrack but I'm sure they can be made to work.
I am a big fan of sheet styrene. For my roads, I use the back side of "For Sale" signs that you can get at any home improvement store. I have a few blog articles that explain the process I followed: http://csxdixieline.blogspot.com/2010/06/layout-progress-as-of-6232010.html http://csxdixieline.blogspot.com/2010/06/layout-progress-as-of-6232010.html Here is a photo showing the completed grade crossing before any scenery was added: Jamie
I use Kato unitrack. I currently have 2 club modules and in our group we don't glue our track down. So I had to come up with a way to create a road crossing with Kato unitrack that would not be glued down. When MRR was creating the Salt Lake Track plan with kato double track, they used expansion track as road crossings. I liked their idea and so I expanded upon it. Here are the basic steps I did. You can see my detailed steps Here.
There is no best method. The idea is to replicate reality. Remember you want the maintenance crew to access the ties and rails. So the covering between and outside the rails should be serviceable without calling in outside contractors. Country roads are 10 feet wide per lane. So, (10x12)/160=your answer. City lanes are 12 with 8 for parking. Shoulders can be 3 to 12 feet wide. Concrete is used in parking lots or industrial areas where track or surface maintenance will not tie up traffic. Asphalt is used for temporary crossings as train and vehicular traffic and vibration will tear it up. Wood has been used for decades. It cheap, easy and fast to use and replace. Rubber and polymer composites have been used for the last two decades. It has the ease of wood with many times the durability. There are commercial versions of both the wood and rubber crossings. Busch and others make stick down roads complete with markings. Plaster and painted plastic sheet have been used for asphalt and concrete. But that is not on public roads. Even there the covered ties are isolated from the rest of the surface to avoid tearing up the whole lot. I've used match sticks or strip wood to recreate the timbers between and outside the rails. Celuclay was used as the road surface. Black tempera added to the Celuclay makes it look like asphalt. I've also used Black mat board and construction paper for roads. If you replicate the angled ends of the wool between the rails it will act as a rerailer. To be realistic the points should be beyond the road width.
There is no best method. The idea is to replicate reality. Remember you want the maintenance crew to access the ties and rails. So the covering between and outside the rails should be serviceable without calling in outside contractors. Country roads are 10 feet wide per lane. So, (10x12)/160=your answer. City lanes are 12 with 8 for parking. Shoulders can be 3 to 12 feet wide. Concrete is used in parking lots or industrial areas where track or surface maintenance will not tie up traffic. Asphalt is used for temporary crossings as train and vehicular traffic and vibration will tear it up. Wood has been used for decades. It cheap, easy and fast to use and replace. Rubber and polymer composites have been used for the last two decades. It has the ease of wood with many times the durability. There are commercial versions of both the wood and rubber crossings. Busch and others make stick down roads complete with markings. Plaster and painted plastic sheet have been used for asphalt and concrete. But that is not on public roads. Even there the covered ties are isolated from the rest of the surface to avoid tearing up the whole lot. I've used match sticks or strip wood to recreate the timbers between and outside the rails. Celuclay was used as the road surface. Black tempera added to the Celuclay makes it look like asphalt. I've also used Black mat board and construction paper for roads. If you replicate the angled ends of the wool between the rails it will act as a rerailer. To be realistic the points should be beyond the road width.
CSX, I love your road. What is it made from, how wide is it, what color is it, and how did you stripe it. Bill
I'm a fan of the 'ol spackle roads.. you can see my process here. https://plus.google.com/photos/102736440211508911621/albums/5549483704405763089 I then just use strip wood to make the crossing, stained with a little india ink..
Bill, My original post above contains links that have the details you are looking for. The quick answers are styrene plastic, about 2" per lane, and Microscale decals. Jamie
I like spackle and paster as well , I like carving the cracks on the road, high lighted with a dark wash. Randy
I like spackle, too. Isn't it one inch wide each lane in N scale? Two inches wide for a two lane road?
Hey Jamie...not to be contradictory but...is that 2" per lane or 2" total width? I was figuring country road at 10' plus about a 3' shoulder per lane (13' total) and that would be about 1" per lane...or...2" total width. 2" lanes would be about 26 " per lane or 52 foot wide road. BTW...love your layout ^5 I confuse myself so much at times...LOL
On both my home layout and my T-Trak modules, I have been using a combination of styrene yard sale signs, meat foam and spackle. It is cheap, holds up well and easy to make. For crossings on my T-Trak, I used Blair line wooden crossings and they work well for Kato track. On my layout I just used styrene as the prototype had just used asphalt over the wooden crossing. Here is the T-Trak road in process. I used Evergreen styrene for the sidewalk and curb, the road is also a bit wider for parking on the shoulder. I used Pactra pin stripe for the line, but I now use reefer white and yellow through an airbrush to get a much better look. Road on my layout in process: This shows the layers. Meat foam is cut and profiled to match a shoulder, styrene is cut and glued to top, sanded and blended, spackel is used to blend the two together and while the spackel is wet, I apply some Diorama Dirt from Monster Models, paint, stripe and weather. Not the easiest route (no pun intended) but it works for me.
DiezMon, I like your process a lot. It looks very realistic. The google photos are helpful, but is there a write-up anywhere to go with it? I will have to checkout your other links. Thanks, Michael
Flash, the flat foam that your packaged hamburger and steaks come on at the grocery store. I wash them and trim the sides off for a nice start to road roadbed.
