Prototypical Tram tracks?

anubis51

Little Loco
Hello all,

Please forgive my ignorance, but I am certain that someone here will be able to assist.:eek:ops:

I am searching for some information on the model equivalent the special 'inverted' rail that is used throughout the world when tram / streetcar / traction vehicles are laid in paved streets that must be shared with other traffic.

I realise that one can use existing commercial brands of railway tracks, and then sink them into the road surface with the necessary flangeways left open, but I have never seen this as more than a mere compromise at best.

Turnouts are another stumbling block for me too, for using ones of a train style are nothing like the prototype one you see in the city streets, which usually use a single pivoting point in the frog. :confused:

I only have one Bachmann tram vehicle in On30 scale, but I would still like to think about building a short, point to point run for it, but using the correct profile rail.

Many thanks.:mrgreen:






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chooch.42

Member
Hello, to another (we have several) friend from the Southern Half...hope your nowhere near the wet and muddy troubles. Before I go looking too far, is this
Trolley-Rail.jpg
* Trolley Rail.
...what you're after as a cross section? I'm fairly sure someone makes rail like this, and probably track components, but I'm not a trolley/tram/inter-urban savvy guy, though Pittsburgh (Home) did have a large trolley system years ago. Am I looking for the right stuff ? Bob C.
 

anubis51

Little Loco
Hi Chooch,

(No, all the big wet is in the north, in Queensland......)



Yes, I think that's what I'm looking for. The cross-section looks correct.(Sorry to be so vague.):inmew:



What do all you tram-traction modellers use for track? :-?


Thank you.








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S class

Member
Most use regular rail, however there is a specific brand (don't remember the name right now) which has the rail and flange way built in, however the rail is just that and it's for hand laying, a special tool must also be purchased and used to bend the rail as the extra rail makes it quite rigid. I have also seen uses where smaller code rail is soldered into the web of larger code rail on its side to mimic this e.g code 70 in the web of code 100.
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
S class is right on the money, as usual, I do believe I have seen castings for some of the pieces of the odd switches that trolley's used. I have seen these scratchbuilt, but it is a big project trickier than scratching a standard rail way switch.


Bill Nelson
 

Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
sorry I'm slow

I have finally had enough time to mock up a section of rail the way the old school traction modelers of my youth did it.


Shown, on my cork and homasote build board is a section of code 100 rail spiked directly to the subroadbed surface, the old guys used homasote, the homabed switch blocks would make great under road surface. be sure to seal the homasote with acrylic paint, as otherwise it will suck up and hold moisture, causing dimensional stability issues, and I have had spikes in unsealed homasote rust away after 10 years.


first you spike down the code 100 rail as you would doing conventional railway track. then code 75 rail is laid in sideways, where the space between the web and the head makes a flangeway. the web does not come up quite as high as the rail head. The best running trolley layout I saw was made with the roadway flush with the web of the code 70, and the rail head for the code 100 slightly elevated above the road surface. the flangeway is oversize, but so is the code l00 rail, and that doesn't show much when buried tin the road.

here are photos of my mock up. any questions?


Bachman will make a single truck briney soon, I may have to get one and make a micro trolley layout.

The trolley modelers of my youth we some of the highest skill modelers I had ever seen at that time (Cincinnati in the 1960's). they had portable and modular layouts and dominated the local train shows. They left me with a little bit of an intch, that I have nor scratched yet.


Bill Nelson
 

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anubis51

Little Loco
Hi Bill,

Thanks for the kink - looks good, and I certainly would never had thought of it! :thumb:

Chooch.42 gave me a link to The Electric Avenue Easy Street track system, and it involves the correct profile rail, and appropriate turnouts.

Looks like the way to go for "new" trolley / tram layouts. :mrgreen:

Many thanks for all comments. :wave:






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chooch.42

Member
John...Bill's got what appears to be the less costly way to go, and just as visually effective ! Found an old thread (in "The Academy") by "Interurban", one of the Old Gauge traction go-to-guys : http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=104482 . He hasn't posted here in some time, but this is part of the archive amassed over the forum's history. Located the thread using Google Search (this) Site...lotsa good old, low-tech inspiration there - and probably elsewhere on the site (been having fits trying to re-find stuff since the last re-organization.) See if this is helpful for the tram, and keep your eyes open for other goodies. Also...in case my thimble brain forgot before, another good source of ideas, information and inspiration: http://www.eastpenn.org/ ...the East Penn Traction (Modular) Club ! All the Best. Bob C.
 

anubis51

Little Loco
Hiya again Bob Chooch,

With all the research that you are doing on my behalf, and the assistance that you are giving me, I'll bet that you aren't getting much of your own modelling done......
:steamtrain:




Once again, many thanks, mate!!:goldcup:









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Bill Nelson

Well-Known Member
That is the beauty of forums like this, time spent thinking about other peoples trains is more likely to be subtracted from the npn train time than from out train time.

and thinking about the other guys stuff makes us more likely to work on our own,

Bill Nelson
 

anubis51

Little Loco
Hi S Class,

Many thanks for the great photo.

I see the Docklands boys are playing with sectional track in 1:1 scale....:mrgreen:

Bewdy!! :wave:








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60103

Pooh Bah
If you're doing a search, the rail is called Girder rail.

I haven't seen Interurban for a couple of years -- we don't seem to go to the same shows anymore.
 
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