railroads running in cement

[railBuilderdhd]

I wanted to know if anyone has a way to model rails that are laid in cement. I want to model a rail at the docks and wanted to know how I can model the rails that run in the docks that are made of cement or blacktop.
Thanks,
dhd

 

[Jim Krause]

Have you looked at the January 2008 Model Railroader magazine? There is a suppliment inside about modeling streets and roads that has some info that you can use.

 

[sumpter250]

One technique is to make your "concrete" out of sheet styrene, just a tiny bit thinner than the rail is tall, and cut it to fit outside, and between the rails.

 

[only15]

or you could use plaster or hydrocal!!
just make sure you put the gaps etc to clear the wheels

 

[Glen Haasdyk]

I used hydrocal to simulate the concrete floor in my enginehouse. I did a thin pour so that just the tops of the ties were covered and then used an nmra guage to make sure the flangeways were cleaned out.

 

[nachoman]

I've used the plaster method before. It takes a little patience, but looks good. Spread the plaster even with the tops of the rails using the widest putty knife that you can. Completely cover the track - both inside and outside the rails. Don't wory about keeping the flangeways clear. After the plaster has set up, you can carve out the flangeways later using a tool made from a sharpened nail. This is the basic method that was described in a model railroader project layout back in the early 90s. The port of los angeles layout, I think.

Kevin

 

[TCH]

whatever you use make sure you leave it lower than the rails
makes it much easier to clean the track without taking off any paint etc

 

[Dansco]

I was wondering about that..cleaning the rails that are laid in plaster...
I wonder if buying one of those chepo plastic drywall taping knives and cutting some shallow notches (like a rail gauge) might be a good idea...

I think though, that I might just used properly colored plaster and not worry about cleaning removing paint...

 

[Dansco]

any tips on keeping switches working in the thin pour method?