PRR/Conrail Juniata Division Engineering Report

[Dave V]

Ed,

The ballast is actually weathered using a mix of dry black and brown tempera pigment and hydrocal soaked in with the ballast glue based on an article by Joe Fugate.  It's a little more obvious in person.

In Enola I just got lazy and airbrushed the ballast with a grime wash.

BTW, love the paintings and I drool every time I see them at the RR Museum of PA.  The one of the GG1 in the snow at Broad Street gets me every time!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The prints are pretty reasonable too. I think he marks them down for shows too. Send me an email if you want me to watch for them at the next Timonium show.

[Dave V]

Here's the "un-vintaged" photo.  The rails and ties were airbrushed with PolyScale Rail Brown.  At this angle, though, the ballast looks cleaner than it does in person:



Some of the subtle "Fugate-style" ballast weathering can be seen here:



Contrasted with plain airbrushing:



I'm always caught between the idea that in 1956, the track was still immaculately groomed but by 1980 it was all over the place (in some places it had been completely rehabilitated but in others it was still very Penn Central-esque).

What sort of techniques do you suggest?

[DKS]

For myself, I've found powdered chalks to be effective at weathering the ROW. Just be subtle--a little bit goes a long way, because it's really easy to over-do it.

[Ian MacMillan]

The ballast is actually weathered using a mix of dry black and brown tempera pigment and hydrocal soaked in with the ballast glue based on an article by Joe Fugate.  It's a little more obvious in person.

Ive used this method previously and liked it as well.

[Dave V]

Worked a bit on further weathering the right of way using brown and black tempera paint bonded with isopropyl alcohol. Trying to downplay the over scale code 80 track.



Anyone who has ever driven through central Pennsylvania in the last 50+ years has seen one of the many timeless billboards for Penn's Cave. Based on Internet research this sign should work for both my 1956 era and my 1980 era. The sign is formerly an Athearn billboard with an ad for the state of Georgia.



Here is the inspiration: http://www.frontiernet.net/~rochballparks4/route15/07sv_upd_signs.jpg

[Bsklarski]

So does this mean you are not going to relay the main layout with C55? IMO you should not rip it all up, you will destroy the layout. You can always start anew with a new door, custom size, 40" by 84". I still love that updated plan that DKS did of the 4 tracks at Lewiston 

[Dave V]

So does this mean you are not going to relay the main layout with C55? IMO you should not rip it all up, you will destroy the layout. You can always start anew with a new door, custom size, 40" by 84". I still love that updated plan that DKS did of the 4 tracks at Lewiston 

It doesn't really mean anything for the moment.  I have no idea when I'll have the time, cash on hand, and full availability of Atlas code 55 track available to relay the layout.  So, I do what I need to for now to keep improving what I have.  The fact that it operates reliably certainly doesn't help any sense of urgency to tear it up.

You'll see over the next few weeks I'm actually getting ready to replace a small section with--horrors!--Kato Unitrack.  I've done this before inside the tunnel, and this time it'll be in the rock cut.  On the outside rail on the 15" radius curve I had a cold solder joint that developed a kink a few weeks after ballasting.  For the last 7 years it's messed with my long wheel-base steam and my 6-axle diesels from time to time.  The fact that I now have a brass 2-10-0 that wobbles on that kink is the very last straw.

I've already started painting the Unitrack to exactly match what's there.  With matching ballast, superelevation, and weathering the transition will be indistinguishable.  Using Unitrack will assure an exact 15" radius is maintained without kinks.  That it's in the rock cut should hide the fact that the tie spacing is slightly wider than on the inside 13.75" radius curve.

I view this as a minimal investment to make sure things work today; one that should not preclude me one bit from changing out the track at some later date.

[Bsklarski]

Its too bad the Kato V11 or V14, or v16 sets cant allow you to replace both tracks. They are niece pieces. This is why I am using C55 Atlas section track for my curves. I dont care if I catch hell because I dont want to solder flew track, but its going to make things much easier.

[Dave V]

I plan to use sectional code 55 on all my curves, soldered together of course.  Long wheelbase steam is just too picky for my marginal tracklaying skills.

This is why I don't begrudge people for using Unitrack.  What little skill I have in laying reliable track took me many layouts and lots of frustration to earn.  The difference between a very reliable layout and one that is beset with derailments and stalls is the difference between loving and hating the hobby.  Not every person has the skills to do flextrack well, let alone handlaid turnouts and such.

At TRW we encourage taking that next, higher fidelity step...but never would I recommend doing something that would diminish enjoyment of the hobby as a whole.

[davefoxx]

I plan to use sectional code 55 on all my curves, soldered together of course.

Jointed rail is likely appropriate for 1956 anyway.   

[Rich_S]

I plan to use sectional code 55 on all my curves, soldered together of course.  Long wheelbase steam is just too picky for my marginal tracklaying skills.

Dave, I've been kicking around the idea on my next layout to solder feeder wires to the bottom of all rail joiners, but only solder the rail joiners to one piece of track per joint. In other words, if you were holding a piece of sectional track in your hand, the rail joiners on your right would be soldered to the section, but the ones on the left side would not be soldered to this section. Of course they would be soldered to the next section. My thoughts are :
1) soldering the feeders to the bottom of the rail joiners would help hide the feeder wire.
2) leaving every other joint loose would allow the track to expand and contract. 

Your thoughts on this method?

   

[Dave V]

I'm not the guy to ask when it comes to track laying, but on the current JD, I don't have any gaps on curves.  Only straights.

[davefoxx]

Dave, I've been kicking around the idea on my next layout to solder feeder wires to the bottom of all rail joiners, but only solder the rail joiners to one piece of track per joint. In other words, if you were holding a piece of sectional track in your hand, the rail joiners on your right would be soldered to the section, but the ones on the left side would not be soldered to this section. Of course they would be soldered to the next section. My thoughts are :
1) soldering the feeders to the bottom of the rail joiners would help hide the feeder wire.
2) leaving every other joint loose would allow the track to expand and contract. 

Your thoughts on this method?

   

If you don't mind my opinion, I would solder all of the rail joints on the curves and leave the rail joints in straight sections unsoldered for expansion and contraction.  In fact, this is what I do with my flextrack, too.  The feeder soldered to the bottom of the rail joiners should work fine.

DFF

[Dave V]

The deductible from our basement flood plus Christmas bills means no large-scale track replacements any time soon.