Trenton Transportation Company

[DKS]

File this one under "just because." At the corner of East State Street and South Olden Avenue is a street sign. Not only are the street names legible (under macro photography, at least), the sign is reflective. Really.

[GaryHinshaw]

Love this shot.

[Baronjutter]

Can't quite read the signs in the photo, but how did you make them reflective?

[DKS]

Can't quite read the signs in the photo, but how did you make them reflective?

They are printed on thin frosted translucent plastic, which I then applied to aluminum foil. My purpose for using the foil was to make them totally opaque, but surprisingly they also acquired a curious reflective look. Happy accident.

Here's an enlargement of the sign--you can just barely make out E STATE ST...

[OldEastRR]

Works perfectly.



One reason is that the road paving is sheet styrene carefully cut like puzzle pieces to fit around the points. The cosmetics aren't the greatest mostly because it's Unitrack, but hey, it works. (And I'm assuming you meant "turnout embedded in the street..." )

Is it possible to get some very thin styrene glued on the tops of the Unitrack ties and ballast? Actually also to the ties under the moveable rails too so there's no binding. This might have to be done by sanding the ties before installing the switch. You can't really fill that area in but maybe can blank out the cast-on detail so they're not as noticeable. Just a thought for future use.

[DKS]

Is it possible to get some very thin styrene glued on the tops of the Unitrack ties and ballast? Actually also to the ties under the moveable rails too so there's no binding. This might have to be done by sanding the ties before installing the switch. You can't really fill that area in but maybe can blank out the cast-on detail so they're not as noticeable. Just a thought for future use.

Sorry, no. The points would have to be removed in order to do this, and they're not made to be dismantled and reassembled. Under normal viewing conditions, it's much less noticeable; for these photos, I deliberately angled the view and the light to make the points more visible.

[OldEastRR]

I figured it might not work. I have never used Unitrack switches, so I don't know how they are put together.

[DKS]

If this was a "serious" layout, I might have approached this issue differently. Then again, if it was a serious layout, I wouldn't be using Unitrack. This is a fun, just-for-the-heck-of-it quickie so I can enjoy some play time while I'm living in a trailer.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The only thing missing is some beat up old Conrail power running around... looks amazing.

[OldEastRR]

If only there was a way for you to hook up all your mini-layouts together. That would look pretty neat.

[DKS]

If only there was a way for you to hook up all your mini-layouts together. That would look pretty neat.

Actually, it would look like a mess. Each one is a different era and season.

[towl1996]

If this was a "serious" layout, ...

   (since we don't have an exploding head emoticon)

David, can you tell us what you used for the curbing on the sidewalk, for the drive way, and the storm drain with a picture. Is it how you did it on the JRB?
And an exploding head. 
Enjoying

[DKS]

David, can you tell us what you used for the curbing on the sidewalk, for the drive way, and the storm drain with a picture. Is it how you did it on the JRB?

Not quite the same techniques as the JRB. The road surface (.060 black styrene) extends all the way under most of the buildings. Next comes building foundations (.040 x .250 strip styrene), which are cut to follow the building perimeters, and topped with indexing strips to position the removable buildings. Next comes the sidewalks (.040 sheet styrene with a tile groove pattern). Last comes the curb (.040 x .040 strip styrene). The storm drains are etched brass from Great Lakes Models, although they're based on area prototypes that are quite different from those typically found in the Trenton area; they are almost half the size, and I should have soldered them together into pairs. They're installed in square holes cut in the road surface.

Here's a photo that illustrates the elements described above:



Notes: The storm drains aren't done yet--I still need to install the curbside parts. Also, the bundles of wires are for structure lighting--the structures have DIY connectors that engage the vertical PC board parts.

Oh, and here's an exploding head smilie for you:

[jpec]

Excellent work, getting more impressive with each post.

Jeff

[delamaize]

+1 for adding the exploding head to the smiley list here.

Also, DKS, your work never ceases to amaze me.