The New Northern Central

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ed,

Looking good.  Can I be super picky, though? 

Yes, please!

Where that road comes down the hill through that cut, can you raise the vertical curve at the bottom, so it’s a little smoother.  Think about how the civil engineers would have shoved some of the earth from that cut down the hill, to taper out the transition to flat.

Do you think it's that bad? When I was checking it with vehicles it seemed ok. I'll give it some more thought.

Also, please don’t leave that ramp on the far side of the railroad crossing.  Not only does that look like a Dukes of Hazzard scene, but vehicles traveling at normal speeds would high center on that far rail.  Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine.

Yes. I need to address that. When you drill into it, roads are really hard. The hardest part is in the intersection between the roads and railroad infrastructure, and I think a lot of that is due to the out of scale nature of the actual rail stuff (cork, track, etc...).

This is actually why I'm building this scene: to work out stuff like this in prep for the rest of the layout down the road.

Foxxy, what have you done to make yours work so well?

[Bendtracker1]

Do you think it's that bad? When I was checking it with vehicles it seemed ok. I'll give it some more thought.

Can't say that I've built enough roads to be a professor Ed, but try sitting an 18 wheeler with its box trailer in the middle of that transition and see how much of a kink you get between the trailer and tractor?  It would be the first thing I'd think about using to test a vertical curve.

[Tristan Ashcroft]

Think about how the civil engineers would have shoved some of the earth from that cut down the hill, to taper out the transition to flat.

Counterpoint:
       Having just about high-centering (high-centered?  eh, English... one of those) a Ford Escort on the crossing at Keating, PA in the late 80s, I'll note that civil engineering and rural Pennsylvania haven't always traveled in the same circles...

*edited for grammar reasons

[Lemosteam]

Whenever I drive east countryside, I love the gentle, rolling and NEVER flat roads that ebb and curve as you drive them, that said I think adding some filler under the road to provide a gentle dip between the cut and the roadbed would look great, and even a right leaning slope down into the intersection gradually laying along the hill where you have it already. A gentle fill up to the road everywhere but the triangular plot for the house (after raising it a quarter inch) might have a ditch along that corner, so a steeper fill on those sides would look good, along with a small ditch below the grade of the plot into the Styrofoam.  This elevation change in the road would also lend well for drainage, and the little dropping drives to the various structures

[wazzou]

Not Foxxy and not the best image of the subject matter, but it is in the frame.
The road base needs to be transitioned to the height of the Railroad.

[davefoxx]

@Ed Kapuscinski,

No, I don’t think that vertical curve is bad at all.  I just think you could take this really nice scene to the next level with some small changes.

How do I do it?  Long transitions to the rail, just like @wazzou shows above.  I usually build up the road’s subroadbed with cork and then use a styrene for the road that’s slightly thinner than the rail height.  I cut the rail spikes off the outside of the rail and get that styrene as tight to the rail as possible.  There’s certainly places in the real world where trucks can high center and get stuck, but we’re usually best to stick to modeling the ordinary.

I think a lot of people forget about forced perspective and think your average roads are sharper, curvier, and even steeper than exist in real life.  I’m not accusing you of this, and I’ll admit that I am probably hypersensitive to model photos that just have engineering disasters.  As an example, think about the yellow dotted lane dividing lines as an example.   Nobody gets these right, because they model those dotted lines as they see them from being on the road.  Those dotted lines are waaaay longer and much farther apart than people model them.  And don’t get me started on bridges.

Again, I’m not trying to disparage you or your modeling.  I’m talking generally here and just wanted to see if we could improve on your already excellent modeling.

DFF

[mu26aeh]

I agree with Allen.  Take an 18 wheeler thru the turn.  Think of it just like taking your 89' flats or long passenger cars thru a curve checking for overhang

[John]

Is that the donut section?

I always listen to Foxxy!

The bottom of that grade would be a real good place for a culvert or small road bridge and a crick!,,   I saw a lot of that on y trip to Paradise last week.  Lots of hollers that the water likes to flow in

https://goo.gl/maps/3HZyWMWQ5onQKfwc7

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Excellent thoughts boys, excellent thoughts.

This is why I pay for Plaid.

[Bendtracker1]

Excellent thoughts boys, excellent thoughts.

This is why I pay for Plaid.

As a Mod, do you get a discount on the Plaid?  Asking for a friend...

[John]

As a Mod, do you get a discount on the Plaid?  Asking for a friend...

No, but we do get Kohl's cash for every locked thread

[Bendtracker1]

No, but we do get Kohl's cash for every locked thread

[Ed Kapuscinski]

My friend Rudy made a book on D&H cabooses. It got me working on moving my D&H roster forward.
Now, I know the southern trackage rights trains were almost exclusively the domain of their geeps, but I couldn't resist having at least one Alco.

I still need to get a pair of 39s, I'm planning on a gray one and a green one. But thanks to Rudy's book and Trainz.com I was able to get an appropriate caboose to go with them. My Reading patch one is cool, but they were mostly repainted pretty quick.

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[wm3798]

Some of my favoritest railfanning memories were sitting at Knecht Ave. in Arbutus in the early 80s waiting for the "D&H Man".  Every one I recall seeing was in fact hauled by EMDs, mostly 4 axle.  But it was dark, and there may have been beer involved, so I could be mistaken, so you have cover to send some Alcos down the NC.  But you'll have to make sure they're sound equipped.

I mean, is an Alco really an Alco if it doesn't sound like it's doing all it can to keep all the parts moving in the same direction?

Makes me pine for the foob Lifelike 38-2 I sold at N Scale Weekend last year...

Lee

[garethashenden]

Sounds helps, but they really need smoke units for the full Alco effect.