Conrail up in Coal Country

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ed,

Since you glued the full sheets on, are there no areas where the scenery will be below the tracks, e.g., fills or creeks, and you should have avoided gluing foam there?

DFF

There will be, but nothing that's going to punch all the way through.

[davefoxx]

There will be, but nothing that's going to punch all the way through.

That's a good call.  I did punch through on the Virginia Central, and I had to smooth that door veneer with patching before I could build the riverbed.  On the Seaboard Central 2.0, I used a layer of 1" foam as the riverbed.  On the Seaboard Central 3.0, I am using foam core as the river bottom.  I don't know the area that you're modeling that well, but I hope the 1" foam you used has enough thickness to terraform below the rails.

DFF

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That's a good call.  I did punch through on the Virginia Central, and I had to smooth that door veneer with patching before I could build the riverbed.  On the Seaboard Central 2.0, I used a layer of 1" foam as the riverbed.  On the Seaboard Central 3.0, I am using foam core as the river bottom.  I don't know the area that you're modeling that well, but I hope the 1" foam you used has enough thickness to terraform below the rails.

DFF

It does. I had thought about doubling it up but, in reality, given the amount of space around the track, the terrain isn't THAT vertical.

I had thought about wanting to include an underpass but realized it wasn't worth the hassle.

[davefoxx]

It does. I had thought about doubling it up but, in reality, given the amount of space around the track, the terrain isn't THAT vertical.

I had thought about wanting to include an underpass but realized it wasn't worth the hassle.

I think you still could include an underpass, figuring that 1" of foam is 160" (or 13.33 scale feet).  Slap that styrene road right down on the HCD, and it could work.  Yes, you'd lose a little bit of height with the highway thickness, but I'm sure you'd have this one beat!

/>
I could watch this all day! 

DFF

[DKS]

I could watch this all day!

+1

My favorite is @2:20. A big bus drives through, and you think... hmmm... but it's a red herring, because a yuuuge Penske truck following it runs the red light and crashes spectacularly. Been following 11Foot8 for years.

 

[C855B]

I think you still could include an underpass, figuring that 1" of foam is 160" (or 13.33 scale feet).  Slap that styrene road right down on the HCD, and it could work.  Yes, you'd lose a little bit of height with the highway thickness, but I'm sure you'd have this one beat!

... I could watch this all day! 

[thread drift]

I think this YouTuber or another has annual compilations going back several years. Notice that most of the collisions were with rental trucks, inferring unaware or amateur drivers inexperienced with high-body vehicles. The earliest videos of this intersection has some doozies, with professional drivers and big rigs trying to take out the bridge. The flashing warning sign triggered by a sensor beam was installed only a few years ago, and it apparently works well... at least for the pros. 

[/thread drift]

[wm3798]

I'm going with a foam core riverbed for several reasons... First, I don't have any wiring that drops below the door... I wanted to keep it clean for any potential relocation/portability issues, so all the wiring is running under the river.



Also, I've read that foam can be problematic for a river if you use mod podge for your gloss coat (or any other, I reckon) because over time the foam will gas-off some of its chemistry and make the finish bubble and discolor.  I haven't seen this on the Cumberland module yet, but I'll be on the look out for it.

Lee

[Dave V]

Also, I've read that foam can be problematic for a river if you use mod podge for your gloss coat (or any other, I reckon) because over time the foam will gas-off some of its chemistry and make the finish bubble and discolor.  I haven't seen this on the Cumberland module yet, but I'll be on the look out for it.

Lee

This has been an unrelenting and frustrating problem for Woodland Scenics Realistic Water as well.

[wm3798]

That's the old Southern Ry bridge over Peace Street in Raleigh, isn't it?  It collects trucks the way we collect coal hoppers.

[Dave V]

That's the old Southern Ry bridge over Peace Street in Raleigh, isn't it?  It collects trucks the way we collect coal hoppers.

No, the famous "11 foot 8" bridge in in Durham.

Current politics aside, the state of North Carolina has quite a bit of charm, and--save for Raleigh summers--nice weather.  We enjoyed living there for the 3 years I was at NC State as a PhD candidate.

Lots and lots of great railroad history to boot.

[DKS]

Also, I've read that foam can be problematic for a river if you use mod podge for your gloss coat (or any other, I reckon) because over time the foam will gas-off some of its chemistry and make the finish bubble and discolor.  I haven't seen this on the Cumberland module yet, but I'll be on the look out for it.

Honestly, I've never found a better way of modeling a river than painting any flat surface with acrylic paints, then topping it with 2-3 coats of heavy gloss gel. I've never had a problem with this combination.

[dem34]

Honestly, I've never found a better way of modeling a river than painting any flat surface with acrylic paints, then topping it with 2-3 coats of heavy gloss gel. I've never had a problem with this combination.

It also gives the benefit that if s**t hits the fan you are only having to rip up some white glue as opposed to solidified resin.

[OldEastRR]

I'm going with a foam core riverbed for several reasons... First, I don't have any wiring that drops below the door... I wanted to keep it clean for any potential relocation/portability issues, so all the wiring is running under the river.



Lee

Hey you can straighten out some wires and have them run above the river like elevated pipelines. Come out of the "bank" on one side, span the water,, then disappear into the other "bank".