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Post by markm on Sept 21, 2019 5:30:05 GMT -5
Actually I think you're being too generous for the platform. In my experience the concrete footing for a free standing signal is rarely larger than about 2x2': en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_railroad_signals#/media/File:CSX_Cum-Sub_145-MAGNOLIA-CPL-brackets-winter.jpgIf it's on a hillside, the retaining wall is separate and generally wooden. Generally, platforms of the size you're planning were used only near turnouts where there would be a need for complex signaling, turnout control, and in snow areas heating equipment to keep the turnout operational in the cold. In the last case, there might also be propane tank. There is an example I'm familiar with at 8849 Pleasanton Sunol Rd. 94586. In street view look east. This example looks very much like your models. The equipment box trackside was removed during signal modernization. As for railings, in my Sunol example, it's just a couple metal posts with a cable along the top. Hope this helps, Mark
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2019 8:01:04 GMT -5
Thanks Mark ... Have You perhaps a picture of such a signal on the "hillside", with the corresponding retaining wall, so I can see how it was built ?
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Post by markm on Sept 21, 2019 10:57:02 GMT -5
Not exactly what's used behind a signal but consider: www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=240523At a signal there would also be wings at the ends at about a 45 degree angle to divert water and sliding hillside away from the signal. Mark
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2019 11:59:36 GMT -5
Thanks, horizontal planks behind poles, that is what I wanted to know ...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 3:31:34 GMT -5
Mark, did You mean such a retaining wall : The poles are 0.5 mm (4.3" in 1/1) square, the horizontal "planks" are 0.5 mm in height and 0.7 mm (6") in thickness. The dimensions of the wall are determined by the base of the signals (8 x 4 mm), designed on demand by " Tabear " (thanks to him) on Shapeways. The "middle wall" is 11.5 mm (8') in length and 8.5 mm (6.2') in height ; the target has a diameter of 6 mm, so the "axis" of the signal will be 16.5 mm (11.6') from the middle of the track (the left of the target will be vertically aligned with the edge of the track's platform, width 27 mm), a room of 2.7 mm (about 2' in 1/1) will be left between the base and the rear wall. The complete design should be printed in FUD, hope it will be OK (the upper ends of the poles are "a little bit" too thin), there is a strengthening on the rear ; finally it will be sprayed "wood brown".
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Post by markm on Sept 22, 2019 9:50:04 GMT -5
Looks good. Maybe a bit undersized for the lumber. U.S. lumber dimensions are almost always in multiples of 2" and 2' in length. For a low wall (less than 4') I'd expect 4x4" or 6x6" posts and 2x6" or 2x8" planks 10-12' maximum in length. I've built a couple of these walls (prototype) myself. For a prototype wall at 8' I'd expect 8x8" posts and 4x10" or 4x12" planks. The wall would have been built leaning into the earthworks, although as you can see from the image above, overtime they generally lean outward.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 11:03:12 GMT -5
Now it looks better : even if the dimensions are not exact multiples and the lumber is too "thick" (nobody will look and measure exactly... ) : the minimum for 3D-printing is 0.6 mm, approximately 5.1' in 1/1 : 0.7 is a value for "safety first" ! . I removed one "gap" of two, now the lumber is 1.1 mm (9.5') in height. The poles have a correct section : 0.9 mm square, about 7.8 ' in 1/1, the total height is now 9.5 mmm, 6.9'.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2019 2:37:56 GMT -5
The section under the bridges, ballasted, and with boulders : The details of the 3D-printed piers appear very well. I thought first that ballasting the whole plattform would be to broad, but I looked at this picture (on the right) : Or look at the picture of the Cascade tunnel or Long Dock tunnel, where the ballasting is as wide as the tunnel entrance ... like mine. And I will add some "grass", irregular along the ballast (especially in the foreground right, where some gaps remain)
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Post by markm on Oct 16, 2019 11:06:20 GMT -5
The ballast under the bridge looks quite reasonable. I think the size and sharpness of prototype ballast depends on the equipment used and location as well as the railroad laying it. Looking through images here it seems around bridges, tunnels and parallel tracks it can be quite wide. Compare also to some of the 1960-70 images I've already posted: www.azlforum.com/post/17508 and it looks like you're doing well. Recently I picked up a spreader tool from Proses (in Europe): It does a nice job of spreading ballast consistently on straight sections. It doesn't really work on curves and if I were using it on roadbed track, I'd cover up the center hole. Mark
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2019 12:32:53 GMT -5
I ballast the "old fashioned way", the "lower half" of the Rokuhan ballast and the plattform to hide the gap along the plastic ballast ; for the "upper limit" I use Tamiya 1/4" masking tape (the yellow tape in front). And first I paint the plattform (as seen in front) with the same acrylic grey (Tamiya XF23) as the screws which hold the track, there is such a screw left of the masking tape. When the paint dried, I put vinyllic glue with a brush, spread and "press" the ballast by hand and, 12 to 24 hours later, I remove the excess of ballast with a vacuum cleaner for cars ; if there were no residues inside (first "clean the cleaner" ! ), this ballast can be re-used. And if there are holes left, I begin again on them with glue, until I get a satisfying surface. Some "small" corrections need to be made, too, after removing the tape.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 3:04:58 GMT -5
2 "very provisional" pictures of the right end : The barn and silo were found on the Bay 2 years ago. The farm will be near the upper depot and the street to the village. Fields are supposed to be "outside" of the layout (maybe I 'll suggest such a field along the right edge)
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Post by markm on Nov 21, 2019 10:52:43 GMT -5
It's coming along nicely. I recognize a couple of building from (as I recall) a Kibri kit of 7. You have such a fine silo, this must be a diary farm. A few cows gazing on the hillside above the tunnels...just a thought. I would say that the water tank design seems a little out of place. A fine farm as you designed would most likely have a tank shed: It's really your tower with wood siding on the legs in it's simplest form. It could provide a storage space or living space for farm workers by adding a door or window, and in a pinch you could fire up a stove to keep the water in the tank from freezing (or so my granddad told me). Just another thought. Mark
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 12:27:18 GMT -5
Thanks Mark, but I was happy to get the water tower in its present form (Shapeways), I had to contact the designer because it was initially N scale ... I think that adding the planks around the legs would "destroy" the initial "US-like", traditional look (as Europeans imagine it) and the tower would too much resemble the Swedish Emadalen water tower by Walt at Shapeways ... In addition I will put a fence on top of the hill over the tunnel, and then a few trees. Your idea with the cows is good, I did already buy the milk trucks (still from Shapeways). The only Kibri kit is the house and, as Zscalehobo wrote in a former thread, it is from Kibri #36830, "americanized" by milling and adding the white Evergreen profiles. The barn and silo were readymade, found on the Bay. The windmill is by Nansen Street Models (photoetched), all remaining structures at the farm are Outland Models (not yet painted). I will add a garage between the house and the barn ... and a fuel tank to the house, fixed so it will be accessible for refilling ! The small "restaurant" in the valley was initially the Logging Diner House (by Walt at Shapeways, too), I added a billboard on two legs (3D-printed in brass) on the roof with the Name "Boar's Nest" and the logo as decals (greetings from "The Dukes of Hazzard" ) The piers for the bridge, left, with the retaining walls, were custom 3D-printed.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 10:56:23 GMT -5
A few months ago, I was discussing the platforms for the signals along the track. Here is an example, signals are not yet glued (with double sided tape), and track is not yet ballasted, so the screws for the platforms (3D-printed) can be seen.
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Post by markm on Jan 11, 2020 12:00:17 GMT -5
Looks good although the platforms seem a bit high. I would expect them to be no higher than the distance between the ladder rungs. Will you be adding a relay box nearby?
Mark
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