Track rework in thru plate girder bridge area

When Coalfinger Ken was over with the NCIOG group he was running his steam engine on the layout and discovered a REALLY bad track area on the uphill side of the plate girder bridge. Notice below that there is a big gap between the bottom of the level and the rail. This "hump" was de-railing his loco and it had to be repaired.


To make matters worse, there was also a kink in the track on the entrance to the bridge - a double whammy!

Since I had only put a couple of drops of glue on the bottom of the bridge it was very easy to pry it loose from the Styrofoam "concrete" piers.

Here I've put a spacer under the bridge to show how much the track leading to the bridge needs to be raised. I think where I went wrong originally was when I cut plywood sub bed it sagged resulting in the mismatch.

The track has to go, so I start by cutting the feeder wires.

Next I cut next to the cork where the landscaping is attached. Note the mother and son watching the process.

I used 50/50 white glue/water to glue down the cork, so an application of 70% alcohol helps dissolve the glue. As I put down the alcohol it wicks under the cork.

With the track gone it's time to use some elbow grease (and extra alcohol) to get up the rest of the cork.

It didn't take long to discover that this was going to be a long process, so I grabbed a nice soft rubber mat to help save the Dogs!

Here I'm checking the track with a car to make sure it's free rolling and no more hump.

The Styrofoam spacer has been cut and attached using 5 minute epoxy. Why epoxy? It's strong, foam safe, dries fast, and doesn't add much extra thickness. The spacer and existing support both had their edges beveled so that the lightweight Spackle would fill the crack.

Here's the spacer after it's been painted. Note the prototypical crack along the top horizontal edge - just like the real thing!

Graph paper was taped together and cut to make a template for the new roadbed. The new ramp piece was cut out of a piece of 3/16" Masonite following the template.

What the heck are these? They are 3/8" dowel rods cut into 1-1/2" pieces. They will be used to support the roadbed Masonite piece.

The 3/8" dowel rod pieces were inserted into holes drilled into the existing sub roadbed. They are a tight "slip fit" to allow them to be moved up and down.

After all of the holes were drilled and the dowels inserted, the Masonite roadbed piece was put on top and the dowels moved up or down to get the proper slope to the piece.

Here's a closeup of the dowels.(not in final position).

Once the Masonite roadbed slope was set properly, the dowels were affixed in place using the 5 minute epoxy.

Next the top of each dowel received a coat of yellow carpenter glue and the Masonite roadbed (with cork already installed) was installed on top. I used what I had handy for weights, which happened to be soft drinks from the NCIOG Friday night session.

Even though I had beveled the Masonite using a rasp it still was a little too thick. I cut it short and used styrene sheet of reducing thickness to make the transition to the final level ( existing plywood). The sheets were glued to each other using styrene glue and glued to the plywood with Alene's Tacky Glue. After the glue was dry I glued on the final strips of cork roadbed.

What's going on here? I saved the Masonite template and used it here to attach the track and curve it to the final angle. I soldered a piece of 36" Atlas code 83 flex track to a 9" piece of sectional track while they were straight, thus eliminating the possibility of a kink. I'm using this "jig" to paint the track with camo dark brown spray paint. The reason I painted the track in the final position is because when the track is flexed (curved) and painted it covers all areas.

Here's the track after it was glued down using latex caulk and weighted while the caulk was drying.

Of course, the scenery has to be reworked in this area because of the new roadbed and elevation. The area was sprayed with 70% alcohol and scraped to remove most of the grass. The trees and bushes were also removed.

When I first started model railroading I bought a 25 lb bag of Sculptamold because I read how great it was. I've never used it since purchasing it; however, I needed something that wasn't as messy as plaster. I mixed it according to the instructions and it is the perfect material for this process as it is easy to use, not messy at all, and has a generous working time ( 15 minutes or more!). The product is slow drying, so the landscape will have to wait a few days.

I ran trains over the new section and it is much improved! No more hump or kink. Thanks, Ken!