Large Scale Central

Road Redeaux - 9 photos

[b]Time to repair the roads in Coos Bay. The former thorough fairs were thorough only in their absolute failure. So…in keeping with the POC practice of using tried and true methods something new was tried truly. :wink: Mortar Mix! Forms were put up and filled with dirt, rock, etc. About half an inch of dry mortar mix was spread over the top with a foam brush as smooth as possible…

The grade crossing was protected by masking tape.

Everything was thoroughly soaked through with a fine mist from the hose. Any uneveness was smoothed with the foam brush and the mortar mix was left to set for about an hour before the forms were removed.

Whoops! This photo came out a little crooked. Guess somebody let that ol’ resident wino get ahold of the camera.

Later in the afternoon the whole area was wetted down a second time so the mix would cure slowly. I used this method on a small section of road prior and it has held up well for two years now. Mortar mix should be easier to remove than cement because it’ll break apart easily when you hit it with something while still standing up well to normal hazards. At least you’ll know the wind won’t move it. The color can be changed by misting an earth color spray paint on the road and a dirt road can be simulated by rubbing dry earth over the surface. Rain may wash much of the color off over the winter but it can be easily refreshed in the Spring. Of course if you apply it wet you can add color while mixing but I liked the dry affect better. In its natural state it looks like a gravel road although the color can vary according to the brand used. The first brand I used for the trial section was a bit too light, almost white in color. It reflected the sunlight so brightly it was difficult to take photos with the proper exposure. Another ongoing experiment. :slight_smile: I’ll let you know if any issues come up. In the meantime there it is, a simple project, for your consideration.[/b]

Looking good. I need to build the truck lot and access roads around the freight house and coal yard at Williamsport, and this should work nicely.

Now U did it. Your going to have bunches of state workers standing around leaning on their shovels all day.

Bob,

One nice thing is that mortar mix is pretty cheap in the larger bags. An 80# bag was around $8 as I recall when I bought mine. In contrast a small 5# bag cost almost $6. I used about 20-25# for the roads, another maybe 10# for a parking area behind the Port Orford depot and just dumped the rest. It doesn’t keep well once it’s opened. Still much cheaper than using smaller bags.

Your railroad is looking great. I’ve been following your progress.

David Kapp said:
Now U did it. Your going to have bunches of state workers standing around leaning on their shovels all day.
I reserve the shovel leaning jobs for myself. The state workers will have to find their own easy touches. :P :D

Actually, here where I live, the state DOT got an award for improving work efficiency.

They had the pockets on their shirts sewn on upside-down so that they had a place to rest their shovels

K

P.S. Your roads look great!!!

Nicely done Richard. More good tips for creating our scenes.

Heard stories about ohdaught.
I thought they had the pockets all sewn shut so that 5 of them couldn’t stand around with their hands in their pockets watching one guy work.

that looks fine.
but if you go on urbanizing your layout, the idea of the permeable base will become obsolete…

The road looks great Richard. Layouts gets better each time.

Richard Smith said:
Bob,

One nice thing is that mortar mix is pretty cheap in the larger bags. An 80# bag was around $8 as I recall when I bought mine. In contrast a small 5# bag cost almost $6. I used about 20-25# for the roads, another maybe 10# for a parking area behind the Port Orford depot and just dumped the rest. It doesn’t keep well once it’s opened. Still much cheaper than using smaller bags.

Your railroad is looking great. I’ve been following your progress.


Wow, you can handle the 80# bags? I guess all that wine really helps :slight_smile: I stopped buying the big bags after just about killing myself loading and unloading 20 of them in the spring.

Roads look great by the way !

That looks great, Richard. Very realistic. And something I’ll try if I ever actually build an outdoor (or any) layout. As for lifting 80-pound bags of anything, them days are gone, along with my back. And need I mention my voice has gone up a few octaves after hefting them bags when I still could. :slight_smile:

Jon Radder said:
Wow, you can handle the 80# bags? I guess all that wine really helps :) I stopped buying the big bags after just about killing myself loading and unloading 20 of them in the spring.
You got pictures Jon?
Shawn said:
The road looks great Richard. Layouts gets better each time.
Brownnoser

:slight_smile:

Hehe! Thanks for the comments all! :slight_smile:

Jon Radder said:
Richard Smith said:
Bob,

One nice thing is that mortar mix is pretty cheap in the larger bags. An 80# bag was around $8 as I recall when I bought mine. In contrast a small 5# bag cost almost $6. I used about 20-25# for the roads, another maybe 10# for a parking area behind the Port Orford depot and just dumped the rest. It doesn’t keep well once it’s opened. Still much cheaper than using smaller bags.

Your railroad is looking great. I’ve been following your progress.


Wow, you can handle the 80# bags? I guess all that wine really helps :slight_smile: I stopped buying the big bags after just about killing myself loading and unloading 20 of them in the spring.

Roads look great by the way !


[b]Jon,

First off I no longer have a need to manhandle 20 80# bags at a time. I handle the bags the same way I do 100 pushups in a series…one each day! :wink: :D[/b]


Great work Richard… I guess you used no other thing than Mortar. I been using Mortar and playground sand for our ballast and seems to works fine.
So going to try your idea for my road that are dirt and redwood saw dust now. This keep washing away in time and has to be re-done a few times in the yr.

The Redwood sawdust when wet down in time looks good in our cattle pens… Looks like a lot of cow dung spread around. lol. But needs mixed with red clay for our dirt roads.

Still not sure how you got it to look like grave yet thro.

Do you mist the Mortar and let it harden up a little before soak it down? Can I make some Auto wheel ruts in it with our messing up the road gravel look?

I notice when doing my ballast I have to lightly mist until I get it to harden a little and not to puddle or go smooth, but then I have sand to help hold the shape on tracks when ballasting and some of the ballast in over 1 inch deep.

Great lookin’ roads, Richard. I wonder if they’d work in my climate (Buffalo, NY)? We get a bit of frost heave and snow around here.

-Kevin.

Neat trick, Richard. I’m going to file off the serial numbers and steal it fair and square for my RR. :lol:

Noel Wilson said:
Great work Richard... I guess you used no other thing than Mortar. I been using Mortar and playground sand for our ballast and seems to works fine. So going to try your idea for my road that are dirt and redwood saw dust now. This keep washing away in time and has to be re-done a few times in the yr.

The Redwood sawdust when wet down in time looks good in our cattle pens… Looks like a lot of cow dung spread around. lol. But needs mixed with red clay for our dirt roads.

Still not sure how you got it to look like grave yet thro.

Do you mist the Mortar and let it harden up a little before soak it down? Can I make some Auto wheel ruts in it with our messing up the road gravel look?

I notice when doing my ballast I have to lightly mist until I get it to harden a little and not to puddle or go smooth, but then I have sand to help hold the shape on tracks when ballasting and some of the ballast in over 1 inch deep.


[b]The gravel look just comes naturally when dry spreading the mortar mix. If you are putting it down wet that could smooth it out too much. I place several piles of dry mortar mix on the road area with a garden spade and then use a regular, cheap foam brush to smooth out the road and even it out. I remove any large clumps as I go. A really light touch at the end feathers everything together.

The first soak is done with as fine of mist as I can get from the hose; I have also used a spray bottle. This takes some time because it’s important to soak the mix thoroughly without disturbing the surface. On the test road I also dampened the location a bit before laying down the dry mortar and this seemed to work pretty well also in assuring that the lower layers were wet except that if too damp the moisture would wick up to the surface before I had a chance to dry smooth it.

After about an hour cure I misted everything a second time (in a dry, hot climate you might have to do this several more times). I wasn’t as fussy the second time as the roads already had some hardness but I was still as careful as my patience would allow. A couple of “boulders” appeared and I carefully removed them. I found the small holes were realistically rounded and looked like small holes you would encounter on such a road so I left them. You can of course drop a small pinch of dry mortar into the hole smoothing it lightly with the foam brush. The surrounding moisture will dampen the additions.

I’m not sure about the wheel ruts. I think it would disrupt the surface too much and isn’t really needed for a fairly solid gravel road. I would suggest a much shorter wait between first and second soakings so as to still have a bit of give without complete softness if you decide to put wheel tracks in. Then you can still feather sharp edges a bit with the foam brush if needed.

I like your idea of the redwood sawdust in the stockpens. I’ll have to try that the next time I make sawdust out of perfectly good redwood. ;)[/b]

dieseldude said:
Great lookin' roads, Richard. I wonder if they'd work in my climate (Buffalo, NY)? We get a bit of frost heave and snow around here.

-Kevin.


I really don’t know Kevin. A mortar road shouldn’t disturb the soil much. I would suggest doing a small road section or driveway before the heavy weather comes this year and see how it holds up. Mortar should be a lot easier to remove than cement in the event it doesn’t work out for you.

Steve Featherkile said:
[b]Neat trick, Richard. I'm going to file off the serial numbers and steal it fair and square for my RR. :lol:[/b]
Pat Pending, the corporate lawyer will be visiting you soon......