Where is it scraping? Do you have stuff hanging below the railhead?
Some track cleaning cars will do this:
None of my F Scale stuff scrapes, but I’ve had a little dragging of 1:29 loco plows; steps and side frames. I do have a small grade transition just after the cement crossing which I am sure contributes. Plan on cleaning out the flange ways before every run. - It looks great by the way, and should work fine.
The only part of the layout with track now has plants, making it a garden railway for the first time:
(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Sweet! Looks spouse pleasing.
We have been very busy this spring/summer in the back yard.
First, the pizza oven is finished and we have been eating a lot of delicious pizza. Aside from missing stucco, this is the finished product. There will be a countertop/prep area to the right on those stone supports.
I am focused on getting down the hill from the house to the lower yard by fall. This includes a freight yard at the top of the hill, and then a fairly constant grade of around 2% - 2.5% over two bridges and a trestle. After weighing the options for supporting the track, I have decided to go with concrete for this portion. All of it is supported by frost-depth footings so it won’t move. Especially for the yard, I wanted to be able to securely attach (glue) the track to get nice straight, clean lines and keep everything level.
First, I poured a 8" slab for a grade crossing that we can drive a tractor or even a car over. This will be topped by a custom Splitjaw “Walk-On” crossing - a 6’ x 18" sheet of black marine plastic with two sets of rails embedded, 8" on center. I should have this in the next week or two.
The yard slab is supported by a series of frost footings, with rebar tied into that of the slab. The gravel below is uncompacted so it can settle away from the slab, allowing the soil below to heave if it wants to. There is some possibility that this is overkill, but whatever. Below you can see the footings before they were back-filled, and then the progression of the slab being formed and poured.
Here’s a big picture shot from the roof, with and without track sketched onto it. And below that the relationship to the pizza oven. There will be a reverse loop though the empty area with mulch.
Finally, here’s a shot of the curved bridge that Scott at J&S built for me. It’s roughly where it will end up.
Nice work, Eric. Now I’m hungry for pizza and it’s only 9:30am! Rats!
Eric, did you already get the split jaw custom track pieces? I was hoping to get some before they closed up shop.
Greg
Greg-
I ordered it about a month ago, and they just received the plastic sheet from their supplier this past week. I expect it next week. It will be a single piece.
Great, maybe I can order some too.
By the way, the oven is BIG!! You could cook a wading pool in the size of the structure! I assume there’s more than just the oven in that structure?
The ID of the dome is 36 inches, so by the time you add the brick, insulation, framing, sheathing it’s a little over 5 feet Wide/deep. The wide-angle lens in that photo may be exaggerating it.
I’m coming over for a 36" pizza! (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
I’ve finished the yard slab and roughly laid out the track. The cardboard box is the station location.
Looking the other direction, I’m working my way downgrade toward the first bridge. Red Zip and white PVC are just for visualization.
These slabs are cast in place on piers, but the whole thing will eventually be buried in the landscape.
A view back from the waterfall:
And a poorly-lit panorama from below the pond. The yellow tape measure is the rough ROW.
That’s going to be a great pike !
It’s been a long time since I’ve uploaded photos. I took a bunch this morning:
Interesting, you used clear air line? Be sure to keep it out of the sun.
Greg
Yes, the clear stuff is all in conduit underground. It switches to brown at a junction box next to the yard.
Was the clear stuff cheaper, or just the first stuff you bought?
Greg
Cheaper. I bought a spool of the brown stuff from SVRR first. I intentionally got clear, though, so I could see if any moisture or crud gets in it. It was $130 for a thousand feet.