I’ve always wanted a mossy environment, or to be able to grow the stuff around the old pike, I’ve never been able to do it successfully. Maybe I should be just as glad. Just goes to show you… I guess the moss is always greener on the other side of the mountains.
Bob McCown said:
Bruce Chandler said:
Bob McCown said:
Steve Featherkile said:
Bob McCown said:
My biggest error so far is going with AMS track. The ties are NOT UV-stable, and a lot of my ties are greying and brittle. I’m not real happy.
Paint the ties.
That’ll work for any new stuff I put down (which isnt going to be much) but existing track is crumbling and have to be re-tied. That’s a giant PITA.
Have you tried complaining to Accucraft? Seems that might be worth a shot.
I sent them an email last year when I started noticing this, but never heard back. Once the snow clears off everything Im going to measure bad track, take pictures, and email them again. They’re supposed to have a lifetime warranty.
The wheels are in motion to resolve my issue.
John; I’m right with you on the moss. I have tried without much success, in the past to grow it, but in hindsight, it’s just as well that it didn’t grow. Moss on wood roadbed usually thrives if the wood is rotting. Rotting roadbed is the last thing I need.
John Le Forestier said:
I’ve always wanted a mossy environment, or to be able to grow the stuff around the old pike, I’ve never been able to do it successfully. Maybe I should be just as glad. Just goes to show you… I guess the moss is always greener on the other side of the mountains.
I have one area of my railroad where the moss grows real well. I tray and keep it undisturbed when I relevel that section of the railroad. But, when it gets bushy enough, the wheels crush some of it into the rails and I get that back gunk that is a real good insulator. So that section of track needs to be cleaned more frequently. Since moss, at least the variety I have, is so fine, I have to use a good pair of scissors to trim it back from the rail heads. So it gives a nice grassy overgrown look to that section of track, but it does have its drawbacks.
The only thing I have that grows around the tracks is weeds. This time of year I have to inspect the tracks weekly to get the latest weeds.
So far my biggest track mistake has been the use of S-Curves. I have four different LGB R1 S-Curves. I didn’t have an issue with them until I got a new train for my son this past weekend, and it did not play nice with them. Each and every one of them would derail at least one car. Hoping to resolve the issue by bumping them up to R2 S-Curves, which I’ll test first before installing more permanently. I hope it works since the garden forces the need for such a curve.
Reuben Brown said:
So far my biggest track mistake has been the use of S-Curves. I have four different LGB R1 S-Curves. I didn’t have an issue with them until I got a new train for my son this past weekend, and it did not play nice with them. Each and every one of them would derail at least one car. Hoping to resolve the issue by bumping them up to R2 S-Curves, which I’ll test first before installing more permanently. I hope it works since the garden forces the need for such a curve.
Reuben, I don’t think that increasing the radius is going to help, much. The problem is not the tightness of the curve, but the geometry of shifting from one direction to another. The couplers don’t like it, and drag the wheels off the track.
What will solve the problem is Lynn Westcott’s rule of the S curve, putting a straight, the length of your longest piece of rolling stock, whether car or locomotive, in-between each curve. Lynn Westcott is gone now, but he is still a guru among layout designers.
I knew there was something that I once read that you could do. Now I know where I read it! And it was when I was a kid! I hadn’t heard that name since the days of John Allen!
Great tip, and good to know while I’m back at the drawing board. I’d be a little more upset if I wasn’t already redesigning/remodeling to get rid of my R1 curves. Rookie mistakes.
Reuben Brown said:
So far my biggest track mistake has been the use of S-Curves. I have four different LGB R1 S-Curves. I didn’t have an issue with them until I got a new train for my son this past weekend, and it did not play nice with them. Each and every one of them would derail at least one car. Hoping to resolve the issue by bumping them up to R2 S-Curves, which I’ll test first before installing more permanently. I hope it works since the garden forces the need for such a curve.
I participate in a layout design forum and when it comes to critiquing layout plans the first thing to look for are the infamous S-curves. Same goes when I see pictures of layouts still in the building stage. I tell the builder that he/she will be sorry and then … show them how to avoid those curves by rearranging the same pieces of track that they’re already using.
The reactions are mixed. 
From “Thanks, I never thought of that” to "It’s my railroad, I build it my way!! 
"
No skin off my nose, everyone is entitled to learn the hard way. 
David Maynard said:
. I tray and keep it undisturbed when I relevel that section of the railroad. But, when it gets bushy enough, the wheels crush some of it into the rails and I get that back gunk that is a real good insulator. So that section of track needs to be cleaned more frequently. Since moss, at least the variety I have, is so fine, I have to use a good pair of scissors to trim it back from the rail heads. So it gives a nice grassy overgrown look to that section of track, but it does have its drawbacks.
How about a weedkiller car gently allowing weedkiller to dribble out of a spraybar at the rear and just the width of the ties (max)…Might help.
Save the old back from problems.
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Reuben Brown said:
So far my biggest track mistake has been the use of S-Curves. I have four different LGB R1 S-Curves. I didn’t have an issue with them until I got a new train for my son this past weekend, and it did not play nice with them. Each and every one of them would derail at least one car. Hoping to resolve the issue by bumping them up to R2 S-Curves, which I’ll test first before installing more permanently. I hope it works since the garden forces the need for such a curve.
I participate in a layout design forum and when it comes to critiquing layout plans the first thing to look for are the infamous S-curves. Same goes when I see pictures of layouts still in the building stage. I tell the builder that he/she will be sorry and then … show them how to avoid those curves by rearranging the same pieces of track that they’re already using.
The reactions are mixed.
No skin off my nose, everyone is entitled to learn the hard way.
But remind me to ask you when or if I ever get to build a railroad again.
Ross Mansell said:
David Maynard said:
. I tray and keep it undisturbed when I relevel that section of the railroad. But, when it gets bushy enough, the wheels crush some of it into the rails and I get that back gunk that is a real good insulator. So that section of track needs to be cleaned more frequently. Since moss, at least the variety I have, is so fine, I have to use a good pair of scissors to trim it back from the rail heads. So it gives a nice grassy overgrown look to that section of track, but it does have its drawbacks.
How about a weedkiller car gently allowing weedkiller to dribble out of a spraybar at the rear and just the width of the ties (max)…Might help.
Save the old back from problems.
If I wanted to kill the moss, that would be simple. since its growing on my ballast, it can easily be lifted off the tracks and tossed into my neighbor’s yard (just kidding). I like the look, and want to keep the moss. I actually want to propagate it and cover more areas with it. But it does have its drawbacks.
my biggest mistake was not building my curves large enough to accomidate my USA trains streamliners. In my defense I didn’t think in the beginning I would get equipment this big. My fake railroad had a boom in ridership and purchased the cars after receiving a great deal on them. Along with the curves I realized that early on I should have gone with bigger turnouts. I have since fixed both of these conditions.
I wish I had a longer straight are to sit down my MTH Challenger’s carrier I made. It’s about 55" long and it seems I don’t quite have that, but I do manage. I am glad I got SVRR code 250 track, switches and ground throws, all work great.
Reuben and to other new guys, toss those R1 S curves. I made the mistake early on of using them. They were fine for the short equipment but as my interests grew so did my trains. I now have a near abandoned tunnel that is shaped like a candy cane around R1 curves. Luckily I was able to build a bypass track to avoid the tunnel.
In most areas of my RR I used R2 and R3 thats 5 and 8 foot diameter tracks. last year I went along and replaced all the 5’ with 8’s and the 8’s with 10’ diameter pieces. It wasn’t easy in some spots btu I made it work and the trains run and look better. One tunnel I couldn’t improve still has the 5’ diameter curves. I also swapped out all my tight mainline switches to wider radius ones.
The good news when it comes to tight curved tracks most 2 axle per truck engines like a USAT GP38 will be able to navigate down to 5’ diameter track. My largest engine is a Bachmann 2-6-6-2 and as long as the track is level it will go around a 5’ diameter circle.
Overall I wish I had started with the widest curves I could fit in.
The abandoned trackage.
Todd, I also have abandon track, so I built some abandon boxcars to occupy the abandon track.
