Help getting started with Traction
#1
Hey guys,

It may be worth dusting off the cobwebs in the "traction modeling" section, but I am curious if anyone here has experience with it.

At my club, their is a possibility of putting in a trolley. At this point, its seeming unlikely, since there may not be enough time to do it. That said, I was able to establish that a dogbone-style run through our city streets was potentially viable.


My main concern is the track, however. the Girder rail seems to be a different animal than the usual HO tracks. From what I can tell, there is either this "ORR" rail that I would have to hand-lay, or there is the "Proto:87" track, which is actually a flat piece of metal with a groove cut into either side (the top is the flangeway, the bottom is a locating groove).

Either one seems intimidating and expensive.

Any advice on getting started?

Right now I only have an unpowered IHP Kawasaki LRV, but I plan to pick up a few of the local philadelphia prototypes if I get the chance. there are a few SEPTA and PTC "PCC" type units out there, and some resin models of the Red Arrow Double-ended PCCs.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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#2
It may be sacriligious to a true sleet cutter fan, but why not simply use HO flex track? The streets could be done in styrene or even plaster, with flangeways created by using cut-to-fit sections for the former or by using styrene angle stock to create the flangeways, cemented to the ties for the latter. The remainder of the space could then be filled-in using more plaster.

This area of street running trackage was done using .060" sheet styrene for the "pavement". I layed a large sheet of paper over the tracks, then used a pencil to do a rubbing in order to show the rail locations. The paper was then cut out and the edges traced onto the styrene, so that the sections could be cut - I used an X-Acto to initially follow the curved lines, then did the majority of the actual cutting using a utility knife. (It's important to make some reference marks on both the paper and the layout, and on the cut-out pieces of styrene, so that the pavement can be installed in exactly the correct locations - especially so on the curves, which may not be a consistent radius.)

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Wayne
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#3
It may vary with the era modelled.
The TTC is now using what looks like regular rail, heavier than usual, with a groove cut in the concrete beside the rail.
For traditional track, the girder rail would be best looking, but it's expensive and needs a special tool to bend it.
In the 60s, one technique was to solder a piece of code 70 sideways into a piece of code 100. Again, it would need to be bent before assembly.
I always fancied using code 100 with a flangeway of L shaped brass, but I never figured out the curves.
Or just painting the edge of the plaster with rail coloured paint.

Whatever you do, you need to match it closely with the wheels; multiple specifications won't work.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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