Portland Cement on Model Railroad Layouts?

[Trucklover]

Hi guys

I got a crazy idea that just sorta popped in my head lol

Has anyone every used real cement like Portland Cement on there layouts? I am doing some highway bridges/ramps and i thought maybe it would be possible to make molds for the barriers on either side of highway bridges and ramps using Portland Cement. Portland Cement is the powdered cement with no aggregate in it. There is also Portland Plastic Cement which is used mostly for walls and such like that. I think either one would work for molds and i was also thinking of lining the walls of the highway ramps and then scribing i some expansion joints and such to simulate concrete. I had originally intended to buy cardstock from a Gal in Canada that sells cardstock sheets with various brick, concrete, street.... prints on them.

How does this idea sound? Am i to far out there on this idea? I dont think it would be very heavy at all since the barriers would be skinny and at the most 5/8" tall. What do you guys think?

[ezdays]

I think there's a recent article in MRR about using real cement for making a cement factory or something. I'm not sure that pure cement has much strength, but even so, what's wrong with good old plaster of Paris? Seems like the setup time is a lot shorter and you can buy it in smaller batches rather than 60# bags.

[e-paw]

Plaster is probably the better idea , plus it's lighter than cement.( no need for monster bench work.)

[Charlie B]

In the Linka building group there was some discussion about various cements for outdoor use (waterproof). One fellow mentioned he was using "Tuff Stone" gypsum cement from U S Gypsum, some others recommend the vinyl concrete patching cement. some of this sets up fairly fast, (Sackreet makes some varieties) and is inexpensive compared to some other products.
I have not tried them myself, just passing the information along.
Charlie

[eightyeightfan1]

A couple of years ago, Model Railroader did run an article, using light weight cement(Is there such a thing?) ,
The guy made molds to make a modern poured concrete emabankment wall.
You might have to go to MR website and look it up. Old age has given me a memory lapse as to when it was published.

[Trucklover]

I think there's a recent article in MRR about using real cement for making a cement factory or something. I'm not sure that pure cement has much strength, but even so, what's wrong with good old plaster of Paris? Seems like the setup time is a lot shorter and you can buy it in smaller batches rather than 60# bags.

Plaster is probably the better idea , plus it's lighter than cement.( no need for monster bench work.)

Good Points Don and e-paw. Ill have to look into that real cement article and see if i can find it

[Trucklover]

In the Linka building group there was some discussion about various cements for outdoor use (waterproof). One fellow mentioned he was using "Tuff Stone" gypsum cement from U S Gypsum, some others recommend the vinyl concrete patching cement. some of this sets up fairly fast, (Sackreet makes some varieties) and is inexpensive compared to some other products.
I have not tried them myself, just passing the information along.
Charlie

Thanks for the info Charlie. I used to work at Lowes and we had all that in my department (lumber/building materials). The Vinyl concrete patching cement was a liquid and came in a large bottle. Im not sure how well it would do poured into a mold.... lol

[Trucklover]

A couple of years ago, Model Railroader did run an article, using light weight cement(Is there such a thing?) ,
The guy made molds to make a modern poured concrete emabankment wall.
You might have to go to MR website and look it up. Old age has given me a memory lapse as to when it was published.

I just did a search on MR's website and i couldnt find anything Maybe i wasnt searching in the right place or with the right keywords, but all i was getting was news articles, no actual articles from previous issues. Is there somewhere else to search the database for articles from previous issues?

[e-paw]

using light weight cement

I have never come across light weight cement. Fast setting, high strength, and fiberglass reinforced are a few I know about. If you find a light weight version it would be interesting, and what are it's uses.

[Russ Bellinis]

Most of the weight of cement is in the aggregates and sand that is mixed with the cement to make concrete. I remember seeing articles in the modeling mags back in the 1980's about mixing cement with shredded paper to make a hard shell for scenery. I think the mixture called for 2 parts of shredded newspaper to one part cement mixed with water to about the consistency of paper mache. It seems to me that a friend of mine tried it on a layout and found that it was quite a bit lighter than the usual hydrocal material that was popular at the time. He also found that if he wasn't careful about using only black and white newsprint and accidently got some collored paper in from an advertising supplement that he got some rather brightly colored scenery base!

[doctorwayne]

I just did a search on MR's website and i couldnt find anything Maybe i wasnt searching in the right place or with the right keywords, but all i was getting was news articles, no actual articles from previous issues. Is there somewhere else to search the database for articles from previous issues?

Josh, click on "Resources" at the top of the Trains.com page, then select "Index of Magazines". This won't give you the article itself, but will tell you in which magazine it can be found.

Wayne

[jim currie]

if i were to use real cement i would use mortar mix and add some N scale ballast for aggregate
Jim

[shaygetz]

Cement has the ability to draw moisture to it, one of the reasons why carpenters use treated lumber on the bottom of their stud walls. If you go to the early daze of modeling, you'll find not only Portland cement used, but asbestos powder mixed with either cement or plaster. Linoleum paste and wheat paste paper mache' was also used at one time. We got it better nowadaze.

[Russ Bellinis]

The article I'm thinking of may have been in Railroad Model Craftsman, I was subscribing to both mags at the time. If it was in Model Railroader, it may have been one of their brief sidebars connected with a feature layout article, in which case a search probably won't turn up anything. I just remember that the mix was shredded paper, cement, and water to the consistency of paste or paper mache.

[Trucklover]

Josh, click on "Resources" at the top of the Trains.com page, then select "Index of Magazines". This won't give you the article itself, but will tell you in which magazine it can be found.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne

Anchor Bolt Cement, thats what you wanna use if you wanna cast something to look like concrete

I learned this from Lance on his web site: http://www.lancemindheim.com/ He also did an article in MR (that i have by the way ) about building a loading dock/team track