For all of You Train Lovers

Hey-O said:

Now that you mention it, I think I've seen one myself. Doesn't it pinch the rails and lift, push out the old and push in the new ones?

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It's used not just for tie replacement, but to lift and level. Those four gray/silver vertical arms near the center of the machine in the photo that Coronet-Arch posted are used to thrust into the ballast on either side of a tie, then they angle inward on all sides, compressing the ballast directly under the tie to alleviate soft spots and firm up support. I saw them in operation all the time. They work like this:



Ties go by different names; here we call them a railway tie, in England or Australia they're known as a sleeper.

By the way, there are also different types of ballast with different appearances. Usually it's crushed rock, very angular in shape, and usually granite or limestone, selected for their durability and resistance to being crushed and weathered. Often, a layer of ballast is all that's used in light duty sidings or secondary routes, while main lines are more robust, with a base layer of sub ballast which can include crushed concrete and sand, and an upper layer of regular crush. Top layers are generally graded between 25-60mm, or 1" to 2 1/2" in size and provide a good anchor to prevent rail movement, especially needed on curves. Main line ballast is often laid to a depth of half a meter or 20 inches.

Gravel is sometimes used, but due to being rounder, it is less effective at providing a good anchor and can shift around, so isn't normally seen on a main line track. It does provide good drainage though, something needed for all types of ballast and will work for sidings or light use areas but should still be a minimum of 150mm or six inches deep.

In areas close to a mill, crushed slag is as good as crushed rock and may be more economical.




Those concrete ties aren't foolproof either. Originally praised for their resistance to rot compared to wood, time has shown that they can be subject to wear from rubbing on the ballast, causing them to get thinner. Much work and research has been ongoing to develop harder types of concrete for this use, including the inclusion of steel fibers, fumed silica, fly ash and other materials. It's an ongoing science.

Photon440 said:

It's used not just for tie replacement, but to lift and level. Those four gray/silver vertical arms near the center of the machine in the photo that Coronet-Arch posted are used to thrust into the ballast on either side of a tie, then they angle inward on all sides, compressing the ballast directly under the tie to alleviate soft spots and firm up support. I saw them in operation all the time. They work like this:

View attachment 1932608

Ties go by different names; here we call them a railway tie, in England or Australia they're known as a sleeper.

By the way, there are also different types of ballast with different appearances. Usually it's crushed rock, very angular in shape, and usually granite or limestone, selected for their durability and resistance to being crushed and weathered. Often, a layer of ballast is all that's used in light duty sidings or secondary routes, while main lines are more robust, with a base layer of sub ballast which can include crushed concrete and sand, and an upper layer of regular crush. Top layers are generally graded between 25-60mm, or 1" to 2 1/2" in size and provide a good anchor to prevent rail movement, especially needed on curves. Main line ballast is often laid to a depth of half a meter or 20 inches.

Gravel is sometimes used, but due to being rounder, it is less effective at providing a good anchor and can shift around, so isn't normally seen on a main line track. It does provide good drainage though, something needed for all types of ballast and will work for sidings or light use areas but should still be a minimum of 150mm or six inches deep.

In areas close to a mill, crushed slag is as good as crushed rock and may be more economical.
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Those concrete ties aren't foolproof either. Originally praised for their resistance to rot compared to wood, time has shown that they can be subject to wear from rubbing on the ballast, causing them to get thinner. Much work and research has been ongoing to develop harder types of concrete for this use, including the inclusion of steel fibers, fumed silica, fly ash and other materials. It's an ongoing science.

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Thank you, I enjoyed that! The science behind all of it is incredible. The shape of the tracks and the wheels of the train itself to compensate for the shorter radius on one side or the other in turns is so clever and simple. I remember now where I've seen one, out back behind my shop at Chrysler. My shop backed up to two of the spur lines that fed the back side of our plant, body shop and the other from Cassens. I watched them fix a derailment that flipped three train cars full of vehicles. That's another story. The ballast in your picture is granite, the same colors as the hillsides I'm carving, light black, dark grays, light grays and different shades of brown. I bought a tract of land once that had so much granite you couldn't drill a well, that's another one of my weird money making story. It worked so well, I did it twice!! LOL. Again, thank you guys. I'm learning and remembering everyday!!

Coronet_Arch said:

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A tamping machine that lifts the rails above the ballast. I saw these in action on the main line that backed up to the property I grew up on.

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I just saw one of those yesterday in NH. Didn’t know what it was. Thanks!

Most will say don't buy used track, I say, why not. I gave everything away and this time I bought used and cleaned, and decked each piece to new condition. I bought flex track which can be bent, cut and shaped into tighter turns when needed. Each one of these turn outs cost 20 to 30 dollars, I bought a guys whole layout and have twice what I need. Each piece is inspected and brought back to perfect or it goes in the parts box. Testing the turn outs with temporary power to insure no problems down the road. I have 15 of these and the whole track layout cost me about 130 dollars shipped. My labor is free.

Playing with trains is something that we all grew up with, but today, younger kids have zero interest in them. The same with slot cars.

Richard Cranium said:

Playing with trains is something that we all grew up with, but today, younger kids have zero interest in them. The same with slot cars.

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Luckily mine do.

My dad, who is almost 80, still has his S gauge A.C Gilbert, American Flyer set, circa mid 1950s I believe.

My interest in working on toys has changed, not my interest in working. It's fun to be able to do whatever you feel like, but I'll always have a Hotrod.

As I work my way around, I use this train car on the track to constantly remind myself which track is positive. As I feed the power to the track, hooking them up backwards is not an option.

Hey-O said:

As I work my way around, I use this train car on the track to constantly remind myself which track is positive. As I feed the power to the track, hooking them up backwards is not an option.
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Looks like you're on the right track to me.

DeltaV said:

Looks like you're on the right track to me.

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You're way smarter than that, you know I've been derailed for years.

Hey-O said:

As I work my way around, I use this train car on the track to constantly remind myself which track is positive. As I feed the power to the track, hooking them up backwards is not an option.
View attachment 1933385

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Are you going old school DC or DCC? I wired my layout to work both ways as I still have some great older locomotives.

FitzyB5 said:

Are you going old school DC or DCC? I wired my layout to work both ways as I still have some great older locomotives.

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I know nothing about DCC. I guess I'm just going to get a decent DC locomotive and move on from there. I have one now, but it's more of a toy, than a true quality locomotive. My real goal is the diorama and the building of it. The train is more for me building this little world around. I've bought finished and kits for houses, stores, diner, bar, firehouse, gas station, farm house, fire lookout tower, the list goes on. Cars, trucks, boats, boat docks.

I started laying out the other today. Lay it out, change my mind, start over. The problem is you only have so much room for all these ideas and I really don't want this to turn into building a country!! LOL. I'm open to, and would appreciate any recommendations on locomotives you may have or insight on DCC.

Hey-O said:

I know nothing about DCC. I guess I'm just going to get a decent DC locomotive and move on from there. I have one now, but it's more of a toy, than a true quality locomotive. My real goal is the diorama and the building of it. The train is more for me building this little world around. I've bought finished and kits for houses, stores, diner, bar, firehouse, gas station, farm house, fire lookout tower, the list goes on. Cars, trucks, boats, boat docks.

I started laying out the other today. Lay it out, change my mind, start over. The problem is you only have so much room for all these ideas and I really don't want this to turn into building a country!! LOL. I'm open to, and would appreciate any recommendations on locomotives you may have or insight on DCC.

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DC control varies voltage on the track via rheostat. DCC or digital command control maintains a constant voltage on track and you communicate to each locomotive individually to operate them.

DeltaV said:

Looks like you're on the right track to me.

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I bought this a few minutes. I will manal toggle switch from my old DC controller to this DCC.