Subject:
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Re: New Idea for Rail Ties
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 22 Sep 2000 17:07:26 GMT
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Reply-To:
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johnneal@uswest.net/stopspam/
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Viewed:
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35 times
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, John Neal writes:
> > Check this out: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=1399
> >
> > I have come up with an idea to heighten the realism of the LEGO 9 volt
> > track.
> >
> > First, I laid down a 10 wide row of black plates. Then I laid down the
> > track. I next filled in the gaps in the track with dark gray 2x4 plates
> > on the inside, and 1x2s on the outside. Then I laid down the brown 1x4
> > tiles. Ideally, the outside 1x2 tiles would be replaced with 1x1 brown
> > tiles-- however, these do not currently exist AFAIK.
> >
> > Of course, curves will be a little trickier, but I thought I'd toss this
> > out first to see what folk think. If a lot thought the idea had merit,
> > I'd go and figure out the curves and perhaps we could give a unified cry
> > to LD for bulk dark gray 1x2, 2x4 plates; and 1x1, 1x4 brown tiles. We
> > would need *a lot* of them:-)
>
> Kind of pretty. I see a few minor problems, though:
>
> - the underlayment of black doesn't go out far enough
Prolly not high enough either. It would look better with 1x1 tiles on the
outside instead of 1x2s.
> - track ties are never brown. (LGB got it wrong) They start out black and fade
> to a weathered grey over the years as the creosote leaches out. So the dark
> grey we are using now is actually the right color
> - The ties you've come up with are a bit too high, the rails look like they
> are sunk in
> - the biggie: cost. I suspect this would cost hugely.
The coloring is going to be a problem because if we make the ties dark gray,
there will be no color distinction between bed and tie. That wouldn't look good
either. So would you say that black would be better as a tie color than brown?
As far as the rails looking sunk down, it is unavoidable. All I did was put a
tile on the current tie; no way to go lower. Cost would be a factor, but all
this assumes that the pieces would be available in bulk, so it wouldn't be *that*
great.
> It would be nice if TLC got the tie (sleeper for you UK and european types)
> width and spacing "right". Which begs the question, what is right? This
> problem comes up in G. The right tie spacing if you assume the track is meter
> gauge
I'm confused. If you are assuming that the track is meter gauge, than you *are*
implying about a 1:29 scale, or Belville children sized adults. I can put LEGO
wheels on my 14 wides and run them on LEGO track and call it narrow gauge (about
42")
> (implying a 1:22.5 scale like LGB) is wrong if you assume the track is
> standard gauge (implying more like a 1:32 scale ala the Aristocraft trains).
> So a tie spacing that made 6 wide guys happy would possibly be too close
> together for the 8 widers and vice versa.
Well, I think we would have to simply say that a tie would be 1 stud wide. In
order to keep things even, the spaces could be 1 stud as well, although
proportionally I think it should be closer to 1.5 studs wide. Of course, don't
the Europeans and Americans use different spacing themselves?
> It's a toy so I guess I can live with the current tie spacing. Put it this
> way, if TLC fixed either the track geometry or the tie spacing, which would
> you pick? I'd go for track geometry, the current switch/point/turnout geometry
> is SO BAD it's not funny. Fixing both would be better of course
Well, *if* they would fix it, it would be the time to fix *everything* I've
thought about this a lot, and I think that the way to go would be flex track.
Anybody have major aversions to flex track over perhaps TLC producing, say, 2
different radii?
-John
> But if your idea leads to TLC making lots of brown tile available at a good
> price, that would suit me just fine.
>
> ++Lar
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: New Idea for Rail Ties
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| (...) Prolly. <tie spacing> American practice is to have a rather weird spacing that varies from one tie to the next and which is spaced so that the average distance apart is such that it does not match anyone's stride walking or running. This is (...) (24 years ago, 22-Sep-00, to lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: New Idea for Rail Ties
|
| (...) Kind of pretty. I see a few minor problems, though: - the underlayment of black doesn't go out far enough - track ties are never brown. (LGB got it wrong) They start out black and fade to a weathered grey over the years as the creosote leaches (...) (24 years ago, 22-Sep-00, to lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains)
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