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 Posted - October 23 2014 : 11:19:45 PM
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I'm planning a small trolley layout with a short loop of HO track circling a city block. Ideally I'd like for the track to be set in the road so only the rails are visible. There are a couple of pre-made options available, but I'd like to keep things on the cheap. Any suggestions?
My only idea so far is to fasten down the track, cover the top/inside of the rails, and then pour plaster onto the surface of the road/in between the rails until everything is covered. I've done it before for a level crossing, just not sure how well it will work for several feet of track...
Any ideas welcome! 
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Posted - October 24 2014 : 12:08:04 AM
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There's plenty of cheap thin styreme available that you can cut to fit between the rails, even curves. Unfortunately there is not a lot of "cheap" ready-made roadbed out there for trolley systems, I bookmarked some recently that is $10 for a 3-piece set that is only 9 inches long, enough for each piece of 9 inch track. Yikes. That will add up quickly. and that's for a single track only. There are also thin gray foam sheets you can find at craft stores like Micheal's, some even have an adhesive side to them, that would be fairly cheap to use. Plaster will be messy, and hard to keep away from the rails when pouring. I'm thinking of trying the foam, I have 6 of the vintage Manua corner cable car tracks ( no straights ), and am thinking the foam will be the cheapest and easiest to work with. I want to build a small foamboard trolley layout of 2 x 3 foot dimensions, nothing big or fancy right now. But that's my suggestions.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - October 24 2014 : 12:58:25 AM
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Body Filler!! Sounds interesting, Eric... But I'm not sure what would be good to use here. Certainly not the body filler...
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Posted - October 24 2014 : 10:19:35 AM
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Thanks guys, the wheels in my head are starting to turn!
Jerry, I've seen the pre-made stuff and...ouch. I hadn't considered using the foam sheets though. Cut it to the shape of the road and then remove a strip down the middle where the track will be. That would bring the road up to the same height as the rails. The gaps between the road and outside of the rails could then be filled in (perhaps with body filler, Walt! ) and the gap in between the rails could then be filled with plaster. The plaster would be a little messy, but in my mind would look better than styrene sheets. The hardest part of the crossing pictured above was keeping the grooves deep enough to accommodate the large flanges on some of my rolling stock. The flanges on my trolleys are much smaller.
Walt, something a consistency in between body filler and plaster would serve me well in this case. 
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