Paper Track

(Yes, except for rails and spikes)

This is an experiment that pre-dates the Shingle Shed and Shifty Shack--Paper Track!  Ok, forgive the bad rhyme.  I wanted (need is a strong word) a piece of ON30 track, and I dreaded cutting little wood ties and ballasting (my most hated task).  I also wanted the impression of detail.  While not to the standards of anything prototypical, I made paper tie plates to match the size of HO spikes, and reduced the number of spikes to something a human could manage. . .

These are the bits on their frets.  Although so much is not prototypical, for some reason I decided to draw 39' lengths, which is sort of prototypical. . . . . since one drawing can be flipped and mirrored, I can get 4 variants from this length, enough to avoid the appearance of repetition.  The notches identify the sections, and let me get things stacked.

Everything was painted on the fret, and then glued together still on the fret. . . . The first result?

Spiked the rail and then touched up the paint . . . the cinder ballast is. . .painted 60 grit sand paper laser cut so the ties (laminated paper) could sit into it.  I sized the ties to standard gauge to show of the narrowness of the track gauge. . .


Not a bad first test, though, we will see what sticks, and what is done differently next time. . . .

I like being able to stack and align the frets, such that the individual parts go down easily, in one swoop.

Aside from the touch up on the spike heads, the track was complete and weathered once assembly was complete. 

I am working on drawing a turnout now.