# Concrete Crossing Ideas?



## vg3616084 (Aug 17, 2008)

Iâ€™m looking for suggestions about building a crossing area in my sidewalk. My daughter was born with Spina Bifida last year, and I have had to rethink many of the areas of my outdoor layout for her to one day be able to maneuver around the layout we are building (i.e. make sure I do everything I can do so she can be apart of this hobby, even in a wheelchair if she decides to). With that in mind, I am needing to cross different sidewalks at 4 different locations, I will be installing at least 1 maybe 2 in the next week or so. Trying to finish some major work and getting anther line up and running for our Clubs Tour on June 6th. 


I have yet to finish the final track plan for this line, changes every day, some of the crossing may be on a straight and some of it on a combo of 5ft, 6ft radius and straights. 

Here is what I am thinking, if there are other ideas, I would love to hear them. Want to try to do it right the first time so if this has been done and will not workâ€"need to know. ;-) 

I am using a concrete roadbed for this line. 

I have the first major sidewalk in (just poured it this weekend), I will be pouring the roadbed for this line (crossover) lower the thickness of the Aristo 332rail and plastic ties than the sidewalk. 

Roadbed going from East to West.

Using 3-1/2in center of the track to the outside of my roadbed (total width of roadbed 7in), there will be a gap of at least 2in on both side of the roadbed to the side walk, with rebar going from the north sidewalk thru the roadbed to the south sidewalk (sidewalk/roadbed should move together if it does move any). Then I will place and secure my track to the roadbed, then cover the top and sides of the track with masking tape and at the same time some small cardboard (about an 1/8 thick) tape it to the inside of the rail for clearance of any flanges. 

Then just finish the hydrocal out and remove the tape/cardboard after drying. 

I am using hydrocal and not concrete filler for a couple reasons; I have 100+lbs of it for other casting I do and not sure of other product that I could purchase to do the same thing, unless someone had done this before with something that would work better. So, thatâ€™s why I am asking and hopping someone else has done something like this and can offer up some advice. Hydrocal will also setup hard and fast, to help with the impatience I have. ;-) I have been thinking about using some fine cement, but still worried about small rocks getting in the way, with the hyrdrocal, I don't have to worrie about any rocks. 


Below pics may help out with description above. 


















At the end of this side walk is where the frist crossing will be going in.


The sidewalk also may not be streight, my be outside 6ft radius and a insdie of 2ft radius. Still working on forms for concrete, once, I get the roadbed in. 










At the far end of this picture is where the sidewalk will curve around the conect the end of the other sidewalk. Crossing somewhere in there.















At the far end of this photo the side walk will extend another 20 feet to another crossing bringing everything together. With the roadbed and trains running on both sides of the walk. 


I'm putting this line in because I can't run any outside frames on my logging line, due to short radius track. Line will be DC and Battery (some day maybe DCC).

These sidewalks will continue all the way around the layout to the front yard, were I may need even more crossing for a Standard Gauge G line I'm wanting to put in to run some of those SD45's and Dash-9's I never get to run (oh yea and those double stacks my brother never gets to run on his layout-just for you Victor).


Thanks for your thoughts and ideas,



Vernon O. Guess
Broken Arrow, OK


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Vernon, 
Can't say at this point what your daughters condition will be but I used to dowhill ski with a kid that had Spina Bifada about 25 years ago. He got along great. Special skis and poles with outriggers and he loved it. Needed very little assistance. I've not thought of him in years now! 

Sorry I cannot help with the crossing suggestions. I know a few fellows here have done something like this though? Probably documented in the archived section. 

Chas


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Is it worth considering building the whole layout on benchwork? Richard Smith's magnificent Port Orford Railway is all built on bechnchwork. He has soil on it in places, with plants, and rock formations; it's wide enough for multiple tracks. It's really stunning--just do a search in the "buildings" forum for "Orford." Someone made a pdf. of the whole thing. It's remarkable. You could set it at a convenient height and even, I suppose, make it possibe to raise and lower the whole thing as needed.


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## vg3616084 (Aug 17, 2008)

Chas,

Thanks for the thoughts about the ski, would be interesting to see. We have the most common and serious form of Spina Bifida "meningomyelocele", however, we are very bless to have it in the lower sacrum area of the back, and due to this we have wonderful but not all movement of her lower body. More is know every day. So she will need a wheelchair or 'skis' sometimes but not all the time, when she get tired (that if braces and others will work). I tried to check the archive section, didn't come acoross anything that popped out, so I thought I would try this post.

Lownote,


My family also owns a G-scale modular layout and an HO Modular layout, that both can be placed at a lower benchwork. The problem with the garden, is I have 1 line that is mostly done, so I'm trying to make sure everthing else from this point forward works for her. I have a 3 foot water fall, with a 30ft river that has to be crossed and I have already built a bridge there (3years ago), but it has steps up and down it so thats why I'm doing the sidewalk around the layout and the house (due to the location of everything now way to make that one a ramp bridge). If I knew then what I know now, the raised layout would have been the way to go. Thanks for the thoughts.


Vernon


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## dltrains (Jan 2, 2008)

Vernon, 

Marty might chime in soon on concrete but I would use Thinset concrete with the same forms you're talking about using instead of Hydrocal. Thinset is made for patching and surfacing concrete and can be applied in 1/4" to 2" of thickness. even mortar mix would work for you. 

Dave


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Stan Cederleaf is the one to check with He made one on his driveway that he drove his car over several times a day 

If there is a possibility  of a wheel chair in the future he is the one who could show you how to do it.


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## vg3616084 (Aug 17, 2008)

Dave,

I have been thinking of some stuff like that, I was only worried about the thickness, I will check that out, when I was Lowes, they had some stuff, but it was only up to 1in thick. Thats why at the time I was not sure if the filler would work. Never thought about mortar mix either, have a couple bags of those floating around as well. Thanks for the thoughts. 


John,

Thanks for the name. 


Thx,

V


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Vernon. It's really great that you're thinking this far ahead so your daughter can enjoy the trains.

As JJ mentioned, I did have my track crossing the driveway and drove over it without incident for 5 years. The link to the site is below....

Driveway Track

I made the crossing from lengths of 1/2 x 1 1/2 steel channel with oak inserts. I choose steel for strength and also I ran my main line trains on battery power so track pickup power wasn't an issue.

Hope you can get some ideas from this. It worked great for us.


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

We use the fiberglass strips that Home depot sells for chain link fences over the ties. You can see four of them in the crossing at the bottom of this photo.

 

They are the right height and width, are very strong and impervious to weather.


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## Terl (Jan 2, 2008)

I think that your design is basically sound but I would not use hydrocal outside. It is my understanding is that it will eventually fail in the wet weather outside. You can make up a motar type mix of sand and cement outside that should work. 

Terl


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

hydrocal will not work out of doors. 

Try RapidSet Cement All (blue box) at Home Depot 

I made a grade crossing from the stuff, it's held up since 1996


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

I think if you pour the sidewalk and where the track goes though place a board in the wet cement. I would use the width and height of the track.
After the cement dries, place your track in the groove, add a piece of wood in the center of the track. Fasten it all and your good to go.
My son was in a wheelchair for 14 years and ran over my track a few times.


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