Equipment Roster - Trackwork

Cast Iron Track I have always liked small trains that scoot in and around buildings.  Although you seldom see them now, in the past small trains often ran all about industrial settings.  Today have been replaced by the ubiquitous forklift and light trucks, however if you look carefully you can sometimes find evidence of past rail systems lurking in the back corner of an old warehouse or factory.  At the turn of the century there were a number of companies that supplied ready made trackwork for use inside buildings and in roadways.  German, French and American companies offered complete miniature railway systems   The three prototype photos came from a 1905 C W Hunt Co. catalog and illustrates the look I am attempting to model. 

To simulate cast iron plate I made a rubber mold to cast large sections of cross hatched plate from resin.  Once that problem was solved, I started laying track with a double rail.  For the tight curves the gap was widened slightly to keep the wheels from binding and to make the two rails appear like a single piece, resin was poured between the railheads.   Next the cast plate was cut to fit in between.  Section breaks were simulated with styrene strips.  Once everything was installed, the track was painted and weathered to look like cast iron.
 
Turntable The mechanism from a broken VCR serves as a drive for the small turntable and the black bearing plate is Delrin.  Getting all the rails aligned on the plate turned out to be more of a trick then I expected.  After a couple of failed attempts I machined slots in a brass plate to help keep the rails in place while they were soldered up.  The table is not indexed, but since it moves fairly slow its not too hard to get the rails lined up.