PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Makes me feel better. Looks like it's not going anywhere.
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Train refurb in Germany?
- Thread starter monorail81
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Makes me feel better. Looks like it's not going anywhere.
MonorailLover
Well-Known Member
I'll quote you guys for a second, as I note look at @monorail81's original picture, you can tell it aint going nowhere. It's obvious they're just relaying the concrete under the track, instead of just ballast. I'll post another picture I took Yesterday, showing the concrete ballast better.
There you go guys, here's your update from a model train expert, this is just a Refurbishment. If I'm wrong, shame me.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Well this is Disney after all, any time something this small is "rehabbed" there's always the chance it will never come back… Alas I believe you.
MonorailLover
Well-Known Member
By the way, if anyone has a high quality picture of the layout very close to pre-refurb, I think we would all be interested. I would like like to remind myself what used to be the ballast. I wouldn't be surprised if it was concrete the. Also, but just wondering.
I'll donate one of my illusive Likes for the first picture poster.
I'll donate one of my illusive Likes for the first picture poster.
MonorailLover
Well-Known Member
I just honestly couldn't see them removing the previous ballast, covering the hole with concrete, in the right shape for the track diameter that went there, and then never reopening it. If it was never to open again, I would expect walls up, not temporary shrubs, that all us train nerds obviously look through and take pictures.
@PhotoDave219 , I will also state that when a regular modeller uses concrete as ballast, it's because they know they'll never pick up that track for 10+ years. I know Disney isn't a regular modeller, but I hope you get the point I'm trying to put out there.
I would hope that the comms/brushes are getting a good overhaul during this time, as well. I am sure the gears at this point in time need replacing as well as bearings. I would be curious to know the lube schedule for the units, too. With how long the track was there I would imagine the wheels took a beating from the track pieces settling on the ballast. Thoughts? I never run mine enough, or outside for that matter, to really be an authority on that side of it.
You know it!
nelsonj3
Well-Known Member
Sad but true. Disney does seem to think that it's easier to just remove things that are broken rather than refurb them.
I do remember seeing that the train tracks had come apart a few times when I was visiting. There have also been several times that the trains wouldn't run. Maybe a more solid foundation on the tracks will allow them to stay connected and more stable.
I have never done an outdoor layout and I am a long time removed from my HO layout days, but I can't see a concrete base not being dramatically more stable than stone ballast in the unstable sandy soil of Florida. For once this seems like Disney seeing a problem and then fixing it really, really well.
nelsonj3
Well-Known Member
Very true! I used to dabble in trains a bit, but I've never done an outdoor layout either. It is nice though that it appears that Disney is fixing this well instead of removing it.
I have been debating building an outdoor layout for years as it is the only place I have room for a train layout. However, the last thing I need right now is another hobby. My pile of shame with video games, legos and comics is reaching epic proportions and my RC boat and quad copter must feel incredibly neglected. We won't even talk about the DVR.
MonorailLover
Well-Known Member
It definitely is what they are doing. I believe that when they built the layout for the flower and garden show YEARS ago, I'm sure they just thought it was temporary. This is definitely making it permanent, at least for 10 years.
Do any of you floridians know how concrete is affected at ground level? Is there a lifespan?
Concrete as load bearing footings below grade is incredibly common in Florida.
For this particular application, it will last 50 years easy providing it is done correctly.
nelsonj3
Well-Known Member
I just took a couple of short videos over the bushes. Will post to YouTube later. It looks like they've painted the concrete the same pinkish color as the sidewalks.
nelsonj3
Well-Known Member
Here's my quick video update. I did the best I could without being able to see the screen. While I was taking the video, a lady asked why she couldn't get in there. That's the talking you'll hear in the background.
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articos
Well-Known Member
It wasn't necessarily temporary, just the way it was installed. Yes, it's coming back. With Florida rain, it needs a better bed that won't settle.
mcjaco
Well-Known Member
As I stated earlier in the thread, my Father is a "Engineer" at the Chicago Botanic Gardens outdoor Garden Railroad (http://www.chicagobotanic.org/gardens/railroad). Those trains run 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with only two slight reprieves in the Fall and Spring for their move into the indoor display for the Winter Holidays, or back outside for the season. Wheels, track, and gears receive the most wear. They replace track in large quantities every spring, as well as wheels.
Parts for some of the older LGB items and REA/Aristocraft rolling stock are harder to come by and their fleet is getting rather small. I know in my past couple of visits to EPCOT, I only saw one of two locomotives running, and not much else, including rolling stock behind them.
MonorailLover
Well-Known Member
Fortunately with LGB track, the ties don't need to be replaced for about 5-10 years, especially if they just sit in one place, like how it was.
As we come to realize, as I'm probably one of the few that did, not all of the engines are LGB, and most were recent versions.
Last year, both engines that I saw were Piko engines. Also, the engines they have been using that were LGB have only been made in the last five years.
As we come to realize, as I'm probably one of the few that did, not all of the engines are LGB, and most were recent versions.
Last year, both engines that I saw were Piko engines. Also, the engines they have been using that were LGB have only been made in the last five years.