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Trackside Stuff Ties and Tie Plates! by Charlie Comstock
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I
installed a speeder/utility shed in Oakhill on my early 1950s layout. After some weathering it
looked fairly nice, but something was missing. I needed a bit more detail around the shed. A stack of ties and a heap of tie plates next to the shed looked good and added an extra level of detail to the scene. Here’s how I made them.
Tie Stack I stained some Micro Engineering wood ties by dunking them in a mixture of India ink and alcohol (about 10 drops of
ink in a mostly full 35mm film container of alcohol) then spread them on some paper towels. While they were drying I made a template by drawing a square on a piece of paper using a tie to set its size. I stuck some double-sticky Scotch Tape on the template to hold the bottom tier of ties in place. I used full length ties only on the outside edges and on the top tiers to conserve my tie supply.
Figure 1: A stack of ties and pile of tie plates.
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Figure 2: I laid out the first tier on the template. Note the hollow interior to conserve my tie supply. Figure 3: Second tier. Figure 4: Starting the top tier. Figure 5: Top tier complete with a few extra ties on it.
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Figure 1 Page 50 • Issue 8 • Jul/Aug 2010 • The Scenery Scene - Trackside Stuff - Ties and Tie Plates, page 1
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