Currently doing this at our club layout

Our area involves a warehouse and a passenger station.  The passenger stations is really on the main line, but the industrial track is embedded in the street/parking lot behind it. 

We are doing it by using balsa wood to build up the road around the track.  The track is regular flex track mounded directly to plywood bench work (no roadbed). Once we have the height of the balsa wood build up correct we will cover with roofing tar paper.  We use roofing tar paper for asphalt roads. The goal is to have the tar paper just below the top of the rails so that it looks good but does not interfere with good electrical pick up.  There is still debate whether we want to line the rail with timber or just asphalt right up to the rails. (I would line with timbers myself). Another option is to incase the track in concrete (using styrene pieces) and asphalt up to the concrete.

Google images has lots of ideas out there.

r/

Art

Here's some street running

This is a little video I shot while I was in Kentucky the last time.

Sort of like this

This is kind of what I had in mind.

Street Running

 This is a shot of some of the street running on my HO New Haven layout.

Street Running

This is a shot from another angle. 

"putting tracks down the middle of the street?"

I've done this in O scale using plaster and cleaning it off the rails and flangeways before it sets. For N scale I plan to fill in with some sheet material as I don't think working with plaster would be much fun on such small track.For HO scale I guess either way would work, depending on whether the builder is more skilled as  a molder or as a cut and fitter? As far as timber or no timber I've seen tracks done both ways, I'd look for photos of your prototype or of a similar railroad and location and follow their lead.....DaveB

Google "Brooklyn : 3AM"

Video

Here is a awsome street running video from youtube.

Street Running

I have tried different methods to model street running. I have used plaster which to me is a nightmare, dirty, messy and nasty. I have used styrene, not too flexible. It just happen that the other day I was in Wal-Mart getting some office supply stuff and I saw this black poster board 28" x 22" It was thick but not too thick for HO and great for O scale, which I am modeling now. It worked perfectly. Cleaned, sturdy and very easy to work with. What I did to cover the seems I used Durham"s water putty. Excellent! It comes in a powder and you use the amount you want to use. I did my mix on the thick side. Waited about ten to fifteen minutes to let it dry just enough to smooth it out with a damp rag. Once it was dried I sanded it and painted. Perfect and cleaned. Here are some photos of the end results.

Here ya go...

A little street running for you, that I noticed today on MSN...

Imaging how tough

it would be to automate that on a layout.

Here's a link

to some street running Video I shot earlier in the year in Fort Collins, CO.  And no, you DON"T need a Facebook account to view it.

Not exactly what I am asking

Guys, I appreciate all the links to all the videos showing prototype street running. But what I am asking about is how modelers simulate street running. Not how the big guys do it. Looking for actual examples on model layouts of industrial areas where the streets run between the buildings and sidings branch off into or alongside those industries.

Street running

Get John Pryke's book "Building City Scenery" available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Building-City-Scenery-Railroad-Railroader/dp/0890243433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377709237&sr=1-1&keywords=building+city+scenery+for+your+model+railroad

John Elwood

"how modelers simulate street running"

we look at those prototype examples and copy them as best we can.....DaveB

John Prykes book

John, thanks for that reminder about Prykes book. I think I bought that some years ago. have to go through my library and see if I can find it.

Street running

I used a combination of Woodland Scenics "Smooth-It" for the road and Walther's Street Track Insert ( http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3140) 

Don't have any photos up currently, but it you want to go to 

The section where I have Smooth-It between the tracks, I laid down string alongside the inside of the rails and pulled it up as the Smooth-It dried in order to get flangeways. 

If I had to redo it, I might go with BLMA Concrete Grade Crossings down the middle of the street, since that is what the prototype used. (Google Maps view of break between panels and poured asphalt:  http://goo.gl/maps/UfAIA )

http://www.blmamodels.com/cgi-bin/webstore/shop.cgi?ud=BgMGBggOAQMCBxQUEBEcHA4NBgUJBQAECQkTEQAA&t=main.blue.htm&storeid=1&cols=1&categories=01001-00011&&c=detail.blue.htm&t=main.blue.htm&itemid=4105

Old Tracks in the Streets article

I noticed that Railmodel Journal had an article in the May 2008 issue on this.

Delightful

Was looking for something else and thoroughly enjoyed your film thanks Kenn