track base again

[Tribune53]

Hi all, I'm new here and about to start on a railway in the garden - OO gauge for my layout but where to start? The track base needs to be stable and hold the track, so I have come up wit h an idea I am going to try. At the local garden cente, there are some 4 foot long reinforced garden fence posts, complete with a groove down the middle. The intention is to set them in to the ground slightly. run the electrics cables up the middle, cover with strips of marine ply, painted grey. then covered with track and ballast. These seems to provide a good blend of rigidity and flexibility, yet to think of how to handle the corners, but I will get there. Any thoughts on this?

Trib

[mick]

There are many ways to build the necessary base for your outdoor layout and concrete posts would seem to offer another alternative. If I'm thinking along the right lines, these would be the posts that accept the standard wooden 'overlap' type fence panels? They're certainly strong and the groove where the panels locate may indeed prove useful for the electrics, however, as you've pointed out, they're not such a good idea for curved areas. I'm not aware of the relative costs but as reinforced concrete isn't necessary, perhaps the easier to handle lightweight building blocks (laid on their side if you require a set up at ground level) might be a better alternative and with some simple cutting would also allow you to continue around the curved areas. Any wiring you might require can easily be run alongside and hidden beneath an overhang of the timber base.

A masonary base isn't necessary at all if you view other layouts featured on here. Wooden supports for the base itself would be fine too. Decisions, decisions....

[Rossi]

Track base must be one of the biggest issues to outdoor modelling. I don't think there is a rule of thumb on this one, as environment, climatic conditions and terrain have a large input into the final say.

When I started, a few years back, I did not have the back up of this web site...I thought I was the only one doing it! So, I went down the path of trial and error.

I first decided to build the track approximately two feet off the ground (terrace). This height was actually chosen for me because of the size of the breeze blocks I intended to use. My railway is probably quite small compared with most I have seen on here, but it is about 5/6 metres long and maybe one metre wide.

I cemented the blocks down along the perimeter, leaving a cavity to be filled with soil for foliage and plants and the like. (This was one of the specifications that got the project accepted by the household authority.) Filling this space with soil, dug out of our bottom waste land, was nearly the end of me, proving that this body is getting older by the day.

I then progressed at a rate of knots with securing planks of heavily painted wood in the general direction of my track plan. WRONG, WRONG,WRONG.

I assumed (without any spirit level and only using my fading eyesight) that everything seemed true. I was then too far down the line (sorry about that pun) to rectify things, accepting that a little discourse in the boards would not matter.

WRONG.

This uneven-ness plagued me for ages, leading to frustration and a desire to give up.

I must stress to anybody starting from scratch to heed the advice from all seasoned outdoor modellers. GET THE FIRST PART LEVEL AND SPEND THE NECESSARY HOURS MAKING SURE THIS CORRECT. It will pay dividens in the future. As an aside, I am still prone to the odd track problem because of my haste.

Next hurdle for me was the wood. I painted it with two/three coats of paint and all was well...until maybe some eight or nine months later when the "warps" arrived. I resigned myself to this being the norm in our climate, (Canary Isles) and duly kept replacing individual boards as the "warps" demanded. This obviously started putting the price up with replacement wood and also the scarce commodity of spare track over here.

Roofing felt was an idea I held with, but a builder friend of mine told me about how you had to set fire to it or something to adhere it to wood. (Apparantly it is different stuff from back in England).

Then one day, at a neighbours house, I noticed his BBQ area. Low and behold...all around was this decking on the floor.

"How long have you had this down George" I asked warily.

"Oh, I dont know,two years maybe."

There was my answer. Brilliant constant sunshine, the occasional flood...nothing seemed to have aggravated it.

And with heavy heart, a week later, I banished the "warps," ripped the wood out and progressed to decking. It has been heavily painted and then varnished and it is still here to this day. I may have to report back in a years time or so, but it does seem to be doing the job.

As I said earlier, this track base really does have no easy solution. You are governed by your enviroment.

* I can give you an insight as to how this hobby grabs you. The other day I was in the waiting room of our local doctors and they had some workmen at the far end of the room doing maintenance. Suspended along the sides of the ceiling, they had eight inch metal cable tray running the length of the room. In my mind, all I could see was five metres or so laid on my railway, then 1/4 inch varnished ply on top. All perfectly flat! My wife asked why I was so intrigued by the workers. I thought it best to say nothing. Railways!!!

Rossi

[drmalesis]

Hi,

Not much to add on this one that's not been said already, but I do think that Marine ply in unecessary. You will be paying a premium for high quality hardwood timber plys that will be hidden when you paint it or whatever. Exterior grade WPB plywood is about £30.00 for a 2400 x 1200 x 18mm sheet, and uses the same waterproof adhesive used in marine ply. Last time I looked, Marine ply was anything from 2 to 3 times that price.

regards

Duncan

[mick]

Rossi said:

...Then one day, at a neighbours house, I noticed his BBQ area. Low and behold...all around was this decking on the floor...

Would that be the same type of decking that I used on the Selby Garden Railway? I thought it would be ideal too and perhaps it would have been if I had made a better job of the foundation. As you point out, it is absolutely essential to get things level if you are to enjoy trouble-free operating. Not being an expert in anything and before I had the advice offered by this forum, I wrongly assumed that any small deviations in the level of the breeze block base could be put right at the time the decking boards were fastened in place. However, as I screwed the decking boards down they just followed the contours of the top of the blocks and I ended up with a roller coaster effect in places. In addition, I screwed the decking boards in place along a central line and found that they began to curl slightly upwards from the outer edges. All down to experience.

On one small section of the layout I used a double thickness of 9mm exterior grade plywood to form one of the curved areas. I found it much easier to get a smooth and level base and it never moved up to the date I left it all behind. That's the reason I would opt for plywood the next time.

Rossi said:

Suspended along the sides of the ceiling, they had eight inch metal cable tray running the length of the room. In my mind, all I could see was five metres or so laid on my railway, then 1/4 inch varnished ply on top. All perfectly flat!

Rossi

Wouldn't that be absolutely ideal if they produced it in a selection of large radius (minimum 6 feet) curves? A nice metal tray of just the right width ready to accept your plywood top!

[TotonRelayGang]

Rossi wrote:

Suspended along the sides of the ceiling, they had eight inch metal cable tray running the length of the room. In my mind, all I could see was five metres or so laid on my railway, then 1/4 inch varnished ply on top. All perfectly flat!

Rossi

Thats given me an idea, we got loads of cable tray laying around at work maybe an idea for the straights. and use wood for the curve sections.

Just an idea.

Ray