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Summer Hampton Railway


ba14eagle
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Sorry to hear that too Iain. Life's an endless stream of challenges so just take things one step at a time.

There's plenty of enjoyment to be had with single lines and far less hassle than with multiple ones so start small and you can always add to later if required.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd dugout & shuttered up the first section of trackbed for the new Summer Hampton Railway a few weeks ago now and today I made the first concrete casts. I wont post any photos - theres nowt to see other than some plastic sheeting! This first section equates to nearly 25% of the overall trackbed. However, as I was working today, I did realise Ive made hard work for myself, as mixed concrete will now have to be lugged over this first section, when doing the 2 sections at the end of the garden - doh!

Im now shopping for some granulated rubber and will be looking to rubbercrete the top layer asap. That'll be it for this year, but, hopefully, the Winter wont be too long or harsh and I will recommence concrete casting in March or April.  

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That's great news Iain even if it is rather late in the year. At least you'll have a head start come Spring so best to do as much as you can now.

I don't think we've ever had anyone document their use of rubbercrete as a track base so it will be interesting following along.

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I remember your earlier account Iain but what I meant was that this time we will be able to follow along in 'real time'. If I remember correctly you had already passed that stage last time and were recounting how you'd gone about it.

Have you located a supplier of rubber granules yet? I spent some time searching a while ago when I was considering relaying the ground level section on my layout and considered the rubbercrete method. I would have to search again because I can't recall what I found. I know it wasn't widely available at that time.

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Mick

There seems to be a whole host of suppliers now, as the use of rubber chips (now known as Wet Pour) for children's play areas seems to have taken off.

Yesterday I picked up 6 x 25kg bags from a company in Romsey, Hants. I had also spoken to companies in Brighouse, West Yorkshire and Worksop, Notts. The latter 2 were cheaper per bag, but involved hefty delivery charges, making little difference whichever way I did it. As before, I've over bought, meaning I shouldn't have to worry about restocking. Today I've bought 30 litres of cork powder from the internet - this is still an expensive commodity! I am going to fiddle with the recipe a bit and swap the rubber and cork proportions around. The free samples, that the company in Worksop made available to me, were all rubber chips bound with polyurethane? resin - these took track pins quite well, so I don't foresee a problem with having a greater proportion of rubber in the mix. Worth noting is that this company now sells deck board which has rubber down the centre of it,  supposedly, making it non-slip. This in itself, could make for a useful track bed material.

As I said previously, its likely that I wont get around to doing rubbercrete mixing until this time next week, so lets keep our fingers crossed for some good weather!     

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First bit of casting with Peco setrack test fitting. Once the rubbercrete top has been added, the O gauge track shown will be moved over as far as i can towards the edge. On the inner OO gauge line, i am going to install point work here, to access a loop or 2. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some more photos of progress with my first cast section.

First up, this was my measuring cup.

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Rubbercrete mix proportions i used were : 1 cement, 2 cork dust, 4 rubber chips. 1 measure of SBR additive was mixed in and the rest was water. This was the dry mix.

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When well mixed, this was poured in and smoothered to the top of the shuttering. When dry, this is how it looked. I will admit, that some batches werent measured quite this precisely and this showed when they dried. Some werent as solid as others. Fingers crossed, the slurry I made up later, will hold this together.

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The following couple of photos show where I am at now. The top has been painted with a slurry mix. Im sorry, but i cant remember exactly the proportions! I think it was 1 cement, 2 cork dust, SBR & water. It was poured on and painted out with a brush. Its made the top surface a lot smoother - hopefully, it will still be pliable enough to take track pins (ive not tried yet, but will). Ive now got to try and remove the shuttering, ready for casting the next section.

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Edited by ba14eagle
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Your garden's dry and sunny? I'll have to check the bottom line of the rainfall chart to see exactly where you're located!

It's good to see some progress being made although the rubbercrete doesn't look like I imagined it would. I thought you'd end up with a black/grey coloured mix but I'm probably thinking of commercial mixes that I believe are mixed with some kind of epoxy as the binding agent rather than cement. Have you managed to smooth the top off and has it dried out okay?  

What's the next step? Do you add anything on top or does the track go directly onto the rubbercrete?

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Like Mick, I am waiting to hear how well the set mix takes track pins. I am also wondering how much SBR went into the slurry mix. Congratulations on persevering with construction at this time of year and under such horrible weather conditions (unless your garden enjoys a unique micro-climate!) -  It's certainly too cold and damp for me to consider venturing out in Staffordshire.

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Mick

The rubbercrete has a completely different feel this time around. It wasn't so rough last time, however, my ingredients were different. I didn't use cork last time - I experimented with the cheaper option of gardeners vermiculite. Maybe this mix would benefit from having a more equal mix of cork and rubber chips. Once I've taken the shuttering off, I will run the surform over it and see if it comes up a bit smoother. As far as the next step, well, if I can remove the shuttering, I will be digging out the next section and putting the shuttering in for that - I've got some displaced soil to rehome first! I wonder if the temptation to lay track on the completed section will get the better of me? :lol:     

  

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11 minutes ago, Riddles said:

Like Mick, I am waiting to hear how well the set mix takes track pins. I am also wondering how much SBR went into the slurry mix. Congratulations on persevering with construction at this time of year and under such horrible weather conditions (unless your garden enjoys a unique micro-climate!) -  It's certainly too cold and damp for me to consider venturing out in Staffordshire.

Dave

I think it was a "measure" of SBR

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I have taken the plastic sheeting off the cast section today. Unfortunately, in a couple of places, it has touched the slurry whilst it was drying and spoiled the smoothness of the finish. Its ok though - the great thing about this method of construction is that you can shave the surface with a surform. I have done a little bit of this and it has smoothed out nicely. I laid a piece of O gauge track down and was easily able to put a couple of track pins into it. I am going to leave the sheeting off now and see how this section weathers and when I get some more time and fine weather, I will continue removing the shuttering and shave some more off the surface.    

 

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The ability to level the surface using a file, sandpaper, or as in your case a surform, was one reason I opted to lay a layer of aerated block as replacement for the original plywood on my ground level section. I also had a large number of pieces left over from building the viaducts so that was another reason for my decision. It does mean that any mistakes or errors can be rectified later so it's good that the rubbercrete mix has similar properties. I had considered using rubbercrete myself but didn't feel up to the task of creating a level surface or overly keen on the idea of constructing the shuttering. You're always better off using materials that you are comfortable with and have experience of and I have no doubt that you'll get there in the end.

Is there to be a name change for this new railway?

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Despite trying to make sure the trackbed was cast level, it hasn't turned out that way - there looks to be a slight slope towards the outside of the curve. I really must remember to use the clamps I specifically bought for holding the shuttering in place, when I cast the next sections! But seriously, I think the trackbed will be fine, once Ive shaved it all over.

The railway will retain the same name - it only changes if the railway moves house.   

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  • 4 months later...

Well, 3 hours work done and the 2nd trackbed casting is completed. I didn't bother with any photos today. I am back to work tomorrow - keeping mainly freight trains running - so will probably not get to do the rubbercrete top, until Tuesday next week. That will be about 70% of the trackbed finished. If the builders merchants can still supply the material, I should be finished casting by the end of April. If I'm isolating or on lockdown, it shoudn't take too long to get all the track down!.  

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The past couple of days have been pretty decent for working outdoors, albeit a little on the cold side, so it's great to hear you've made further progress.

After the PMs announcement this evening I'm unsure as to whether even the builder's merchants are able to open so perhaps April is being a bit optimistic unless they can do online orders/deliveries. It's all a bit confusing at the moment but no doubt we'll soon get accustomed to it and who knows, we might even discover it's a far better way of living our lives.

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