Raised Lines

[steamyjim]

I picked up another load of track this weekend and I reckon I've enough now to do the whole line, so the next step is to build it!

I am going for a raised line that is more of a running track than a scenic route (I suppose more like your typical G1 layout than a 16mm one).

I wonder if anyone on here has built a raised line like this and how they went about doing it. I was inclined to go down the way the Cheddar Steam Club have done it using scaffolding poles and plywood sheets, but wonder if anyone had any other suggestions...?

Cheers,

Jim

[tom_tom_go]

Old thread but might give you some ideas:

http://tinyurl.com/16mmNGM-rwlr

[Annie]

I've been looking very hard at your sturdy shelf brackets attached to the wall on the first page of your topic tom-tom.

[ge_rik]

I used 1" thick pressure treated fencing boards for mine - http://riksrailway.blogspot.co.uk/2008/ ... nsion.html - I was wary of using plywood as my experiences with so-called exterior and even marine ply have not been encouraging. I have known people who have used decking planks.

Rik

[Peter Butler]

I used the same material as Rik.... 1" thick, pressure treated boards attached to round fence posts rammed into the ground. The top of my boards has been covered in felt to make sure ballast doesn't drop between them if they dry out and contract (not likely here in West Wales!) The front of my raised section has been covered with feather edge boards but the rest is landscaped into the surrounding terrain.

[railwaygardener]

For rot-resistance, uPVC is easy to use and cheap.

Drainpipe for uprights, fascia/bargeboard and/or 1" square trim for horizontal track supports.

An example is here:http://tinyurl.com/p22lfvm



Derek

[steamyjim]

Thank you for your replies, certainly has given me ideas. I think I shall go down the pressure treated timber route as opposed to plywood - seems a far longer lasting approach.

I am quite keen on the PVC idea Derek, just not so the bright white in the garden. I notice another line in the background, looks to be on black circular pillars. How have you gone about building that line?

[railwaygardener]

It's a gauge 1 line, which you can see in more detail here:

http://tinyurl.com/gmbwz8a

The uprights are black plastic drainage pipes, the tops are wood impregnated with preservative and covered with roofing felt.

The older sections are showing a little softness in places but generally it is in good condition after 8 years or so. The main disadvantage in my view is that water could get in through cracks in the felt and attack the hidden sub-structure.

Re the PVC colour, if you look at the steam-up sidings, they were not covered with earth but given two coats of green fence preservative, as that happened to be to hand. It has lasted well apart from odd bits flayed by a strimmer.

[railwaygardener]

This is a photo of the painted PVC, complete with Garratt chassis under test with a borrowed boiler:

http://tinyurl.com/zdlob7n


Derek

[sstjc]

Derek
Are the plastic drainpipe uprights filled with anything, gravel maybe ?

[railwaygardener]

The white square ones for the 16mm line don't have a filling and are not cemented in, just knocked into the ground with a big rubber mallet, as in when I nod my head, hit it.

I am not sure about the bigger round ones for the Gauge 1, as I wasn't involved in building the line. I've a feeling they were at least part filled with cement.


Derek

[philipy]

Derek
Are the plastic drainpipe uprights filled with anything, gravel maybe ?

I've used square brown drainpipe for some of my uprights. Set in Postcrete, with more dry Postcrete poured down the inside to approx the same level as the outside.

Seems to work OK and is obviously much less obvious than white. Trackbed is 20mm decking boards covered in roofing felt.