Ground Level Track or on Posts

E

ernie

Registered
I need some help with this decision.

For Ground Level, I would get a few inch deep trench dug. Line this with poly sheeting and fill with small uneven 'gravel' (not round pebble) up to surface level and lay track on this.

For laying higher, I would have 75 x 75 mm posts say knee high, maybe a bit higher, cut from treated fencing posts.) Then use treated wood narrow sheeting to lay between the posts, probably needing square support strip beneath. The height of posts would be checked with some measuring tool,
theodolite?. Then tack flat roofing 'felt' on top of sheet strip (like on my garden sheed roof). Should like similar to ballast in colour. Then lay track on this. The sheet strip would become wider in parts to allow for sidings, station models, etc.

Which way to go? and is either approach correctly specified?
 
Think of your present age and health!
Many on here started with a ground-level track (and it is easier to make something 'scenic' on the ground) but have had to either go higher-level, or give up entirely, as time has passed..

I am 55, and have a knee that is beginning to play me up a bit.. A raised track will cost more to build, and probably take longer and require more maintenance.. BUT might be better in the long run.

It may also take me a number of years to complete what I have in mind.
 
Personally, I opted for a railway slightly raised above the ground (between 6" and 3' depending on where in the garden) - either on raised beds with rock or breeze block walling clad in stone or on timber. The raised beds look more realistic than the timber - though you can sculpt hedging to disguise the timber as per Pecorama. As Paul says, less stooping than at ground level and also you can see the stock more easily. Also, I'm getting older and more decrepit.

However, there are plenty who prefer ground level lines - it's really down to personal preference.

Rik
 
It depends on the lay of your land ,mine goes from ground level ( with a short stretch of about 2 inch below ) to about 18 inch above, so you could combine both or go for more solid options such as a low wall.
 
If you are going to use posts, I saw an interesting method used at the Ipswich Model Engineers, as explained to me by MMTS.

The wooden posts were fixed inside plastic drainage pipes sunk into the ground. These pipes came to about an inch below the cross members attached underneath the baseboard.

The wooden posts were attached by means of a couple of large screws through holes drilled through the pipes. This allows for any rise or dip in the baseboard should the levels need adjusting.

They have also used a good quality roofing felt heated onto the top of the baseboard.

Certainly well engineered and seems to have stood the test of time....
 
I am building raised gardens so I don't have to worry about bending over when I am a little more aged. Easier to raise gardens now while I have the energy then later when the railway is well established. I have visited a couple of older set ups and the owners say it is getting to hard to maintain their layouts now they are a bit older.
 
Hope its ok to say this but I am possibly one of our younger members at 35. My track is ground level - howevr even being fairly mobile the working on floor thing can feel hard work, and serve as a disincentive to work on the railway especially when cold or damp. If in doubt at all be practical and go high.

Its harder to blend in a raised railway but seen it done.
 
Earnest,
Definitely suggest that you go for above Ground. My line is 3-4ft High and wow does it make life easy. Some of it is on raised Rockeries, but most on Posts. I have used both 3 inch and 2 inch ones. I also use Metposts to support them ensuring that the Wood is well above Ground Level. The Metposts are concreted in with Postcrete, more expensive but very quick. You could consider Decking as a Trackbed. Cut in Half for the Edges and the other uncut made into a U Shape will make Single Track nicely. This means that you get 2.4 Metres of Board for 2 Deck Planks. B&Q had some in a very good price recently. Cover with Roofing Felt tacked on so that it sits 1/2 to 1 inch below the Wood.

Take a look a my post on 'A New Railway is started', you will find quite a few pictures of my Woodwork Methods that should,help a bit. Link to my thread:-

http://www.gscalecentral.net/general-g-scale/a-new-railway-is-started/msg300038/#msg300038

Not sure where you are based as your profile does not say, if you are anywhere near the Cambridgeshire area you will be very welcome to come and have a look at my line.

JonD
 
On posts, a railway in a garden.
At ground level, a garden with a railway.

If you go ground level do not use polythene, use a proper weed suppressant membrane which will allow water to drain away.
 
dutchelm said:
On posts, a railway in a garden.
At ground level, a garden with a railway.
Click to expand...
Not always the case. Three quarters of Neil Ramsay's railway is on posts but he's planted and then shaped lonicera bushes to make a landscape.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7OAxSTZ2sk[/youtube]

The raised section of my railway is embedded in a laurel hedge (I'd have chosen something like lonicera or privet but the hedge was there first). I've recently trimmed the growth in front of the hedge to make the railway more visible, but before then it was quite discreet.
IMG_4120.JPG


Rik
 
My current railway is on the ground but when I retire and move to anew location I am going off the ground (about 3') with raised beds and shrubbery.

I am planning to make my beds from drainage channel filled with potting mix screwed to either side of the road bed then planting trees shaped bonsai style (my other hobby).

This is because of advancing age and a crook hip which will reduce bending considerably.
 
:) If you value your rolling stock, stay (very) close to the ground. Been there, done that, paid the bill.
 
I now see that this issue is a very difficult decision. I do love the look of ground level but I also agree that higher level has significant advantages, especially for us older ones. I am probably among the oldest, nearly seventy. I have been pretty active in my life but a fairly recent heart attack did knock me sideways. But I am gradually recovering. ::)

Ground level is my preference and I would get a gardener to do all the landscaping and horticultural stuff as I am useless at this. But I agree with the comments about working on the railroad at ground level could easily / will become a problem. Another factor for garden railroad is that I want to get my 3 granddaughters, 8,6 and 3, interested, if possible. Hence my considering knee height.

Is short posts and some rockeries still the way to go, even at knee height? Or maybe some form of wooden structure to which one can attach false landscape sides?

Ridiculous as it sounds, I have move from my wonderful 1.5 acres plot in the countryside near Wye in Kent, in order to be nearer my family. Now looking around West Sussex and will end up with a much smaller plot. Ho hum.
 
ernie said:
Is short posts and some rockeries still the way to go, even at knee height? Or maybe some form of wooden structure to which one can attach false landscape sides?
Click to expand...
Hi Ernie
Have you dismissed hedging under the timber sections? Lonicera is extremely easy to propagate - I've just stuck clippings into the ground and every one has taken.

Rik
 
Stainzmeister said:
If you choose your house carefully you might get the benefit of a partially raised section a bit like this.....The retaining wall is around 2'6" high (760mm) above the patio. :)
Click to expand...
I can testify to the effectiveness of Paul's railway. Sitting with a cuppa in your hand watching the trains chugging away just below eye level is a very pleasant experience as the evening sun steals softly below the horizon ........

Rik
 
Meanwhile here indoors, I have one track at metre height and the other 30cm above. ;)
 
One thing is certain, we don't get any younger! Building on posts is futureproof (I think) and as has been demonstrated, there are some excent ways to hide those posts. I have thought of chickenmesh and allowing the miniature ivy to grow over it (my extension is not even a foot off the ground) to simulate an embankment.

Think not what you can do now but what you might not be able to do in the future.
 
Another disadvantage of ground-level lines (as I've discovered this evening), undergrowth will insist on invading the track or grabbing rolling stock as it passes. Elevating it above the undergrowth does eliminate this (unless of course you grow stuff around to disguise the posts)

Rik
 
I built the whole railway up in a giant planter 26ft X15ft which makes life easier but on the extension I built post and board as per your 1st post. both make life easier.
Railway April 09 010 (Medium).jpg
Railway April 09 (Medium).jpg
Railway April 09 053 (Medium).jpg

Plus it`s a nice shady spot for the dogs..................................
saturday 002 (Small).jpg
 
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