making my own track

[dunnyrail]

Another thread to look at is this one by Melbournesparks. Some interesting concepts to be found here as well.

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/eltham-south-electric-tramway.307019/

 

[Melbournesparks]

Anither thread to look at is this one by Melbournesparks. Some interesting concepts to be found here as well.

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/eltham-south-electric-tramway.307019/

Unfortunately a lot of the images got broken by photobucket's demise, and I'm lazy and haven't fixed them. Here's a repost:


Budget was a major concern for me, so I've been making track from flat 10x3mm aluminium bar, slotted into pine sleepers. This is by far the cheapest way of making track (the aluminium bar is about 10 times cheaper per meter than brass rail) but it's also labor intensive. I think Greg does pretty much the same thing, it seems to be a fairly common method of track construction in Australia/NZ where commercial track is very expensive.

I made a jig for the circular saw for cutting the slots in the sleepers, I just used untreated pine stick which also costs next to nothing. After three years some of the sleepers are starting to rot, but I'm not planning on replacing any until the track goes out of gauge.



Once buried in the ground it doesn't look too different to any other track. A major disadvantage of aluminium is that it's hard to solder, so to join it I had to drill holes and pop rivet the sections together.


You can make points this way too, but all the cutting and drilling is very time consuming. Since points are the most expensive part of commercial track this saves a huge amount of money though. You can also choose whatever geometry you like, something very useful if you have a confined space to work with.

I've also built a bit of track with more conventionally profiled aluminium rail spiked to wooden sleepers.
(please excuse the pile of overhead wire poles)


Looks like I used the same tacs for spikes as Greg too, obviously the Australian conditions cause a certain amount of parallel evolution in track construction!

The aluminium code 250 rail is a good tradeoff for cost vs realism. It looks nice, but it's a fair bit cheaper than brass rail.

 

[R. YOUNG]

Unfortunately a lot of the images got broken by photobucket's demise, and I'm lazy and haven't fixed them. Here's a repost:

View attachment 231820
Budget was a major concern for me, so I've been making track from flat 10x3mm aluminium bar, slotted into pine sleepers. This is by far the cheapest way of making track (the aluminium bar is about 10 times cheaper per meter than brass rail) but it's also labor intensive. I think Greg does pretty much the same thing, it seems to be a fairly common method of track construction in Australia/NZ where commercial track is very expensive.

I made a jig for the circular saw for cutting the slots in the sleepers, I just used untreated pine stick which also costs next to nothing. After three years some of the sleepers are starting to rot, but I'm not planning on replacing any until the track goes out of gauge.

View attachment 231821

Once buried in the ground it doesn't look too different to any other track. A major disadvantage of aluminium is that it's hard to solder, so to join it I had to drill holes and pop rivet the sections together.

View attachment 231822
You can make points this way too, but all the cutting and drilling is very time consuming. Since points are the most expensive part of commercial track this saves a huge amount of money though. You can also choose whatever geometry you like, something very useful if you have a confined space to work with.

I've also built a bit of track with more conventionally profiled aluminium rail spiked to wooden sleepers.
(please excuse the pile of overhead wire poles)

View attachment 231823
Looks like I used the same tacs for spikes as Greg too, obviously the Australian conditions cause a certain amount of parallel evolution in track construction!

The aluminium code 250 rail is a good tradeoff for cost vs realism. It looks nice, but it's a fair bit cheaper than brass rail.

Wow, now that's a solution I hadn't even considered. It does seem to look "right" once embedded in the ballast. Great idea, thanks!

 

[gregh]

I started out using aluminium bar for rails too. See my webpages here. They are a bit out of date, but I do list the disadvantages as well as advantages.
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/satr/track.htm

Further down the pages, it shows the turnouts I make from the Al bar too. Not 'real ones' like Melbournesparks, but a swivelling type that have no frog at all. Only suitable for use on baseboards where you can screw everything down.
Melbournesparks uses thicker sleepers than me so maybe the slot gives better grip on the bar.
This method got me into GR when there was no other way I could have afforded it.

 

[dunnyrail]

Wow, now that's a solution I hadn't even considered. It does seem to look "right" once embedded in the ballast. Great idea, thanks!

One of the things to remember with Mel's line is that he (I believe) is using Overhead to Power his railway thus there woukd be no issues of separating his rails on points for 2 Rail Operation. I have revisited your first post and you do not say how you plan to Power your Trains. Greg was originally Track Powered in his early days but he is now I believe all Battery and if you like what you saw in Nirth Wales perhaps Battery or Live Steam would be a strong contender for you as a beginner. That suoer little Yellow Electric on Mel's line I imagine will be a Battery job but we remain to be told.

 

[dunnyrail]

Unfortunately a lot of the images got broken by photobucket's demise, and I'm lazy and haven't fixed them. Here's a repost:

View attachment 231820
Budget was a major concern for me, so I've been making track from flat 10x3mm aluminium bar, slotted into pine sleepers. This is by far the cheapest way of making track (the aluminium bar is about 10 times cheaper per meter than brass rail) but it's also labor intensive. I think Greg does pretty much the same thing, it seems to be a fairly common method of track construction in Australia/NZ where commercial track is very expensive.

I made a jig for the circular saw for cutting the slots in the sleepers, I just used untreated pine stick which also costs next to nothing. After three years some of the sleepers are starting to rot, but I'm not planning on replacing any until the track goes out of gauge.

View attachment 231821

Once buried in the ground it doesn't look too different to any other track. A major disadvantage of aluminium is that it's hard to solder, so to join it I had to drill holes and pop rivet the sections together.

View attachment 231822
You can make points this way too, but all the cutting and drilling is very time consuming. Since points are the most expensive part of commercial track this saves a huge amount of money though. You can also choose whatever geometry you like, something very useful if you have a confined space to work with.

I've also built a bit of track with more conventionally profiled aluminium rail spiked to wooden sleepers.
(please excuse the pile of overhead wire poles)

View attachment 231823
Looks like I used the same tacs for spikes as Greg too, obviously the Australian conditions cause a certain amount of parallel evolution in track construction!

The aluminium code 250 rail is a good tradeoff for cost vs realism. It looks nice, but it's a fair bit cheaper than brass rail.

thanks for the uodated pics, I am sure it will be of use. Love the little Yellow Loco is it Battery Powered?

 

[R. YOUNG]

One of the things to remember with Mel's line is that he (I believe) is using Overhead to Power his railway thus there woukd be no issues of separating his rails on points for 2 Rail Operation. I have revisited your first post and you do not say how you plan to Power your Trains. Greg was originally Track Powered in his early days but he is now I believe all Battery and if you like what you saw in Nirth Wales perhaps Battery or Live Steam would be a strong contender for you as a beginner. That suoer little Yellow Electric on Mel's line I imagine will be a Battery job but we remain to be told.

Sorry, guess I did fail to mention that I want to get a live steam narrow gauge loco that I can afford (they ain't cheap as we say here in the colonies). So have my eyes peeled for something used probably but haven't ruled out a kit (i.e. Roundhouse Billy or such).
Another issue I'm facing is whether to make the layout at ground level or elevated. So far I'm still pretty limber and can get up / down pretty well but that won't last forever so have that little issue to address but I'll request comments about that at a later time unless you'd care to chime in now.
Cheers-
Robin

 

[Melbournesparks]

One of the things to remember with Mel's line is that he (I believe) is using Overhead to Power his railway thus there woukd be no issues of separating his rails on points for 2 Rail Operation.

Yeah, both rails are ground for return current. It certainly makes building points a lot easier if you don't have to worry about insulating the rails from each other.

thanks for the uodated pics, I am sure it will be of use. Love the little Yellow Loco is it Battery Powered?

It is, just like it's prototype. It's a little battery electric mining locomotive.

Sorry, guess I did fail to mention that I want to get a live steam narrow gauge loco that I can afford (they ain't cheap as we say here in the colonies). So have my eyes peeled for something used probably but haven't ruled out a kit (i.e. Roundhouse Billy or such).
Another issue I'm facing is whether to make the layout at ground level or elevated. So far I'm still pretty limber and can get up / down pretty well but that won't last forever so have that little issue to address but I'll request comments about that at a later time unless you'd care to chime in now.
Cheers-
Robin

It depends heavily on the geography of the space you have to work with, but ground level or elevated need not be two mutually exclusive concepts. If you have a little bit of a natural slope you can do a cut and fill and build a retaining wall to give 'ground level' track that is elevated above where you'd stand for easier access. Even 300mm or so makes a huge difference, and it can still be integrated into the landscape. It's worth looking at as many pictures of other people's railways as you can find to get a good idea of what sort of thing you like and what you don't. Now's a good time to think about it, since it's harder to change later!

 

[Gizzy]

Got to admire you Aussies, building track and rolling stock!

I guess it's a case of needs must....

 

[R. YOUNG]

Yeah, both rails are ground for return current. It certainly makes building points a lot easier if you don't have to worry about insulating the rails from each other.



It is, just like it's prototype. It's a little battery electric mining locomotive.

View attachment 231852



It depends heavily on the geography of the space you have to work with, but ground level or elevated need not be two mutually exclusive concepts. If you have a little bit of a natural slope you can do a cut and fill and build a retaining wall to give 'ground level' track that is elevated above where you'd stand for easier access. Even 300mm or so makes a huge difference, and it can still be integrated into the landscape. It's worth looking at as many pictures of other people's railways as you can find to get a good idea of what sort of thing you like and what you don't. Now's a good time to think about it, since it's harder to change later!

I do have a slight fall of elevation and never thought about a cut & fill method but that might work well. Thanks for that suggestion. My intrigue with ground level is the more natural look (plants, grass, trees, etc) but I'm sure some of that could still be included in an elevated system. Hmmmm, gotta give this some more brain work

 

[Paul M]

Got to admire you Aussies, building track and rolling stock!

I guess it's a case of needs must....

Well at least they've got some Ashes to use as ballast

 

[Paul M]

I do have a slight fall of elevation and never thought about a cut & fill method but that might work well. Thanks for that suggestion. My intrigue with ground level is the more natural look (plants, grass, trees, etc) but I'm sure some of that could still be included in an elevated system. Hmmmm, gotta give this some more brain work

If your track isn't too raised, planting taller plants behind the line makes a good backdrop, and smaller shrubs in front makes it look as if the layout is on a proper embankment

 

[dunnyrail]

Sorry, guess I did fail to mention that I want to get a live steam narrow gauge loco that I can afford (they ain't cheap as we say here in the colonies). So have my eyes peeled for something used probably but haven't ruled out a kit (i.e. Roundhouse Billy or such).
Another issue I'm facing is whether to make the layout at ground level or elevated. So far I'm still pretty limber and can get up / down pretty well but that won't last forever so have that little issue to address but I'll request comments about that at a later time unless you'd care to chime in now.
Cheers-
Robin

No doubt about it a raised line can take a bit more work, but that is easier if you are younger. You will have seen the Rockeries that I built, my Garden is pretty level so any height had to be made up with Brick walls and the rest is built with wood boards on Sticks covered with Roofing Felt. I will be 70 this year so the work that I did when I moved here 5 years ago is now paying off.

You do not want to be forever rebuilding as my friend is, ground level, moved up to 3 ft high now wants to convert to double track. All in the space of 8 years. He is 0 Gauge so double track is fine for his interest in Main Line British Diesels. I did suggest where he is going to now from the begining but he said that single track on the ground would be fine!

 

[Fred2179G]

So, here are some questions for consideration:
1. What would common dimensions be for ties (sleepers) i.e. Width, Height, Length
2. What code track would you recommend
3. What rail material would you recommend (won't be electrifying the layout)
4. Are there preferred methods of attaching rails to ties
5. What about wood preservation of ties
6. Any good references for hand spiking track

Robin,
Just noticed your thread, and I thought it worthwhile responding as I live in Maryland and made my own track [until hurricane Isabel came along and trashed the garden!]

1. Rick Blanchard has 'standard dimensions' for all things trains on his website:
http://www.urbaneagle.com/data/RRstddims.html
although he doesn't cover welsh 2' gauge railways. If you go that route with 45mm track, you will probably end up with F scale (1:20) or 7/8ths scale (1:13.7.) I run a variety of small steam engines that cover both scales. I imagine the guys here can give you exact dimensions for a welsh sleeper/tie.

2. Rail codes are a matter of choice. 2' gauge railways were lightly built, as they didn't expect Flying Scotsman to come and crush them. So code 250 rail would work well. (I used a combination of code 215 and code 250. One side of my layout was standard gauge code 215 track, and the other was code 250 narrow gauge, separated by bushes, hills and trees, so I cculd run all sorts of scales and, depending where I stood, I got a different scale view!) I'll see if I can find some pictures.

3. As you know, MD is pretty damp. I used redwood for my ties/sleepers on the homemade track, and outdoor plastic track bases from Llagas for the rest. I actually got bored with plain track, so I just made my own turnouts/switches/points. I used aluminum rails - if you won't be treading on them they are easy to use. Spray them with rust brown primer and sand off the top after you lay the track.

4. Spikes should be steel in MD. Stainless will not rust and will pull out. Steel will rust into the wood and you will never get them out. As mentioned above, 19 years is a pretty good lifespan - mine were still good at 10 yrs when Isabel came visiting.

5. Using redwood means you don't have to preserve the ties. Cedar is almost as good, but pine or similar will just rot in a few years. (You can get redwood and other exotic woods over near Annapolis where they use it for boat building. I think there's an exotic wood shop near the Bay Bridge.)

6. The Saskatoon MR club has a good primer on track laying. Whoops - they are gone. There's a long thread on making turnouts, full of esoteric information, on Mylargescale.com. Google "site:mylargescale.com hand turnouts" and you'll get lots of threads.

Here's a photo of a switch I made years ago and wrote about it for Garden Railways magazine. It was annotated:

And here's some of my multi-gauge track in the original garden before Isabel. Gauge-3, gauge-1 and gauge-0:

Alan Miller's book "Getting Started in Garden Railroading" is a good read. - we contributed photos for his book! You can read it online free:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=Getting+Started+in+Garden+Railroading

Finally, let me suggest you visit my friend Jerry in Annapolis, who has a garden railway where I run my trains. [After Isabel, we downsized into a condo and I am in Florida most of the year.] Here's a UK narrow gauge engine pretending to be std gauge with 'thomas scale' trucks.

Here's a vid:

Another local track is Dan's just north of Baltimore, though he's a heavy live steamer. And having looked up your address and his - he's also in Forest Hills near you. Let me know if you want an invite to his next steam-up.

 

[Fred Mills]

Plastic ties (Sleepers) on my pike have lasted since 1982.and are still going strong. If you must spike rail to wood sleepers, why not use proper spikes (Railcraft/Micro Engineering have them in the USofA., Again the steel ones do rust, but mine have lasted for more years than wooden ties will last...when the spikes rust, the rust prevents them from pulling out of the wood...a good reason to avoid Stainless steel spikes that tend to work their way out.
Remember that by the time you finish spiking your rail, after cutting your ties; I will have been running/operating the railroad for several years. If you find spiking rail to be pleasing, or the cost saved to be of great or necessary, then, all the more power to you...As long as you are having fun...that's really all that matters.
Fred Mills

 

[Fred2179G]

Remember that by the time you finish spiking your rail, after cutting your ties; I will have been running/operating the railroad for several years.

I think Fred is trying to say what I said in one of the threads. Spiking plain track is boring. I gave up and bought plastic track bases. I saved a lot of $$ by making my own turnouts/switches/points.

Robin, if you decide to go 45mm gauge, then I would point you to the Peco G45 range or plain track. It has wide-spaced sleepers/ties, typical of a welsh 2' railway.

And that brings up the whole issue of scale. Most models of UK welsh railways are in 16mm scale (1:19th, 16mm:ft, also known as SM32 [Sixteen Millimeter].) They use gauge 0 (32mm) track - and yes, Peco makes that too:

Some people use dual gauge: 32mm and 45mm. That way they can run UK 16mm trains, US 45mm NG models of 3' gauge, and the occasional std gauge loco! [I have a streamline NYC Hudson in 1/29th. Many of my other locos are 32mm/45mm regaugeable.]

If you decide you like making track, then dual gauge is lots of fun!

 

[Paul M]

I think Fred is trying to say what I said in one of the threads. Spiking plain track is boring. I gave up and bought plastic track bases. I saved a lot of $$ by making my own turnouts/switches/points.

Robin, if you decide to go 45mm gauge, then I would point you to the Peco G45 range or plain track. It has wide-spaced sleepers/ties, typical of a welsh 2' railway.

And that brings up the whole issue of scale. Most models of UK welsh railways are in 16mm scale (1:19th, 16mm:ft, also known as SM32 [Sixteen Millimeter].) They use gauge 0 (32mm) track - and yes, Peco makes that too:

Some people use dual gauge: 32mm and 45mm. That way they can run UK 16mm trains, US 45mm NG models of 3' gauge, and the occasional std gauge loco! [I have a streamline NYC Hudson in 1/29th. Many of my other locos are 32mm/45mm regaugeable.]

If you decide you like making track, then dual gauge is lots of fun!

Worth doing, but practice single gauge first!

 

[Melbournesparks]

I do have a slight fall of elevation and never thought about a cut & fill method but that might work well. Thanks for that suggestion. My intrigue with ground level is the more natural look (plants, grass, trees, etc) but I'm sure some of that could still be included in an elevated system. Hmmmm, gotta give this some more brain work

Unfortunately I don't have a before photo, but this was a section that I built in this way:


Originally this was a gently sloping but otherwise flat expanse of weeds, rising uphill in the direction we're looking. The track is about the original ground level, so the gravel in the foreground is the cut, and the slope behind the track is the fill. The track is about 300mm above the gravel, which while slightly less than ideal is still way easier for access and viewing than ground level.

I'm not suggesting in any way that this is the right solution for anyone, there's about as many different ways to build a garden railway as there is prototypes to model! How well something like this works for you depends heavily on your own space, geography, time and effort you want to put in. If you've got natural (or pre existing at least) features that can be taken advantage of or incorporated you're already well on the way, by far the hardest thing to work with in landscaping is a flat empty space!

 

[dunnyrail]

by far the hardest thing to work with in landscaping is a flat empty space!

Amen to that quote. I would also add to that a Garden that has Trees and lots of large mature Shrubs. But remove the trees last as they make a great holder for a Stump Puller whilst you get the large Shrubs out. Then you can cut down the trees and dig out the Stumps with lots of foul language as I did!

 

[stockers]

Amen to that quote. I would also add to that a Garden that has Trees and lots of large mature Shrubs. But remove the trees last as they make a great holder for a Stump Puller whilst you get the large Shrubs out. Then you can cut down the trees and dig out the Stumps with lots of foul language as I did!

Or get a digger in.