Track below ground level?

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stockers

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It will add to the maintenence work but can also look good. I have a short section going about 6 inches down. Fills with leaves and other rubbish but looks the part.
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There is little reason for your cutting to flood if properly graded, the normal reasons for a cutting or tunnel is because the levels don't allow the track to CLIMB quickly enough to follow the natural lie of the land, which means it is already HIGHER than the rest of the track. So as long as the drainage out of the ends of the cutting is good, the water cannot collect.

Any gradients on your line should be directly linked to the type of trains you want to run, and the locos you want to pull them with, a few simple tests will show what suits you.
 
I have experienced what Alan has. Leaves and other debris fills up the cut. Also, it could stay damp for long periods. Not that dampness is any great detriment but "stuff" grows in damp locations. :bleh:
 
In my first track, I had a cutting of about 12 inches deep (approx.300mm).
It looked great, but eventually I found that having a cutting that deep meant I had to drop down on my knees to fix a derailment. Mind you the cutting was a curve about 10 ft (3metres) long.
Eventually I made the track larger & rerouted it. I filled in the cutting & raised the height of the rest of the track.
Dont forget one of Murphy's law: It will always have problems in the most awkward places!
Andrew
Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway

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I recall seeing a German railway where the operator had carried out extensive groundworks such that the track ran in underground culverts, all with overhead catenary. At strategic points he installed access covers.

It did look very effective as the train would enter a tunnel and the visitor had no idea where it would exit.
 
I think it's really about careful planning. Check your levels and find a suitable point to start from, allowing for some ups and some downs, then try to avoid the worst bits, or at least decide how to mitigate them.
 
I have a tunnel which is a plastic pipe, with track about eight inches below ground level, with a rising gradient on either side. I have found that except in torrential rain conditions, it does not flood. Depends on the soil, obviously, but mine is quite clayey.
 
There has to be a very basic rule of common sense here.

Assuming that your planning to make the track roughly level, and assuming that some of the track will be in a cutting, and some will be slightly higher than the general ground level )embankment or raised in some way) then the cutting is unlikely to flood seriously. You might get a bit of water lying in a low spot, if your levels are not spot on, but then it will drain away fairly quickly.

If this doesn't convince, get a length of plastic guttering, without and any end stops, and try and fill it with water :laugh::laugh:

The WWSR is in exactly the same situation, and even though my levels are not perfick, I've never seen any water laying in the cuttings.

Now leaves - well that's another story. I had to buy a garden hoover, of the sort that I had repeatedly and often scorned :rolf::rolf::rolf:

I can't find my picture of the general garden layout at the moment, but if you look at the Wild West Sussex RR page of the Garden Railway Club.com you can see the general idea :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
We've got cuttings on the Highland extension, necessary to achieve a constant gradient
because of the gradient, membrane lining, and small slate "waste" beside the track boards, the run-off is good and it stays acceptably dry
 
Here's my example!
No problems here and my patented sanding block on a broom handle clears any leaves and cleans the track!

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