weatherproof baseboard

V

van5

Talyllyn Railway. I of M, Old Land Rovers
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>:( My layout is built above ground level on so called marine ply treated with preserver. Some 5 years after completion the wood is deteriorating rapidly despite being covered in the winter months.
The layout covers quite a large area and is fully wired.

The base obviously needs to be replaced. Any suggestions?
 
Plastic Roof-line products. Works on mine.
 
Most builders merchants, or I got my last lot on-line a lot cheaper but I don't seem to have the url to hand. It's mostly about 10mm thick and comes in various widths to about 600mm and various lengths. Depending on your structure you may want to support the edges in places. I used roofing laths (left-overs).
 
Try http://www.fascias.com/contents/en-uk/d154_Soffits_9mm_Flat_Board.html Not sure if they are the ones I used, but they seem to do the biz.

It'll hold with screws or nails.
 
Another method, that has been discussed here in the past, is to build a frame and instead of covering the frame with a solid piece of wood or something similar, line the open frame with hardware cloth, then place landscape fabric over the hardware cloth. On top of this place soil, ballast and track. No worries about rotting wood and such. And you can still have plants.
 
If you use plywood you should cover in roofing felt but you could use cement particle board or recycled plastic board instead which would need no covering.
 
I use cement based 7mm thick underlay, been outside for a few years in all weathers and its as good as new...
 
The Filcris boards go up to (at least) 8 x 4 (feet) if that is of any use?
 
You could use artificial fibre cement slates which are not that expensive. They come usually in either 300 x 600mm or 250 x 500mm sizes which may be about the right width for baseboards.
 
Remember that when using Filcris boards, strips and posts, that they are reconstituted plastic and will expand/contract quite a bit in the sun etc., so allow for this when laying the track!
 
I have to say that I fully agree that Filcris would be good, but yes expansion is a real issue.

However what about Decking? If felted this can be very durable. Only time it is possible to fail is when in contact with earth or if you have Concrete Mountains and water Puddles keeping the wood wet for ages.

Use a good quality Felt and you are looking at 10-15 or even more years.
JonD
 
Even timber expands and contracts with the heat and moisture..

??
Has anyone tried laying 5 foot of track, and 5 foot of recycled plastics out to see what the difference in expansion is.
??

I had considered Filcris, with a mesh of some sort within the ladder frames, and then ballast/track.. Probably mostly floating, with only fixings occasionally. - bridge approaches, and the like.
Biggest worry was what to use as the 'mesh' which would give a long life.. Not going brittle, or corroding in some way.
 
Wood does not move anything like Plastic, trust me I have used both.

As for mesh, you could use the Metal Galv stuff that is about the size of an Earth Sifter. But this is quite expensive, but what about that Plasticky Stuff that is used around Building Sites. I have seen Blue and Green. Tough but where you get it? Either a skip or perhaps a Builders Merchant.
JonD
 
What you are referring to a mesh is called hardware cloth over here. It comes in different mesh sizes. 1/2" squares are the most common. 1/4" squares might be better as you get more metal, it's galvanized and relatively inexpensive. It comes in rolls of varying widths. A lot of times you will see it as a backup on basement window screens. Some people use it to cover small flower beds in the city. This keeps squirrels and cats from destroying the bed.

I'm still pushing for the open frame method and floating track. If I were starting my railway now I would use this method.
 
Madman said:
I'm still pushing for the open frame method and floating track. If I were starting my railway now I would use this method.
Click to expand...

I think the idea has some merit Dan, but I think we would struggle to find the right mesh in the UK. I've tried the finest galvanised mesh I can get from a local hardware store, but I really struggled to tension it. I put some stringers under the mesh, but they would have ended up so close I could have laid the track onto them. Its only a test section so I'll put up with the odd dip.

The next Idea I was considering was a tray affair but with expanded polystyrene sheet - a few layers maybe laminated togther. There is an insulation wholsesaler operating out of a farm about a mile from here, but I haven't plucked up the courage to go and make a fool of myself.
 
My idea was to use the 'standard' suggestions from Filcris for the ladder rack. But perhaps slightly deeper sides ?? Depends on how thick the substrate, and ballast, works out.. Then weldmesh cut to fit inside, possibly just-under 50mm if available, for the strength / load bearing. Followed by 'something' to stop the ballast falling through.. Maybe a 'proper' geo-textile (not cheapy DIY weed membrane), then the ballast..

A bit of a 'Rolls-Royce' installation, but the idea is to do it once, barring move, changes, and additions, then just top-up the ballast over the years.. Seems to work at 12" to the foot.

Now, who was it who had the big green bridge-sections on here? and, did he get rid of them all?
 
Dtsteam said:
I think the idea has some merit Dan, but I think we would struggle to find the right mesh in the UK. I've tried the finest galvanised mesh I can get from a local hardware store, but I really struggled to tension it. I put some stringers under the mesh, but they would have ended up so close I could have laid the track onto them. Its only a test section so I'll put up with the odd dip.

The next Idea I was considering was a tray affair but with expanded polystyrene sheet - a few layers maybe laminated togther. There is an insulation wholsesaler operating out of a farm about a mile from here, but I haven't plucked up the courage to go and make a fool of myself.
Click to expand...

I think we're not quite on the same page Dave. My idea is to lay the mesh in-between two outer upright stringers, let's say 1" x 4"s on edge. There would be no tensioning required. Let the mesh form an elongated bowl. Of course the 1" x 4"s would need lateral ties at their bottom edges. Next add a layer of landscape fabric over the hardware cloth. The fill the tray with soil and ballast. Finally, lay your track on the ballast.

Here is a link to the hardware cloth http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-4-in-x-2-ft-x-5-ft-Hardware-Cloth-308231HD/204331884?N=5yc1vZc3lp

Landscape fabric http://www.homedepot.com/p/Scotts-4-ft-x-220-ft-Landscape-Fabric-204133/203074617?N=5yc1vZbx4q
 
Ah, separated by a common language!
For 'Hardware cloth' in the UK read 'Weldmesh'. - Though that might be a trade-name.

That is the type of thing I was suggesting, though with a larger mesh-size, so tend to be a heavier gauge wire it is formed from..
Would think the finer meshes would tend to rust through too quickly in our 'green and pleasant land'. = Wet!
The 1" (25mm) product is a lot heavier gauge, and would last a lot longer..
 
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