The highest quality best looking railroad ties for Live steamers are our 2x2 product. Buy them in 12ft lengths and cut to your own size (for switches, etc.) Pricing is on our plastic lumber page. As of January 2007 it is $16.68 per board. Or $1.85 per 16" tie.

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The Grand Scales Quarterly      http://www.grandscales.com

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Garden Railways

Written by Paul D. Race and Bill Logan for
Article copyright 2002, 2003 by
Paul D. Race and Bill Logan.

Part 1

Paul speaking: An Columbus-area architect named Bill Logan has perfected a construction method for raised roadbed that:

• Can be used by people with relatively little carpentry experience.
• Makes curves and easements almost as easy to install as straight paths.
• Can be installed over existing landscaping and between established plants without difficulty.
• Creates flexible but sturdy support for right-of-way.
• Uses Pre-site fabrication with little on-site cutting required.
• Holds ballast well in in-ground installations.
• Gives above-ground installations an attractive, "semi-finished" appearance from day one.
• Eliminates waste besides sawdust.
• Makes changes and additions easy and waste-free, so mistakes don't cost you money.
• Elimates risk of damage to the structure from warping, rot, or insects.

Bill was so helpful while I was putting this article together, and he provided so much additional information, that I asked him to help me write it. Please pardon me if I occasionally refer to Bill in the second person, since I want to make it evident where all the good ideas in this article originated.

The Way We Were

• Surveying the site to get precise measurents.
• Fine-tuning the curves, elevations, etc. on the drawing board.
• Sinking pressure-treated posts carefully along the future right-of-way.
• Cutting the posts to the height you calculated to establish the correct grade(s).
• Sawing various lengths of pressure-treated 2x6 to support the track. These are called "stringers," after the old trestle terminology for beams that run parallel to the rail and support the ties.
• Connecting the stringers with "plates" (usually pieces of 1x6 that go under the stringers to hold them together).
• Assembling the plates and stringers on the beams and shimming as necessary to get things smooth.
• Screwing the whole thing together, then installing the track on top.
• Backfilling most of the railway and putting bridges and trestles in place as you get them completed.
• Disguising the 2x6"s that are still visible as deck plates or something.

Unfortunately not all of us have Paul's gifts for design or his team's skills at carpentry. Some folks wind up with things that just don't look as good or work as well in the back yard as they did on the drawing board. Some have had to pull out and reinstall sections we didn't do quite right, with great waste of material, time, and effort. Even the best of us have to decide how to disguise those 2x6 stringers.

What Bill Came Up With

While Bill was concerned with structural integrity, he also knew that he would be working with many non-carpenters, and he wanted a method that small teams without a master carpenter could implement consistently throughout the project.

The system Bill developed could be called "open stringer;" it still uses posts and stringers, but the finished installation looks far more "open" from above. In fact, the roadbed looks something like flexible "ladders" for which the "rails" and "rungs" are prepared in the "shop" and assembled to fit onsite.

What Bill Used

• He found a company in Ohio that makes "2x4s" (actually 1 5/8 x 3 1/2", you know) from recycled HDPE (high-density polyethelyne). HDPE is what you get from recycled two-liter bottles; it is chemically similar to the sheathing they use underlandfills, so it should be pretty stable. This "plastic lumber," also sometimes called "plastic wood," is substantially more expensive than pressure-treated pine, but it is much more flexible when used properly, and has virtually no waste, compared to 2x6" construction.
• Bill also examined plastic-and-sawdust "lumber," such as that offered under the brand-name Trex. This is less flexible, less expensive, and easier to find than HDPE components, but it is usable for Bill's "open stringer" method, if you don't want curves under say 8' diameter. (I've recently seen Trex that was installed outside for three years. It seems to lose its original paint color and fade to something like the color of concrete. And it seems to get wavy if it's not supported properly, but where it's supported properly it keeps its shape.)

Bill says that per foot of installed track the "expensive" material is actually cheaper when using his system: in central Ohio, about $2.25/foot versus about $2.50/foot for roadbed made with pressure treated lumber.

How the Method Works

Part three of this article has photographs of people using this construction technique outside, so if the drawings don't quite make sense the first time you look at them, you'll have a chance to see what it looks like in "real life."

In the Shop Rip 3/4" wide stringers off the outside edges of the 2x4 leaving a 2" wide core.
For every eight foot length of the remaining core, cross-cut fourteen 1" thick blocks; three 2" thick blocks; and leave the rest of the core for vertical posts.
Fasten 1" blocks to one of the 3/4" stringers, spaced 6" apart, using one deck screw per block. Deck screws should be galvanized exterior Phillips flat head screws 1-1/2" long specifically designed for exterior decks. (The extra density of the synthetic materials stress wood screws and drywall screws to the point where their heads break off during installation.) A spacing and hold-down template on plywood is very helpful when producing a hundred feet or more of roadbed. This will speed the process of attaching the blocks to the strips and assure 6" accurate spacing. A 2" block is installed in the middle and at each end (with the block overhanging the stringer by 1" for attaching to the next stringer).
In the Garden Directly on the ground bend the roadbed where you need it to go. Use the two inch blocks to join stringers. It is important to provide for staggered joints when the opposite side stringer is attached later.
Using clamps to hold the roadbed together in place attach the opposite side stringers. Stagger the stringers. Bill recommends the use of a minimum of three "Quick-Grip - Mini Bar Clamps by Vise Grip Tools - American Tool Co. Inc. or equivalent.
Drive the posts into the ground through the roadbed far enough to prevent posts from tipping. Space 2 foot maximum. Do not sharpen the end of the post. Sharpening the post like a stake to make it easier to drive will cause the post to push out of the ground later during frost heave. A square end on the post will minimize this. You are not trying to drive the post below frost line. You are only setting the posts far enough into the ground to prevent them from tipping. Infilling with compacted landscape dirt or fill later will provide the final stabilization. The primary purpose of the posts at this stage are to adjust for grade. Driving the posts far enough into the ground to prevent frost heave will waste material and result in out-of-plumb posts and roadbed racking.
Raise the roadbed to the desired level. Clamp in place. Check grade and level. Fasten to posts with deck screws.
Once you've doublechecked the grade and the level, saw the posts even with the stringers.
Leave natural finish or paint as desired for exposed bridges or trestles.Red oxide spray primer works well. Bill recommends Krylon - Red Oxide Primer by Borden Inc. The plastic wood manufacturers do not recommend painting because the plastic does not permit paint to adhere well especially outdoors. Nevertheless, Bill finds that the Krylon primer has held up better than the rest so far.
Attach track to the Flexible Roadbed on 18" -24" centers at the spacer blocks through tie centers with galvanized #6 by 1" pan head course thread screws. (Nails are almost useless with HDPE lumber; use deck screws with coarse threads--they go faster and don't melt the lumber like fine threads will.) Always use self tapping ends.

Bill's General Comments

• I do not recommend placing posts over two feet high unsupported between initial grade and the stringers. They are too wobbly. Provide a temporary horizontal brace from rocks, the stringer material, etc. until the landscape fill or trestle bents are installed. At Franklin Park we elevated loop #5 to 42 inches above grade on trestle bents spaced 6" on center with standard outside taper.
• In temperature extremes, the expansion and contraction factor for the synthetic materials described above matches the polyethylene used in the prefab ties by LGB, Aristo, etc. Water does not effect the pure HDPE lumber unlike treated lumber.The HDPE composite lumber only fuzzes and pits with repeated water exposure.
• Pre-fab track, flex track, and handmade track - all can be fastened to this "open stringer" roadbed with success. Open stringer roadbed can be completely hidden from view by rock ballast that stays in place.
• One advantage of open stringer roadbed (similar to the 2x6 treated lumber method) is that you can construct the roadbed, lay the rails and operate the trains before the final landscape is in place or re-arranged. But, unlike using treated lumber, open stringer roadbed can be installed thru existing landscape plantings with little damage.
• If you screw up the installation or change your mind about placement or elevation, everything can be un-done and re-done by backing out the screws to correct without waste. Try that with the 2x6 treated method.

Tools needed:

• table saw or radial arm saw - yours , a friends, or the lumber yard for cutting the lumber. (In fact, if the lumber yard is having a slow day you're real nice to the guy with the saw, you might be able to talk him into slicing and dicing everything for you before you leave. Of course you shouldn't add the cost of any tip into your calculations when you're comparing the cost of the roadbed--Paul.)
• battery screw drill for inserting screws
• heavy hammer or mallet for pounding the posts.
• carpenters level or grade level for adjusting grades
• clamps (three minimum) for holding and adjusting roadbed.
• hand saw or battery saws-all for cutting off posts and trimming.

Materials needed:

• HDPE lumber - 2" by 4" or Composite HDPE for stringers, spacer blocks, and posts
• Deck screws to attach stringers to spacer blocks and stringers to posts
• Tie screws to attach track to roadbed

One nice aspect is that all the ripping and part of the reassembly can be done in a comfortable dry workshop months ahead of the actual track-laying.

Bill Demonstrates His Process

The resulting sub-assembly is very flexible when you need it to be, and very strong when you need it to be, as Bill Logan demonstrated with an HDPE assembly at a Miami Valley Garden Railway Society meeting in the fall of 2002.
Bill shows how to use clamps to keep things lined up while you assemble the other "stringer." Bill demonstrates at an MVGRS meeting with Wil Davis' help. (Ordinarily this part is done on-site and on the ground.)

Smooth, strong curves are possible in a few minutes. Wouldn't this look good on a "suspended" indoor railroad, too? Notice the 2" block used as a joiner just to the left of the top of the photo. Also, notice that Bill "staggers" the stringers so they don't both get "joined" at the same place.

Figure out where the roadbed is supposed to go and fasten it together. This photo shows two railroaders using a 2" block to attach two stringers before the roadbed is curved and clamped.
Once the roadbed is where you want it, in the shape you want it, raise it to the level you need. Spray primer gives a more finished appearance. In this photo, Chuck Coghlan is getting ready to install some track on a stretch that is almost finished. We understand he did find his way back out through the maze.
David Wythe is preparing ready to saw the top of the post flush with the roadbed.
Cecil (left) and Jack (right) Easterday are installing trestle bents that were prepared inside ahead of time and sawn to length onsite. If you use bents that are supporting the roadbed completely, you may remove the posts. However if the bents are actually supporting the track, you need to provide some means of keeping frost heave from turning your trestle into a roller coaster later. (Of course that's true with any tracklaying method.)
David is installing track (I didn't include any photos of folks using the rail-bender, but they used it plenty).
Backfill the roadbed that is supposed to be at "grade level."

Conclusion

At Franklin Park three people (two assemblers and one gofer) assembled 760 feet of roadbed in two working days including posts and grades (about 25 feet per person-hour). (Installing the trestle bents, backfilling, and landscaping aren't counted into that "person-hour" figure.)

Remember the folks who told us to lay a garden hose in the back yard to decide where the boundaries of our ponds should go (as long as we are using flexible liner)? Well, you can do the same thing for your roadbed, with no fear that you're designing something that you don't have the carpentry skills to create.

So, go ahead and plan. Any kind of curve or combination of curves, any kind of easement, any kind of suspension. Just to be sure to let us know what you've accomplished (and to give Bill his due--Paul).

And if you mess up, or decide a week from now you want it a little different, set your screwdriver to reverse, and do it over.

The VERY best of luck

Paul Race and Bill Logan

Other People's Feedback

I haven't yet been able to find a supplier of [solid HDPD] plastic wood around the Dayton area. Trex does work if you're using moderate to wide curves, but I wouldn't advise using it for tight curves - it will break under enough stress. In 172' feet of roadbed in Eaton, I didn't have any breaks. (Of course, I also modified the project by using some 5/4 width planks instead of the 2x4 style, but we won't talk about that now.)

I do like the method, and would use it again rather than cut 2x6's. The biggest advantage is that the roadbed comes out the same size as the track, and doesn't have the overhang that 2x6's do.

In Franklin Park, where we put in some 800' of the stuff, I think there was about 10' of straight track . . . . The rest was all curves.