Building Track
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TiesThese are stacks of cut railroad ties being treated. I was using a commercial product for this. My tie treating plant was producing 24 ties a day, nonstop. This procedure was phased out. It is less costly and easier to use commercial pressure-treated lumber. These ties started out as 1.5" x 1.7" x 13.625" untreated spruce. |
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My track sections are 8 feet long either curved or straight. In order to build sections that long, you need a sturdy workbench just as long. The bench below was constructed from lumber originally intended for ties. On the bench is a computer generated template that shows precisely where each tie goes within a track panel. Note the storage of stringers underneath the bench.
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The photo below is a stack of track sections 8 feet long. These have a 40 foot radius. All track sections are built on stringers.
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Something else you will need lots of ... Ballast!
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Once the track sections are completed, the next task is to lay track. Most individuals and clubs prefer to have the rail already laid. However, most of them do not use stringers either.
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The first and most labor intensive task is to grade the roadbed.
This is complicated by the presence of rocks, roots, old buried
building materials, etc. You may need to remove quite a bit of
soil or borrow it from another location to create a fill.
Then the sections are layed on the earth and fastened together using short stringers. Having the ties on stringers elevates the track off the ground. Then ballast is poured onto the track and between the ties. |
Working all day means only completing 40 feet of track. It is going to be a long summer.
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More Photos Track Construction pages