Large Scale Central

Concrete roadbed

Track and Trestles
#1

I was in the HD today to pick up some trestle stain and was looking at “paver edging.”
6 feet lengths, bendable both in and out.
Heavy duty nylon, about 1 1/2 tall and 2-3 inches wide.
Hmmmmmmm…I said as I flexed a piece of it.
What a perfect concrete form for roadbed!

Do a 6 or 12 foot section.
Let it harden, remove the form and move on down the line for another pour.

What do ya’ll think?

jb

#2

JB

Are you giving that a try?

#3

Sounds perfect. I bought the vinyl 1x4’s and ripped them in half and used them the same way. Check you the CMU wire ladders (horizontal reinforcing) for some easy built in reinforcement.

My concrete is mostly the 1 3/4" depth (or slightly more) and held in place with bamboo garden stakes until the roadbed set up and then moved the boards down for the next pour. The wire should be in the middle of the concrete and, as it is fairly stiff, bent to follow the curves. Use a bullet level to check side to side.

Some of HD’s Quickcrete has fibermesh which I prefer. Stay away from high strength as it seems to set up in the bag fast if not used right away. I did like it’s finer sand but ended up with the mortar mix for most of the job. Don’t use too much water!

Neil

#4
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
JB

Are you giving that a try?


Hans,
I think I’ll try a 12’ section to see what happens.
Before the pour, I will drive 12" sections of re-bar into the ground for added support and to tie the reinforcing (what ever I use) material to.
I will also dig a small hole every two feet or so to give the concrete a “footing” so-to-speak.
The neat thing about this is it is cheaper than the ladder method by far, and self leveling.
It won’t settle with the fill, because my fill is rocks and is already settled about as much as it will ever settle.
I will put a small scrap piece of redwood every two feet or so in the wet concrete to fasten the track to.
the redwood will also act as a spacing gauge to keep both sides of the form parallel.

Even if it does move a little over time, a little shimming under the track will correct it.

j

#5

Cozad uses concrete.

He pours it 2 inches thick and puts 2 pieces of 3/8 rebar in it. He even moves it when he decides to rearrange part of his railroad.

#6

OK, now let me tell what NOT to do! I have concrete roadbed with #4 bar down the center and it is on the ground, in the grass! It is a major pain in the A__ ! Here in the Peoples Rebuplic of Western Washington you have one of two native plants that will take over the RR and it is MOSS!!! Now I have used Llagas AL track and guess what the moss secreted, an acid that breaks down Granite as in ROCK guess what it does to AL rail, you got in one, it eats it up!! I needed to remove a couple of sections to replace tie strips and it is all correded!

The next problem is it is very close to the ground and that means you gotta bend over to get to the track, which is not easy when you get older!

So some words of wisdom, 1) Do not put ballast on the concrete as it will hold moisture (for the MOSS to grow) 2) maybe use bress rail as in LGB 332 code with LGB tie strips as they will stand up to the foot traffic and lawn maintenance equipment. 3) Rethink your idea as to how high you want your rails and what you got to do to get to them.

Now have fun!!

#7

Paul, you have my deepest sympathy, living on the wet side as you do. Here on the dry side, moss is the least of our worries.

You might consider moving to the dry side. Its a dry heat, don’tcha know.

#8

In reality I’ll go for the High Senoran area in east central Arizona there it is Hot and dry!! Never the less the part of the rr that is elecated does not have that problem.

Paul

#9

And some of go to extreme measures trying to get moss to grow.

#10

Oh so ture!! I’ll send them a FREE green sample!

#11

The Roger Smith system of using 2x4 elevated frames is the only way to go in my considered opinion. I have installed thirty eight foot sections elevated to heights ranging from 4" to 48" off the ground. No need for concrete roadbeds. Use anything you like to keep the track 1 1/2’ off the platform. Ladder system or I use the blue sheets of styrofoam and it works great. I just cut the foam into to 3" strips and lay them on the platforms for my roadbed. I secure them every 16" with a nail/plastic washer fasetener like they use on the exterior of houses to hold the foam in place. I put a fasetener into every 2x4 cross piece. I balast everything and the track stays put. You only need to shove a pin through the track ties every two or three feet to keep the track on the blue foam along the straight sections. I let the curves float to take up the expansion and contraction. I build up the elevated sections of track on the platform with multiple layers of foam. This is very light weight construction and it is easy to work with and holds up to the elements very well. When you get past 65 you need to keep everything at waist height and light weight.