Steve, Here is a pic of how I assemble my ladder roadbed. The clamp/vice used to hold the blocks is the vice that came with my Craftsman 9in drill press. The blocks were all cut to length using a spacing 2x4 on a miter saw, so each individual block didn’t have to be measured. The material I used was “Everlast”, a pure vinyl product.
Here the second side of the ladder is screwed to the blocks, laying the track on top to get the correct angle. This can either be done remotely [like this one] or on site. I found it easier to assemble, making the second side of the ladder the outside of the curve, rather than the inside of the curve.
Initial layup. Notice the splice area on the right end.
Two ends of curve assembled, waiting for vertical supports and leveling.
Structural supports in place.
Comparason of old and new roadbed. The old roadbed had been named “Widowmaker Curve.”
Elevated section in use. After warm weather returns [if ever] a decorative facade of trestle or viaduct will be put around the ladder for appearance.
Shortly after this picture was taken, we got 3" sleet which solidified and then was covered by an additional 9-12 in snow and drifts up to three feet. By morning, it had turned to solid ice, which lasted three weeks and totally shut down operations. JimC.