What if a guy made two parallel berms up on each side of his right of way with a mixture of crusher fines and some kind of concrete binder.
And then filled the middle with those same fines without a binder.
Laid the track and ballasted again with those uncemented fines.
j
Might work. I’ve been battling for 4 years with a curved fill I created on top of a retaining wall. It happens to be directly under the drip line of a 60’ Maple. It’s pretty hard to keep fines, and other fill material in place. Every spring most of the ballast and some of the fill has washed down the wall into the grass below. I’ve tried the diluted glue and it doesn’t last. I’ve been considering adding some Portland cement to the fines, but I don’t want to end up with a cement look.
What would you use as the binder?
What would you use as the binder?
I dunno, Jon.
There’s mortar with filaments, and other stuff.
Maybe someone here would know.
With this idea, you would have two berms of solids, with a floating, drain-able, replaceable, ballast in the center.
It would look prototypical, if the binder was colored the same as your ballast, or you exposed it a little with a brush after you wet-ted it down.
I might try a short section.
After all, I can always bust it up and remove it.
j
My plan was to go just a little more permanent in places…
Concrete roadbed - the Cozad method - but form a channel about tie height and several inches wider that the track with a piece of plywood. Then drop in the track, fill with fines and let it spill out over the edges to cover the roadbed.
Where I do have ballast over concrete, under all my switches and one tail of the Wye, the fines work under the ties and raise the rail over time. I think this happens on my fill as well where there is no concrete underneath - it might just be part of the game.
jb
Another thing you might consider is the plastic “bender board” that you can find and most home and garden centers. Just take a spade and cut into the sod in parallel lines about 6 or so inches apart. Insert the bender board into the cut, leaving about an inch exposed. Some have a tubular top that you can leave exposed to form a border… Just leave that exposed and put your ballast in the middle. The exposed part will keep the ballast from wandering away.