Tom: You have basically hit the right note. Drainage is the key to any RR. I’ve had mine free floating going on four years with very little maint. This is to be expected as this is what the real RRs do. I did not dig trenches and all the other gimicks. Its just layied on the ground add ballast and surface to my specks. This is what I did for 43 years and have lived in many parts of the good old USA. Here again its a matter of what you think works for you and if you dislike a little maint. RR have to have maint unless you choose to operate indoors then you have about eliminated that problem. As long as you continue to operate outdoors then face the fact that your going to have to work on the RR. Later RJD
Doug,
Ground throws worked great. I was told one picked a wheel, but that would be my installation not the ground throw. And I’ve been running on them for months. We’ll see.
Up until last year I had dug a trench, screwed the track to scraps of 2x4 that layed in the trench, then filled the trench with crusher fines. For two years I had to do a lot of leveling in the spring. I finally decided the trench filled with water and the 2x4s floated up.
Last year I removed all the 2x4s and floated the track.
This year I just put the trains on the track (three loops) and ran them for 8 to 10 hours each day of the past three weekends. Not one derailment.
I’m happy with floating track but I am enjoying reading how everyone else does it.
The first time I ever heard of frost heaves, I thought it was a stomach ailment associated with cold weather!
Yeah Ray! Just think of all the fun we are missing!
How’s the wife?
Regards, Greg
Interesting thread! I’m just starting outdoors, so it’s particularly relevant.
Sandy soil here, though it has some clay content. The sand generally drains OK, and it takes compaction very well, just about ideal for a ranch-style house on a concrete slab (cellars are as scarce as hen’s teeth in Perth). I plan to use a mix of concrete slabs and bricks on a compacted sand base for the roadbed. There may be a section or two that will need raising due to drainage issues.
I’ve tested a train (RDC-1) on a 16’ section of track on concrete slabs, no ballast, not fastened down. Worked fine. I can see that some fastening will be essential, but I may be able to dispense with ballast. Any opinions on that?
The only concern I can see going forward is my ability to get down to ground level. At the moment, though, that’s not a problem.
Perth never gets to freezing, and the only snow is in my memory banks. It does get seriously hot in summer, so I plan to use expansion track at regular intervals. Any of you blokes mucked about with Hillman expansion track?
Wood on the ground here is a no-no. The white ants (termites) have a field day. Years ago, I built a cubby for the kids out of jarrah, a local hardwood, using four 20’ 4x4s for the corners. I sank them to half their length after treating them (I thought) sufficiently, then filled the holes around the posts with concrete. The posts lasted a few years before the white ants got to one of them. Digging the mongrels out was no fun at all.
The PVC setups I’ve seen are impressive, and I’d seriously consider a raised PVC solution if I didn’t have a large supply of slabs and bricks that won’t cost anything except the labour of laying them.
Sorry - that should’ve been 12’ 4x4s. At 20’ they’re still looking for the tree!!!