My son and I installed the first complete loop of garden railroad roadbed and track over the weekend. Bill Logan’s flexible trackbed method works great (see early construction picture above)! I am going to paint the white part of the trackbed a dark rust color in the coming week.
I made one significant change to Bill’s method. I could not find the recycled HDPE (high-density polyethelyne) material that he uses locally, so I searched Home Depot for a comparable product and found a product called “Never-Rot”. It is sold as a white, expanded PVC-based trim material for houses made by Royal Mouldings. It is sold in many profiles and sizes and the basic rectangle 1″x2″x12′ size is perfect for the side rails in Bill Logan’s system…no cutting required! I used pressure-treated pine porch-rail stakes for the middle blocks (also Home Depot). They are cut into 1.5″ lengths and screwed in place just as Bill did. I also used these stakes as the “stringers” that elevate the trackbed off of the ground.
Total cost is less than $2.00 per foot of finished trackbed (excluding the cost of track).
The whole system works great, and the rails can be flexed to any radius curve without cracking. Installs VERY quickly. I’d like to see someone try this method for an indoor “overhead” system. Maybe I will someday.
I will post more photos as I refine the installation.
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About mattsanf
Matthew Sanfilippo is currently Executive Director of PSII (Pennsylvania Smart Infrastructure Incubator) and the CenSCIR (Center for Sensed Critical Infrastructure), Associate Director of ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems), and Associate Director of PITA (Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
Prior to CMU, Matthew was Director of Applied Technology for Michael Baker Corporation, a large engineering and energy services firm. Matt managed a technology consulting division for Baker including Geographic Information System (GIS), software and web development, multimedia, virtual reality (VR), visualization, Global Positioning System (GPS), mapping and surveying services.
Before joining Baker, Matt was an Innovation Director for Redleaf Group, a Venture Capital/Operating Company focused on Information Security, Supply Chain, Network and Mobility Solutions. While at Redleaf, Matt managed technical due diligence for seed-stage investments and coordinated relationships between Redleaf and their partner companies after investment.
Prior to Redleaf, Matt was CIO of GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, a Boston-based engineering firm, and operations manager for their Internet start-up division that focused on web-technologies for health and safety and manufacturing metrics.
Matt is current board member and past Chairman of the Board for the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania, a board member of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), and a former member of the Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania State University Beaver. Matt is also a former Vice President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals and former Vice President of the Board of Trustees for Baker Combined Charity of Pennsylvania.
I have been contemplating building an overhead track system for my house. Shortly after I got married my in-laws began the ‘get the daughter’s stuff out of our house’ phase, and they discovered her old Tyco HO train set. I have been pondering building an overhead track system in our living & dining room.
This project has been in the developmental stages for the last six years. Part of the delay has been the birth of our three children.
Tip: A local hobby shop recommended that for track runs over 40′ to run an electric line (two conductor) parallel to the track and about every six feet solder the conductors to the rails. Solder the same conductor to the same rail, please don’t cross them otherwise you will short out your transformer.
The purpose is to reduce the resistance in the track.