I enjoy building from scratch so, for me, the limited availability of some large scale products is actually an advantage. Besides, I wanted to build as much railroad as possible while spending as little money as possible. I decided to handlay my track.

I think the traditional system of wiring layouts is one of the most limiting and unrealistic aspects of model railroading. What is more, I live on the coast and that means corrosive salt air and wet winters. The thought of constantly trying to keep the rails clean in such an environment made my decision easy: Track power outdoors would be just asking for trouble. I would use battery powered locomotives, radio control, code 250 aluminum rail, and individual redwood ties.

TRACK RADII, TIE DIMENSIONS, AND ASSEMBLY

The Micro Engineering aluminum rail I use comes in 6 foot sections. Eight sections make a full circle with a radius of 7 feet 8 inches. That became my minimum radius. A turnout using that radius uses a number 5 frog, so my turnouts all are number 5.

My ties come from very inexpensive scraps of redwood. The dimensions are 3/8 x 3/8 x 4 inches. I cross cut 4 inch tie blanks on a radial arm saw, then rip them to 3/8-inch square on a band saw. That allows me to cut two ties from a nominal 1 inch board. Once I set up the saws, I produce several thousand ties at a time.

I wanted a system where I could build track at my workbench. First I tried gluing the track to the ties. Nothing worked so I resigned myself to spiking every tie.

First I paint both sides of the rail dark brown so it looks old and rusty. Then I put a rail, base side up, in a jig. The jig is a section of particle board with a groove along one side. I have marked one inch tie centers on it. I run a bead of construction adhesive down the base of the rail, place the ties in position along the length of the rail, and allow the adhesive to set up.

When I flip over the jig I have a single rail with its ties in the right location. I use an X-acto knife to trim any excess adhesive from the base of the rail. Then I spike each tie to the rail. I use Micro-Engineering's 7/16-inch long steel spikes. I place them with a needle-nose pliers, put a metal plate under each tie, then drive the spike home with a mallet and nail set. Since the spikes are longer than the tie is thick, the tip bends against the plate, locking it down.

At that point I check my track plan to see whether the section will be straight, curved, or a combination. For straight track, I clamp a straightedge to my workbench, then spike the second rail in place while holding the strip of ties against the straightedge. If I need a curve, I use a particle board template of the appropriate radius. I bend the tie strip around the template as I spike down the second rail. Since I have securely spiked each tie, the curve of the finished track section holds its shape.

I have made my own track gauges from wood for roughly placing the second rail but I use a more precise metal gauge for the final alignment. The nominal 45mm gauge actually varies between 1.760 and 1.800 inches.

My rail joiners also are homemade. I bend .020-inch sheet copper to wrap around the base of the rail and part way up the web on each side. I do the final forming of each joiner over a scrap of rail. Each is an inch long. Since I run no electricity through the rails, the joiners only function is to hold the rail in alignment.

From the time I start spiking it takes under 90 minutes to complete a six foot section. Then I brush on more paint to cover the joiners, the edges of the railhead, and any scratches. I remove the paint from the top of the rail with a sanding block and the section is ready to take outside.

ROADBED

I expect to lay hundreds of feet of track, so my roadbed system had to be inexpensive. Our property has gophers, tall weeds and grasses, and I have to take care of it. My roadbed also had to be low maintenance.

It ended up being a trench 4 inches deep by 8 inches wide with plastic nursery liner to control the weeds. I filled the trench with crushed rock (not pea gravel), tamped everything down, and sprinkled it with water. That packed the rock into a sturdy sub-base. The track sits on top and the ballast is the same crushed rock, screened through a 1/8-inch wire mesh, so it has a scale appearance.

Within two months the redwood ties turned silver gray and the spike heads had lightly rusted. Wow! The final result looked wonderful!

ALAS, THE RAVAGES OF TIME!

A year passed. The rain and sun did their work. I noticed the expansion and contraction of the aluminum rail slowly had lifted the track out of the ballast. Then the ballast washed out. Weeds managed to grow in the crushed rock despite the anti-weed mat and I regularly had to pull them before a train could run through without derailing. What is more, gophers would dig up through the edges of the crushed rock area, push the track out of alignment, and dump dirt on it. And the rail kinked if somebody stood on the track because the crushed rock sub-roadbed was too unstable. That became even more of a problem when I turned down the flanges on my locomotive. On the curves, it derailed at every kink.

Clearly, I had to rethink my roadbed construction methods.

SOLUTIONS

My friend and ardent railfan, David Willoughby, helped to design a simple freight yard typical of a shortline terminal. We wanted a run-around, two or three classification tracks, a lead to the turntable where we could service engines, and a few miscellaneous stubs for a freight house and team track. I built more track sections.

The yard required ten turnouts. Photo A shows the points of one and the frog of another. No standards existed so I created my own, using NMRA HO standards as a guide. Here they are:

Track Gauge: 1.760" to 1.800"
Flangeway Gauge: 1.750" outside by 1.526" inside (.112" in each flangeway) by .125" deep.
Wheel Flanges: 1.726" maximum outside by 1.546" minimum inside (.090" maximum each flange) by .075" deep.

I was very careful in surveying grades and I formed the yard area with pressure treated 2 x 6 lumber on the lower side and 2 x 4s on the upper. Then I weeded the area and backfilled it with soil until it was level, an inch and a half below the height of the edge boards. Down went more plastic anti-weed mat and crushed rock. I sifted the top layer through a half-inch mesh. I compacted each layer thoroughly. This time I made the sub-roadbed wider and shallower. Wider to keep weeds and gopher holes farther from the track. Shallower so the weeds would have less depth for their roots.

Then the real weed and gopher control measure: Mortar. I spread it to a depth of ¼-inch. I also laid the west end yard lead across an eight foot railroad tie. It provides a stable crossing for people and my lawn mower.

The ballast was the same as before, but I mixed it 2:1 with mortar. I spread it on dry, brushed it into its final configuration, and misted on water. It holds the track very well.

RESULTS

The yard has now been down a year. Some areas along the downhill side need small retaining walls to control erosion. Weeds still root in the rock, but they are less of a nuisance. The biggest problem is rail expansion. For every 50 degrees of temperature swing, 6 feet of aluminum rail expands .05-inch. The mortar/ballast holds the straight track just fine but the curves at the end take all the expansion, push out of alignment by as much as half an inch, and the ballast breaks down causing washouts.

How to fix it? I have now added several more rail joint gaps. I also have driven 1 x 2 anchor stakes into the ground every three feet under the entire railroad and nailed a tie to each stake. When I lay new track, I will leave wider gaps. Also, instead of mortar, I now mix the ballast with portland cement and I coat all the rail joints with axle grease.

I consider all my efforts an ongoing experiment. Each of us has slightly different requirements, environments, budgets, and skills but I hope my report has helped you to avoid some problems on your own layout.

Editor's Note: Our surveys suggest "floating" the track on ballast (no spiking, mortar, or other methods of adhesion) may offer the best overall results regardless of climate. The compromises, of course, are the occasional washout, the need to control weeds, the tendency of track to shift if you or your dog step on it and, of course, the dreaded blight of gophers.