I've been looking for something like that to use at our club to set up a permanent outdoor layout. Thanks for the photos. My only question concerns the PVC boards that you say are available at Home Depot, because I don't recall ever seeing any of those locally.
You have an advantage of being in your enclosed back yard. Ours will be out in the open in front of a building that is unoccupied most of the time, so we have to consider the possibility of vandalism, but this does seem to be a sturdy construction method. A larger version of spline roadbed used by some HO and N scale modelers.
The TufBoard is readily available here as part of HD's Veranda brand. There's a big separate section in the lumber department in the stores here. It looks just like plain white boards. It might be special order in your area.
Its very sturdy built this way. I have been walking along it and i'm a big boy at 230#.
Others have used composite deck boards ripped down or vinyl trim boards ( "Trim Plank" I think ) with good results.
-Brian
In So. California you will get a blank stare when asking about "TufBoard". It's really regional. I used "Trex", a plastic/wood composite and comes in 2x4 or 2x6- 12' lengths. In So. Cal it's stocked by Lowes. Ripped into 5/8 stringers, it gave me nice graceful curves. (be sure to store ripped stringers on a flat surface until installation. I supported it every 20" with a spacer made from treated 2x4 lumber and suspended it with 1" PVC Schedule 40 pipe. Before installation I sprayed the PVC pipe with a textured paint spray that simulates a rock texture. Blends in well with the dirt and plantings well. In the elevated areas I'm adding trestles and the textured PVC dissapear in the trestles.
I installed 110 feet of track this way during the summer. So far, So Good!
Jim H.
Trex didn't do so well in all our rain (200 inches). I've resorted to concrete but the jury is out.
N
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