Laying out garden rr

[laceyrr]

I read an article (I believe in Garden Railway Magazine) which used pvc pipe on posts to lay out the entire railway.  Does anybody know anything about this process and is it a good way to establish grades, etc?

[g. gage]

Jack Verduucci discribed this method in several Garden Railways artcales. In his case I think he used the upright PVC posts to hold PVC pipe marking the track location. He then back filled up to the PVC/track level and used the floating method of track. I've noticed back east they use bigger PVC upright posts and attach some type of subroadbed to the posts.

I use the floating method for track. For grades I use a bubble level on a 1x2" board 25" long with one end resting on a longer 1x3" board setting on a LGB flat car. A piece of stepped wood placed between the two boards establishes the grade, 3/8" = 2.5% grade for example. I roll the car along as I work checking my work.

I hope this helps, Rob      

[altterrain]

I think you are thinking of a beginner series written by Kevin Strong about two years ago. Kevin checks in here once in awhile (when he's not busy changing diapers   ) and will hopefully chime in.

I believe he uses 3 sections of PVC outdoor conduit (1/2 or 3/4 inch diameter?) that was screwed together and staked in with rebar.

I use a ladder system that you can read about here - http://www.grblogs.com/index.php/2008/12/13/ladder-track-support-systems?blog=25

-Brian 

[g. gage]

Hey thanks Brian, I had forgot about Kevins piece. I think he used the PVC's for wiring also, and I apologize for not mentioning your ladder system. By the way I upgraded a 10' long trestle with 8' dia. curves to one with a 11.5' dia curves and used the ladder system, it works very well. I know Jack, he was the first to come to mind.

Rob 

[laceyrr]

Thanks for your responses; I just looked at the site concerning the "ladder" process and and it looks promising.

[reeveha]

The article you are talking about was by Kevin Strong about construction of his Tuscarora RR. It a series he did starting in the June 2006 issue and ending with the February 2007 issue.  The October 2006 issue concerned the PVC trackbed method. It use to be available free on this website but now it must be purchased from Kalmbach for $9.95  from http://kalmbachcatalog.stores.yahoo.net/grpdf030.html