Ground level vs. elevated R.O.W trackage

[Anonymous]

To date, I've only seen one garden railroad were the modeler elevated the trackage above ground using wood framing. The right-of-way was surrounded by lush plantings on either side of the tracks. Is this exceptional? Do most of you prefer ground level garden railroads?

[vsmith]

Personally I prefer the raised roadbed, preferably via a raised planter. It makes working on track/trains/structures much easier. Almost every large scaler who uses live steam will have a raised roadbed because of the need to get close to operate the engine, same goes for sparkies, much easier to work with and it brings the trains closer to eye level.

[Anonymous]

The roadbed down here in parts of Texas are very raised with plant life on both sides.

[Anonymous]

I think just about everyone agrees that and elevated railway is the best way to go as far as observation and access id concerned. However iy does take more work and costs more. As I am a fairly lazy old bloke mine is on the grponud.

Rgs

Ian; Kawana island Tropical Railway.

[Anonymous]

Hey Super man,
Our layout is all raised off the ground on "spline" roadbed. Some areas have plants under the roadbed while others are fully scenic using cement landforms with pockets of plantings.

If anyone is interested in a not too difficult to build free flowing roadbed system check out "Spline Roadbed" on the FYI thread.

Now, please don't take this next part as a slam on ground level roadbed. I'm just trying to point out that both types of roadbed are a lot of work.

Sorry Ian, I don't think your lazy; if you were you wouldn't be in garden railroading.

The gravel-in-a-ditch method may look easy at first glance but is it realy all that easy in practice.
Digging a ditch 8" wide and 6" deep is a lot of work. If you have a lot of water to deal with your ditch will have to be even deeper so a drainage pipe can be placed in the bottom of the trench to draw off the excess water.
Then you need to move all that dirt to a new location. You may be surprise to see how much dirt will come from a ditch only 8"x6".
Next comes the moving of many pounds or maybe even tons of gravel to fill the ditch back up again. If you want a roadbed that is raised slightly above the ground level even more gravel has to be moved.

As far as expense goes, gravel in any form is not free. And on the raised roedbed side of things; an open framework does not take as much material as it may seem at first glance.

I feal that it's a draw between the two systems so choose yours based on need or preference.

May all your weeds be wild flowers....OLD DAD

[bman36]

Hey there,
Interesting question. I think it is a matter of preference. Next time round I won't necessarily elevate my roadbed, but I will definately raise it higher. That is the garden itself will be built within a raised area. For viewing I feel this is much better. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Follow up: hey, I'm curious...what preferences (if any) do you guys have in regard to plantings in your garden railroads? The friend I spoke of when I began this topic has a backdrop of hyacinth bushes...then the elevated r.o.w...and, with a walkway between, a wide array of annuals in an elevated (yet lower than the bushes) flower bed ringed by a stone retainer blocks, with three access points to the train route. I'm told he spends a fortune on replanting each year! [:O] Never-the-less it's one of the most attractive backyard spaces I've ever had the pleasure of viewing up close and personal.

[Anonymous]

Hello all,
Most of my railway at the moment is ground based.However as my garden slopes I have decided to elevate it as it goes down the garden.I had a bit of an idea today.Being in the electrical trade we use 'cable tray' to tie our cable to.It's made of galvanized steel ,comes in various widths and is very strong.I have decided to make a raised railbed on this stuff using galvanized conduit rods to hold it up.I think it could be very versatile as it simply bolt together and is fairly cheap.Anybody used this method before?If not I'll make a new thread with my plans and ideas.Troy

[Anonymous]

Yeah Larry thanks.

But I do not do any of those things like digging and moving etc, I just put ballast down, (Crusher fines etc) and as my knees are going my wife does most of the tougher and tricky bits.

This is an odd area where i live, as i do nor have to drain anything; it can pour as much as it likes, monsoons even and no water on the ground afterward or during, all gone.
I think it is because we live on a man created ilsand ( not man made) what they did where a channel leaves the main river, they joined it back up to the river again further upstream making an artificial island and the drainage is so good its hard to keep you gardens wet.

But I could be seeing the error of my ways, I am planning an elevated section; running 400 mm above the main layout and right across it; but someone esle has her doubts.

Rgs


Ian Kawana etc.

[Marty Cozad]

Ours is on the ground to add in realizim, some of it is raised. Which makes it nice to load trains ,BUT you still have to get up onto it to work on it . Building on a hill side gives you the best of both worlds, if you have a hillside.