Photos from the Woodshire Railroad (O gauge garden railroad)

[dave hikel]

Hi all,

This past week I visited my friends at the Woodshire Railroad.  We operated three of MTH's new Z-6 Challengers in GN, NP, and SP&S.  Here are a few photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[S&G Rute of the Silver River]

drool.     Those arn't three rail are they? did ya get to run one?

      l

      l

      l

   ________

[John Busby]

Hi

The track would indicate a three rail set up.

what is of interest to me is what was done to form a firm base for the line.

And is it just ballast or is there something else helping Keep the track in place.

regards John

[dougdagrump]

You can see and learn more here:

http://web.mac.com/hankb/iWeb/wrr/Home.html

 

 

[dave hikel]

Hi guys,

Doug, thanks for posting the link to the Woodshire's website.  For those who have never seen the website I encourage you to check it out.  There are some neat videos and info on construction.

The Woodshire is indeed a 3-rail O-gauge layout.  It uses stainless steel Gargraves track with UV inhibited plastic ties.  Here are a few construction photos that aren't on the website which will give you a better idea of how the raodbed and other features were constructed.

We first removed the top soil and pounded cedar stakes to set the grade.

 

Wiring was roughed in with water tight conduit and boxes layed between the stakes.  Feeder wires break out of the boxes through water tight fittings.  For greater durability and abbrasion  resistance we used three conductor extension cord for the feeder wires.

 

Next we poured gravel around the stakes and tamped the gravel flush with the top of the stakes.  The track was layed on the gravel and screwed to the tops of the stakes.

 

Special preparations were made to support the bridges and trestle.  Again, the top soil was removed, but in these cases we layed paving stones to distribute the load.  The stones were carefully layed to match the grade and a specific height.

 

The bridge piers and trestle bents were then placed on top of the pavers.  In the case of the trestle bents, which are real wood, we also applied a wood preservative (that's me applying the preservative in the photo).  Each spring a fresh coat of preservative is applied.  After three years in the wet weather of the Pacific Northwest the trestle and other wooden features are holding up fine.

 

 

Since the railroad was built there has been some minor settling of the road bed.  When I recently visited the layout to regrade an area that settled enough to cause trouble I noted that the buried cedar stakes have now deteriorated to where they aren't doing much to hold the track.  But, as you can see in the earlier photos, the track has been fully ballasted which now anchors the track quite well.  The ballast is a mixture of roofing granuals and portland cement powder.  The mixture was applied and spread dry and then wetted out with a light mist of water.  The cement powder cured to provide a firm secure ballast, but is still pourous enough for good drainage.

[EMPIRE II LINE]

The Woodshire is indeed a 3-rail O-gauge layout.  It uses stainless steel Gargraves track with UV inhibited plastic ties. 

Dave, you say this is the SS track, I too have some of the older SS track with the wood ties from Gargraves, do you know of a good source or outlet to obtain this SS threerail track ?

I too, plan on doing a outside loop of "O" scale and at present do have quite an extensive "G" scale line, all on a raised forum of support, and my plan is to do the "O" scale line similar.

Byron

[MTCarpenter]

Beautiful layout.  Just beautiful.

[LVTrainMan]

What a great idea! I never dreamed of O scale in the garden!

Beautiful!

[Mr_Ash]

wow that last pic in the first post is just

I got a new desktop background

[vsmith]

What a great idea! I never dreamed of O scale in the garden!

Beautiful!

And just think, at night all you do is leave the power pack on at full power and you get first class critter control !

Just kidding, spectacular layout