Anchoring Track in mulch

[railroader21]

I have recently crossed a dilema in building my railroad.  I have completed some of the track with ballast and all the fixings but now I have come to mulch.  I don't want to have to dig a trench and ruin the mulch that surrounds my plants and trees.  Is there a way I can anchor the tracks in the mulch so they won't move as if they were in ballast?

Any help appreciated.

[two tone]

Hi Railroaer,   This might work,   Do your butchers use wooden meat schewers if you can get some 6-9 inches you can put one each side of the track and tap them down to the required depth, if not try dowing but protect it with a wood preservitve.   hope this helps

[altterrain]

You can also do it with metal landscape staples (heavy wire U's). They be next to the landscape cloth at the home depot. Just be sure to check them once in a while to make sure they have not popped up.

[sawdust]

Well Railroader 21, I see you got the cart in front of the horse.  I've done that!  The dry concrete mix will still work,  app. 2 inches and beveled sides and spray bottle.  The concrete will not be 3,000 psi but around 1,500, will break up easy for any changes. You might also try strips of that concrete tile backer, that works over soft under layment.

Allen

[ttrigg]

railroader21

On my empire, I too, have a section of track that runs down the rose bed, which naturally is covered by mulch. I have tried many ways of anchoring to keep the track stable with the following results. Landscape staples, too short and start to work up each time an engine runs over them, about four or five laps by the engine and there is a collision and resulting derailment. I attempted 2x2x16" wood pegs but sprinkler system, 110 & 220 underground wiring (patio lights, hot tub, etc), low voltage wiring, and most importantly the roots of the rose bushes all got in the way, and where I could use the wood pegs, the mulch would move up and down ("breathing" as the daytime temperature varied). After I discovered this "breathing" action by the mulch ("breathing" is not the correct word, I'm trying to describe the daily upheaval/downheave of the mulch, especially after the roses are watered), the vertical movement which varies from 1/8 inch to almost ¾ inch. Then came the problem of detaching the rails to add more mulch. I gave up trying to secure the rails to the mulch and just let it float on the mulch. Running through this area requires clearing the mulch from the rails and ties each day that trains run in that area anyway, so when imperfections happen they are corrected just before running the trains.

[4-4-0 Steamer Florida Branch]

While it may or may not work for you try using 12" spirel barbed spikes. They have a lot of grip when they contact roots and such and surprisingly with barren soil as they slowly rust( over many years). Use some thin copper wire on the head and attach to the ties in a stagerd basis. I have been a landscaper with my own business for 25+ years and did nothing but work landscape jobs for 15 years before that. When the time comes to do some rework on that area try sinking some pavers for a solid base and stop the mulch short of the ties and add some native soil with  a seed inhibiter mixed in and then just use a spray bottle of round-up with a little dish soap in it to make the water wetter and let it kill what ever tries to grow there.   Bill

[SNOWSHOE]

What if you clear the mulch in the area you want to run the track.  Then just dig a 4-6 inch trench and lay balst down.  Then put the track down on top and spread more balast on top to hold the track in.  For the mulch just build a small rock wall on either side of the track that way the mulch will be held in place by the walls and wont fall onto the track.  Then it will look like they had to blast through a hill to run the track.  Just another thought.