How do you make curved battens?

[FJ and G]

GRR mag often mentions battens & even shows how to make a straight one. But how do you make a batten for curves? It would seem that the wood cannot remain curved unless you boil it or something and force it to curve.

I'm nearly done fabbing my code 148 turnouts (O gauge) and will soon be laying mainline track that includes many curves and I don't have a clue about battening.

Also, can the wood be pressure treated pine for the battens?

thanks

[kstrong]

Most folks use straight lenghts of wood for the battens, using two of them and staggering the joints to make up the curved sections. Alternatively, you could laminate two lenghts of wood together. For instance, if you've got 1/2" square redwood, you can laminate two sections together to give you a 1/2" x 1" batten that would run down the middle of the track.

When dad and I built the trestle on his Woodland Railway around 20 years ago, that's the method we used for the battens which the track was attached. We had 3/8" x 3/4" redwood, and we ran one around the curve to form the route of the track. From there, we attached the second piece, screwing it to the first piece as we went along. If you look on the cover of the December '05 issue, you can see the screws we used just below the ties, around every 3 to 4 bents.

Later,

K

[FJ and G]

Thanks Kevin,

I do plan in near future to go up and see your dad's layout & do a photo essay on it for this forum. I'll let you know when.

I've got some pressure treated pine I plan to rip into suitable lengths.

[tangerine-jack]

Yeah, we all know about the East Coast Redwoods. I can't find redwood here, cedar yes, but not redwood.

OTOH, Kstrong is right about the laminated method, it's the only real practical way to do it. I've done some experimentation and it works and is easy to do.

[FJ and G]

I've searched high and low and there's no redwood in these parts, I concur.

I'm still trying to visualize how battens are done. Running one down the center sounds fine enough but when I pu***he spikes into the ties, the cedar ties will break off without support under them. Also, my ties are pretty small (O scale) so I would be using rather small nails to attach the ties to the battens.

Also, by laminating,you mean wood glue and screws?

[Anonymous]

Reading on making trestle bridges one thing I noticed that may help here. There are no curved trestles, they are made up of smaller straight section hooked together on angles. It requires more cutting and some planning but Im using that same theory for the wood Im anchoring my track to.

[kstrong]

Jack and Dave, try 84 Lumber. If I recall, that's where we always got ours from. Redwood isn't commonly stocked at the average home improvement store, but stores that specialize specifically in lumber generally carry it. (Dave, there's one in Manassas, Jack, there's one in Newport News and one in Suffolk.) Their web site doesn't have a product search, but give 'em a call.

Later,

K

[markperr]

I'm drawing a complete mental blank here. Can someone explain to me what the term battens means in this context? For some reason I can't create a visual in my mind.

BTW, Dave, how did things go with the electrical situation from your deck. I lost track of that thread. Did everything turn out o.k.?

Thanks
Mark

[FJ and G]

Mark,

I did a "search" for battens on GRmag, which doesn't turn up anything, but I know the term has been mentioned before, even tho just in passing.

Battens are "thin, narrow strips of lumber used esp. to reinforce a joint" per Webster's 9th. The word has been in use since 1658, and I suspect it may have nautical origins.

Anyway, in garden railroading, it is used for several purposes:

1. It helps to further anchor the track in ballast by adding a protrusion

2. It keeps flex track from springing back, esp. on curves. In other words, it anchors the track longitudinally and perhaps laterally as well.

3. It sort of lessens the chance of the track sinking (although this is probably the weakest of the reasons for using it).

I don't know if that's a good answer but that is my understanding.

[FJ and G]

oh, almost forgot.

I replaced my electrical cord with a heavier eletrical cord. I can't recall the post that was from at the moment as I also rewired my train shed from series/parallel wiring to full parallel for the lights at each cargo bay

[markperr]

So do these things run the full length of the track? Or are there just sections that are attached every few feet. Seems with code 148, you'd probably want it under as much of the track as possible. Have you thought of using concrete as a sub roadbed and then anchoring to it? Or possibly Bill Logan's ladder roadbed.

http://www.btcomm.com/trains/primer/roadbed/ladder1.htm

Mark

[FJ and G]

Mark,

Thanks for that link. I'll read it later today. It looks very interesting.

I'm using hardiboard under the turnouts and battens for the rest. I will likely be visiting a layout up in Maryland and discuss the matter further with a veteran garden railroader.

[Anonymous]

still not sure what a batten is in this context. reading between the lines, i'm going to assume they serve as a sub-roadbed used to fasten track to in order to maintain the tracks lateral and longitudinal integrity as your track courses through the dirt.

in my mind, 3/4" plywood makes the most sense. it can be cut straight or curved, and in any width desired.

on the wood rot issue: redwood is a good product, but it can be soft and expensive, and not really necessary. for the purposes i use it, cedar is just as good.

over on the east coast, you folks have a variety of cypress that far outperforms redwood. will they not sell you any? over here on the west side we all wish we had access to it.

on my horse farm i used to use pressure treated fence posts, and they would rot out within three years (high watertable). i switched to douglass fir posts dipped in used motoroil, and twelve years later they are still working (cheaper and better).

it sounds like your clay soil is a lot meaner than our clay soil. i sympathize with you (feel your pain).