how to elevate track?

[Anonymous]

how do you elevate track using wood?

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure of the question. are you meaning a bridge across a canyon or something more like an elevated transit line in a city?

If you mean a canyon, there's several wooden tresle bridges that work well on either deep, medium or shallow canyons or rivers.

If you mean a wooden elevated cityline, most would be a series of poles, with crossbars between the pairs (left/right of track bed) as well as a few diagnoal supports along the side poles.

Similar to the following for the sides:

/|\|/|\|/ the pairs would be more sturdy with X shaped supports, some may have the sides as X shaped as well for more support. On top of this would be a Beam between the poles (side to side, and right to left) and on these would rest the deck for the track.

Some Elevated would have the poles angle in such a way as to visible show about a 5-10 degree angle in from the base to the deck for added stability.

Wooden structures like this really resemble the Wooden Tresle bridges, in some senses, so you could easily kitbash (or use one as a template) to build the elevation yourself.

Jay

[CP5170]

If you mean elevating the track from 2" above the benchwork to 4" above, I would suggest that you use pine spline. I bought ten 1x4 pine in ten foot lengths then ripped them on a table saw to 1/4". The spline will bend to the curve desired ( not too sharp) and wil include easements which make sharper curves appear larger. It also is very effective in elevating the roadbed from one level to another without putting a bend in the track.

Hope this helps...Ken

[Anonymous]

I used 2" thick Styrofoam cut and glued with PL adhesive on edge. Two sheets side by side create a 4" wide sub roadbed. Used a 10" table saw w/ fine tooth blade. I have a jig to rip at an angle. Easy. Fast. Calculated the grade and set the jig at a fraction of an inch to two feet. For building the arch overpass used an idea from this Forum. Poplar, 1/4" x 5" stock, will span without deformation more than 10 ". The 1/4" thnikness is helpful in terms of reducing the total elevation & grade.

[Anonymous]

hi
As I have all ways used open frame bench work this has been easy I glue and
screw risers at 12'' spacing using the sub base as a template for the riser locations.
Making sure I will not have screw into end grain at the top of the riser when it is set up.
then starting at the top of the grade i glue and screw in the top risers which are 6" apart
then glue and screw a spine in the middle so the top of the grade stays flat and level.
then working down the grade I add the spine then glue and screw the next riser down
ccking all the way to make sure it is straight and level all th way down .
For curves the same method is used but the spine is made in as many sections as needed to go round the curve in straght bits between the riser it takes a while but there have never been problems with saging or lopsided grades. top off with your favorite road bed then cork then lay your track rmembering to drill holes for track feeds under where the rails will be so the whire dosent show when soldered to the rail and the track eventualy ballasted.
I usualy paint the cork grey and the area beside the cork brown or green any naturalish shade will do as long as you have good coverage so if you flocks ect leave a bare patch it is not visualy ofensive.
Hope you can make sense out of this.
regards John .

[cwclark]

I use L girder benchwork...then i cut pieces of 1 x 4 boards to the incline rise that I need and glue and screw the risers and cleats to the L girder joists in vertical rows that will match up to the track route(making sure they are level)...I only raise the track 1" per 100" of track length for a 1% grade and 2" per 100" of track lenght for a 2% grade...after I install the risers and cleats, I take a sheet of 3/4 plywood and cut out the straight and curved pieces in 2 1/4" strips for the sub-roadbed...i then glue and screw the 2 1/4" plywood strips on the tops of the risers...to join the strips of plywood together, I match up the ends, cut a piece of plywood about 2 1/4" x 6" long ...place it under the joints ...and glue and screw the joints together to the 6" board so that the transition from one strip of plywood to the other is smooth and level...i put c clamps on the joints until the glue dries for a tight bond..