Chesapeake & Appalachian Railway

All great garden railways have one thing in common - great track work! Poor track work can lead to constant derailments and take all the fun out of running trains in the garden. The most important part of having good track work is having a good solid base. There have been a number of ways garden railroaders have have tried to accomplish this including -

the tried and true “trench and fill” method where the base is dug out 3 inches or so and backfilled with small gravel or stone dust (DG or similar),

using a base of pressure treated lumber or composite wood boards,

using strips of painted blue or pink foam insulation board,

the post and stringer method with wood posts and lumber stringers,

outdoor benchwork of rot resistant lumber topped with hardware cloth and landscape fabric,

and the many variations of the above.

The most promising system, in my opinion, is the ladder support system. The ladder is two stringers separated by spacers and then supported by upright posts unless at ground level. The stringers and posts are constructed of either a rot resistant/treated lumber or composite or plastic lumber and pipe. After doing some research reading and a bit of experimenting with different methods and materials this is the method that works best for me.
I start with Home Depot’s Veranda brand Tufboard. It is PVC foam lumber available in sizes from 1″x2″x8′ (nominal) to 1″x12″x16′. I like to work with longer lengths for less joint so I start with the 1″x6″x12′ boards and rip them down into four ~1 3/8″ strips for the ladder stringers. Using the precut 1″x2″x8′ works just fine, too. I use pressure treated (PT) 2″x2″ lumber cut into 3″-4″ long hunks for the spacers. The PT wood spacers are attached to one Tufboard stringers at two foot intervals with a single 1 5/8″ deck screw -

I will attach a longer (4+ inches) spacer halfway at one end of the stinger to use as a joiner.

I mark out the route of my track with spray chalk or paint and mark two foot intervals to dig holes for the posts. I use a two inch power auger to dig the holes about 15 inches deep. Power augers can be rented or you can use a bulb auger on a heavy duty drill if you have decent soil (not the hard clay/sand/gravel stuff I have in my yard ).

I put a few inches of sharp gravel in the bottom of the hole to allow drainage for the posts. I use 1 inch (I.D.) PVC pipe for my post as it has an out diameter of close to 1 1/2 inches (about the same as the wood spacers). I cut the PVC pipe post a few inches long. They can be trimmed a bit more later as needed or just pounded in a bit if they are just a bit tall.
The posts are placed in the holes (trimmed to the appropriate height) and the first stinger is attached to the post with 1 1/4″ deck screws -

The second stringer is then attached to the posts and spacers with 1 1/4″ screws for the posts and longer screws to the spacers. Special attention is paid to side to side level as the second stringer is attached.

After all the stringers are together, I pack the holes with gravel fill paying attention to final leveling -

I back fill the raised track with gravel supplemented with any scrap brick, concrete, or stone fill material I may have to get rid of.

From there soil is added for future grading and planting -

The Tufboard takes spray paint very well. I typically use gray for under ballast use and dark brown for other uses.
For grade level support where posts are not needed I will drill holes in the spacers for spikes to hole the ladder in place -

I usually free float the track on stop of the ladder and then ballast it in place. If you need to tie the track in place, a few small nails through the ties into the stringers will do the job.

For more reading on the subject -

Family Garden Trains Ladder Track

Bruce Chandler’s Jackson & Burke RR

and there are many threads on ladder system over in the Tracks & Trestles forum of LargeScaleCentral.com -
LSC posts

Thanks to Richard Mostow for above pictures 1 - 6.

-Brian

Often during model building, we work with brass stock, cast brass parts or white metal cast parts. A weather beaten patina is often the desired finish of these metal parts. While this is can be accomplished with paints, a much more realistic effect is derived from chemical blackening of the metal. This is done by treating the metal is various metal salt solutions. Some examples of these can be found here - Do-It-Yourself-Patina-Formulas. I will mention here that many of these solutions can be caustic and/or poisonous and should be handled with all due care. Wearing rubber gloves and safety glasses is recommended when handling them.
A-West’s Blacken-It has been the long time standard blackening agent and it works well on both brass and white metal. I have been working with an old bottle (maybe 15 years old?) and I have heard that newer formulations may not be as strong. It may also be a matter of cleaning. I wash my metal bits in warm soapy (dish detergent) water followed by a good rinsing and a final denatured alcohol rinse. This is sure to remove any oils or mold releasing reagents that may be left on the metal and interfere with the blackening process. Blacken-It is a nice product but it can be expensive if you have a lot of metal parts to blacken.
John Singer over at the 7/8th’s Lounge (the 7/8th’s Lounge) recently posted a white metal blackening formula sent to him by Roger, another 7/8’s scale modeler. The formula is pretty simple. After a bit of investigating, I found both chemicals could be found in my local ACE Hardware store (also on the ACE Hardware online store). The formula is
10 g of Copper Sulphate + 10 g of Iron Sulphate in 100 ml (grams) of distilled water. Copper Sulphate is sold as a root killer for water sewage pipes. Iron Sulphate is sold as the Bonide brand and is used for adjusting soil pH in your garden. Distilled water can be found in gallon jugs in your supermarket. A two pound container of Drain Care “Root Kill", a four pound bag of Bonide Iron Sulfate, and a jug of distilled H2O cost be less than $25. There is enough chemical there to last most modelers a lifetime so share it with your train buddies.
Weigh out (wearing rubber gloves) and mix then ingredients together in a glass or plastic bottle. Stir frequently and the ingredients will dissolve in about 15 minutes. You will wind up with about 4 ounces of a cloudy blue solution.
I compared my homemade solution to Blacken-It, a commercial “rusting” solution, and another, non-toxic, paint on type black tinting solution.
The “rusting” solution is a copper sulphate, ammonium chloride solution used to get a rust patina with iron compounds. It is typically used with an iron solution paint to get true rust effects. Instant Iron/Instant Rust and Iron-It/Rust-It are common brands.

Testing -

I tested identical white metal cast links from link and pin couplers. White metal recipes can vary, so may your results. I also tested bits of brass wire. In some cases the tested solutions did not react with brass and that is noted below.

Results -

A-West Blacken-It - it worked quickly and well on both the white metal and brass turning both a black color

Homemade Cu/Fe Sulphate solution - it worked well on the white metal but took longer. I left the metal in the solution for about 15 minutes, shaking it occasionally. It turned the metal a brown/black color. This solution had no effect on brass.
Added - the homemade solution is good for about a week. After that make up a fresh batch so it is a good idea to only make up what you need.

Rusting solution - this was a pleasant surprise. It worked well on both the white metal and brass. It turned the white metal a gray brown color and it turned the brass a rusty brown. It took a few minutes to work and curiously turned the solution from blue to milky white.

Blackening tint - it had a subtle blackening effect on the white metal and no effect on the brass. It may be useful as a blueing effect wash. I will have to play with it some more.

As time and opportunity permits, I will experiment with other solutions. If you have personal experience with other solutions, please let me know and I will add them to my list.

-Brian