I began construction of my GRR this past weekend. I’ve decided to build my RoW using Bill Logan’s flexible roadbed system. I ordered 48 HDPE 2X4X8’s from EPS in IL which were delivered last Thursday. After running them thru my surface planer on Saturday, I began ripping the ¾” wide roadbed rails Sunday AM. (I’m using a 10” 30T Freud rip blade on my TS.) When sawn, HDPE generates static charged shavings which stick to EVERYTHING. I fab’d a hood so my dust collection system could keep the mess under control.
A happy but dog tired, GRR’r. 640’ of roadbed rail ripped, enough to support 320’ of track.
This week I’ll crosscut the spacer blocks (500+) and start screwing the roadbed rail together. Stay tuned and thanks for peekin’. [:)].
Looks like you’re off and running. I saw the article on Bill’s roadbed a couple years ago but lost the link.
Can you please post the link.
Tks,
SM
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - Declaration of Independence
I’m also including a link to EPS, my source for the HDPE material. http://epsplasticlumber.com/lumberpricing.shtml I’m using, 2X4X8 in redwood color… it runs about $2.09 a foot plus shipping. Shipping to Atlanta was 50 cents a foot. This is the cheapest I could find. It wasn’t available locally, but you might find it in your area.
BTW, these are the screws I’m using to fasten the spacer blocks to the rails. They are 1 5/8”, #8 square drive in 305 stainless steel. http://www.mcfeelys.com/multiple.asp?ProductID=0815-FA5 I experimented with several coarse thread deck screws from both HD and Lowes as well as several styles from McFeely’s. These drive the best without pre drilling and make a very tight joint. So far, I’ve driven over 560 and have not snapped off one head (yet).
This past weekend, I fabbed an assembly jig, cut and installed all of the spacer blocks for 280 feet of roadbed and have another 40’ to do. I’ll post some pictures and comments here on that experience tomorrow. [:)]
Well, here’s a couple photos of last weekend’s activities… cross cutting 560 1" spacer blocks plus another 80 2" splice blocks. This went a LOT quicker than I thought it would… taking about an hour and a half.
A five gallon bucket full. Almost makes you want to add milk to them… [:D]
Here’s a close up of the assembly jig with the first rail in place. The spacer block on the right is clamped tight agains the rail while the clamp on the left is still open, waiting for a spacer block to be inserted against the stop to the left. These cam clamps open and shut in a second, saving hours of time for repetitive tasks. They’re about $14 each from Woodpeckers.com.
I’ll put up a couple pictures that give an overall shot of the jig tomorrow after I resize them a bit. Stay tuned. [;)]
Here a better view of the assembly jig. It’s 1/2" MDF, 12" X 48". The fence is made from 3/4" MDF. MDF is a great material for jigs as it’s stable, but more importantly it’s dirt cheap. A 2X4’ piece is $5.
The small buckets I used to hold the 1" spacer blocks and 2" spice blocks. The red bucket was for rejects. Sometimes I’d find a block that had a bubble or hollow. Out of 640+ I only found maybe a dozen that were bad.
Once clamped, it takes about 10 seconds to shoot a screw thru each of the two blocks. Flip open the clamps, lift and shift the rail down two stop blocks, add two spacers, lock the clamps and shoot in two more screws. Rinse and repeat about 280 times [:D]
Well, the weather finally turned warm enough to start installing some of the flexible roadbed on the ROW.
The first picture shows bending the roadbed into the curve desired, clamping it in place and screwing the opposite side rail to complete the assembly. I did this in four foot sections, one at a time.
The garden hose served as sort of a template for the curves… worked pretty well. I still have to install the vertical supports and estali***he grade, etc… So far, so good. Thanks for peekin’.
I read all the articles on this “new” roadbed method but none really got into how to use this method on a 100% ground level layout. So, I was wondering - would you still need the vertical supports if you were putting this on the ground and ballasting? (Only digging a shallower trench enough to level it) Or should you still use the verticals but just putting them in deeper?
