Drainage under wood is always a very good Idea, go with the gravel, sand tends to hold moisture. If I recall redwood at home depot and lowes was aquired by other forum users in the garden section for some type of plant stake , maybe tonmato or somthing like that. White can be more easily aquired if you look for hardwood flooring, chance’s of LOwes or HD having solid white Oak flooring are slim to none. Check the phone book for a wood flooring supplier in your area. Cedar can also be found in HD near their millwork(stair parts and flat stock area. Douglas fir is more stable than yellow pine which PTL is made from, and is used in a lot of front door units, you would probably have to do yearly maintence on the DF though. Redwood is special order only here in Columbus, Ohio other one lumber yard and even their selection is somtimes pitifull.
Hi FG&J
Not sure what woods are hard or soft woods
But each area of the world has woods which stand up too the outdoor conditions better than others that’s the wood for ties.
old Sump oil the stuff your local mechanic gets out of cars when he does the servicing.
Why use it instead of new oil simple its free but will still keep the timber munchers out.
Creosote is a very nasty chemical coctail that in some places in the world is now a banned substance the trouble is the new aproved substances are no where near as effective.
But even using old sump oil in the small quantities we would use care must be taken not to get it out side the confines of the railroad we only want to keep the bugs out of that not Kill the lady bugs that Keep the Aphids off SWMBO"s prized rose that just happens to be close to the line because it would have been a death sentence to tamper with it.
Perth has changed a lot since I lived there when I travel to Perth I will not go into the city at night I don’t know which areas to stay away from any more.
and there are a lot of gated communities being built.
the idea of fortress home saddens me a bit
I now live about 500 miles away from Perth in the Goldfields and some of the bad features from perth are slowly filtering out to here.
regards John
John,
my pressure-treated ties are now sitting in a vat of Penzoil (new, not used).
That outa lube the spikes a bit when I put it down.
Leaving the batch to soak for about a week.
Still, going to look for cedar & redwood. The pressure treated, oil soaked ties will just be a short stretch of track test case.
Just have to be sure not to dump the coals on the ties as it may start a fire. 
David, add to your construction list
Build ash pit[:D]
The wood is Ceder with Tomson water proofing!
The wood was free!
Go to any Fencine co’ and look in the scrap or free wood or ask! [8D]
Just rip on band/table saw![;)]
Titte bond 2 and a brad nailer! [^]
I’m still searching for sources & came across a photo of a white cedar:
http://www.dof.virginia.gov/mgt/trees/cedar-north-white.shtml
We have or should I say HAD these in our area; that is before the developers came to put in another subdivision; if only I’d known I would have gotten out the ax
Re: used motor oil - I think that it is considered carcinogenic even in small amounts. The run-off can get into the groundwater and cause problems. Probably better off using a product like TREX to be completely environment freindly.
Walt,
I spoke to someone who used Trex and he said it expanded in warm weather and he had problems with it.
I did find some cedar planks at Lowe’s and using someone’s advice here I purchased a large can of Thompson’s waterseal. I got the longer lasting pigment kind that is a honey color.
I did douse some ties in motor oil (new oil) and will wipe off excess oil and see how they work, but not using an extensive quantity.
It’s a wonder we didn’t die as kids as they used to oil the dirt roads and use oil to kill ants.
I can’t believe I didn’t remember this sooner, use linseed oil, it will turn cedar almost black and protect it for years. Soak ties in a bucket of this instead of motor oil. It will take a good while to dry though.
Thanks Matt,
I’m making yet another trip to Lowe’s and will pick up some linseed oil for ties.
I’m going to start this weekend on building a trainshed using Richard Smith’s plans and unabashedly copying some of what he did with his train shed. I’ll be using cedar for the shed (10-ft long & 3 tracks wide). Coating that wood with the Thompson’s water seal.
He painted some of the wood, such as the door and window trim. I’ve got interior latex paint; I’m wondering if that would hold up? Actually, if it starts coming off, I’m thinking that the weathering effect might be pretty neat.
Any suggestions; keep them coming!
I expect to eventually start posting photos of progress as well.
RE: Motor Oil (New OR Used)
Motor oil will “float off” the wood you put it on and will contaminate your plants and then move on to contaminate your ground water, or if it “runs off” and gets to the storm drains will contaminate downstream.
If you MUST treat your wood, use a weather proof oil or preservative DESIGNED to be used on wood outdoors. These oils and preservitives are much less likely to “float off” and contaminate everything. Bear in mind you are going to kill off your vegitation, and if you have any run off that migrates to your “fish pond” you will be killing your own fish. Stay with products designed for the task at hand.