Gents,
I recently posted our (my) brilliant scheme for using Hardibacker Board as roadbed on top of our undulating concrete base. Your posts quickly convinced me that without a solid level roadbed that the board would break as we walked on it. Thanks for the advice which we have heeded. So, back to the drawing board. If we needed a level concrete roadbed, then obviously we bring in a contractor; have him shoot a grade and pour on top of the existing concrete until it's all nice and level; then we use the concrete as the roadbed . Simple. The first one we saw said it would take a couple of months to get his jackhammers in to take out the existing concrete . When I assured him that was NOT what we wanted he disappeared. The second one said that he could lay about 4" on top of the highest point and bring the rest up to that grade with 8"-12" poured on top of the rest of the layout. Then he said he couldn't guarantee the whole thing wouldn't breakup within a couple of ears because it was a patch on top job. Plus the pouring of a layer that thick on top of 2,000' feet of roadbed would roughly equal the national debt of three small countries, which SAGRES unfortunately cannot afford. The other two contractor's we called didn't show up.
We have since addressed raising the layout 30"-48" with landscape timbers or decorative block with an interior fill and lay tracks on that. That appeals to us with old knees but again the cost element and labor hours raises its ugly head. I am desperate for ideas since I don't have any experience with any of this. We hope we entertain, amuse and educate between fifteen and twenty thousand museum visitors every year but our existing roadbed of 1/4" ABS plastic on top of sand on top of our uneven concrete has become an operational nightmare and taken a lot of the "fun" out of our runs and made it impossible to "operate", so we are limited to 4 trains going around in a circle all day long. They are nice trains, however.
Any ideas or opinions anyone has to share will be welcome. Please keep in mind we are a small club and have a limited budget but we will find the wherwithall do something that willsolve the current problem.
I am adding some pictures one of our members recently took to show you what we are dealing with. Thanks, Eddie! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KV_bKxT_jg
Thanks,
Jim Shutt
San Antonio Garden Railway Society
I recently posted our (my) brilliant scheme for using Hardibacker Board as roadbed on top of our undulating concrete base. Your posts quickly convinced me that without a solid level roadbed that the board would break as we walked on it. Thanks for the advice which we have heeded. So, back to the drawing board. If we needed a level concrete roadbed, then obviously we bring in a contractor; have him shoot a grade and pour on top of the existing concrete until it's all nice and level; then we use the concrete as the roadbed . Simple. The first one we saw said it would take a couple of months to get his jackhammers in to take out the existing concrete . When I assured him that was NOT what we wanted he disappeared. The second one said that he could lay about 4" on top of the highest point and bring the rest up to that grade with 8"-12" poured on top of the rest of the layout. Then he said he couldn't guarantee the whole thing wouldn't breakup within a couple of ears because it was a patch on top job. Plus the pouring of a layer that thick on top of 2,000' feet of roadbed would roughly equal the national debt of three small countries, which SAGRES unfortunately cannot afford. The other two contractor's we called didn't show up.
We have since addressed raising the layout 30"-48" with landscape timbers or decorative block with an interior fill and lay tracks on that. That appeals to us with old knees but again the cost element and labor hours raises its ugly head. I am desperate for ideas since I don't have any experience with any of this. We hope we entertain, amuse and educate between fifteen and twenty thousand museum visitors every year but our existing roadbed of 1/4" ABS plastic on top of sand on top of our uneven concrete has become an operational nightmare and taken a lot of the "fun" out of our runs and made it impossible to "operate", so we are limited to 4 trains going around in a circle all day long. They are nice trains, however.
Any ideas or opinions anyone has to share will be welcome. Please keep in mind we are a small club and have a limited budget but we will find the wherwithall do something that willsolve the current problem.
I am adding some pictures one of our members recently took to show you what we are dealing with. Thanks, Eddie! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KV_bKxT_jg
Thanks,
Jim Shutt
San Antonio Garden Railway Society