The CarstenGartenBahn
Part 4: Sometimes you just gotta say 'What the Heck'...
With renewed confidence in how to support my Marklin 1-scale track, I purchased some 2x2 treated posts, lots of screws, and a sheet of pressboard. I also picked up a lot of quick-grip vices, eight in all. My first project was to create a relatively tight four-foot radius curve. If I could do that, I thought, I can do the rest. I started by creating a template of the curve on the sheet of plywood. After it was cut I screwed down some blocks made from the 2x2 posts:
This was going to be the 'jig' that would help me create my curves. The space for the curve was right next to the deck, so I couldn't fit the big piece of plywood in. Instead I 'created' the first curve on the driveway.
I screwed more blocks from the 2x2's on one of the long strips of composite lumber to act as spacers. Then I clamped the first piece against the jig using the quick-clamps. In the picture above, the second piece of composite has been screwed to the first 2x2 spacer.
In the picture above you can see that I have bent the second piece of composite and screwed it into the spacer, too. I also have laid tracks on it to make sure my curve is correct. When you completely release the new roadbed it will spring back a little, but it's easy to bend again. My fears of the composite snapping were not realized.
Here sits the section of curve, now installed in the garden railroad. Pressure-treated 2x2's were used for the supports, and are driven down into the ground about a foot to provide solid support, and spaced between the 2x2 spacers. The design is very stable and solid, and I thank Bill Logan for his support and assistance. The roadbed is everything I dreamed it would be. Additional dirt will soon be added to hide most of the roadbed, but before that happens, I have another project. The curve you see above is about to disappear, behind a four-foot model of the Matterhorn...