My son and I installed the first complete loop of garden railroad roadbed and track over the weekend. Bill Logan's flexible trackbed method works great (see early construction picture above)! I am going to paint the white part of the trackbed a dark rust color in the coming week.
I made one significant change to Bill's method. I could not find the recycled HDPE (high-density polyethelyne) material that he uses locally, so I searched Home Depot for a comparable product and found a product called "Never-Rot". It is sold as a white, expanded PVC-based trim material for houses made by Royal Mouldings. It is sold in many profiles and sizes and the basic rectangle 1"x2"x12' size is perfect for the side rails in Bill Logan's system...no cutting required! I used pressure-treated pine porch-rail stakes for the middle blocks (also Home Depot). They are cut into 1.5" lengths and screwed in place just as Bill did. I also used these stakes as the "stringers" that elevate the trackbed off of the ground.
Total cost is less than $2.00 per foot of finished trackbed (excluding the cost of track).
The whole system works great, and the rails can be flexed to any radius curve without cracking. Installs VERY quickly. I'd like to see someone try this method for an indoor "overhead" system. Maybe I will someday.
I will post more photos as I refine the installation. See photos of my simple trackbed construction jig in previous post.
