# KO&P live steam RR Progress



## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Well, spring is beginning, and so work can resume on our elevated live steam railroad. We have given it a name, the KO&P (Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania railroad).


*Progress (Updated 3/20/2011):*

10/23/2010 - Cutting begins to clear brush and branches for the right-of-way.

10/30/2010 - Cutting is finished, and placement of marker stakes for future posts begins
10/31/2010 - Markers are set, work ends for winter
3/20/2011 - Work resumes, 10 foot span made for testing purposes 



The railroad is going to consist of a single loop with one siding to begin with. This loop will be roughly 125 feet long with a minimum radius of 10ft. It will be built with narrow gauge Sunset Valley Railroad track, and bent using their rail-bender for well laid track.

The decking is going to be 2 feet wide built with weather treated deck lumber covered with rolled roofing material and the track will be nailed on top of that.


Picture time!

This shows our spacing of tracks and such on the 2 foot deck. We are building with the anticipation of having passing siding, and double track in some places. : 















The following four pictures are of the cleared area we are going to build the layout at. You can notice the wood stakes in the ground are for where the 4x4 posts will be placed. If you also notice a green stake (except for the last picture, those are protecting flowers), that is the center of a curve radius.

You may also notice that posts are not set a specific distance apart, this is because our maximum span distance is 10 foot, so we tried to get the longest span possible while still being able to keep the track on the table around curves. The minimum span will end up being a 5 1/2 foot span. 










































The following pictures are of a test 10 foot section we built up to see how everything was going to fit together.


Clamping the main stringers so that the drill holes line up: 










Cutting the cross braces and surface boards:










Getting the boards connected:










Finished placing the cross braces:










Took us a while, but we got all the decking surface finished. The weights on there are 40lbs each, with a deflection of only about 1/4". This section took 6 5/4x6 10 foot long pieces of decking lumber:












I will keep you updated, work is kind of sporadic with hectic schedules, but I hope to keep up work on it.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

*RE: KO&P RR Progress*

Looks like it will be an interesting railroad, I really like your setting. Keep us posted. 

Chris


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Posted By up9018 on 20 Mar 2011 07:24 PM 
Looks like it will be an interesting railroad, I really like your setting. Keep us posted. 

Chris 
Thanks!

We really enjoy the shade provided in the summer, the only pain is cutting through all the brush for the right-of-way. It took a good 4-5 hours or so of cutting.


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

A couple of good goats will keep the pathway clear around the track once it is build, easier than a mower.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Posted By CapeCodSteam on 22 Mar 2011 08:49 PM 
A couple of good goats will keep the pathway clear around the track once it is build, easier than a mower. 
Actually, the nice thing about the location is that with the tree canopy, we shouldn't have a problem with grass for the most part. Eventually we may even use some stones for a pathway, but we have not made any decisions yet. Hopefully we can get out there this weekend and finalize the post locations and prepare to rent a post-hole digger.


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

Looking like you got a plan and it will be great to watch as it comes along. 

Keep us posted.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

I assume that you are making the decking raised? I do not recommend spacing of the posts at the 8' length. We orignally did 8' spacing on the steaming bay and at each post there is a hump and a belly between posts. This is after 3 years. Thjis year we are going to add posts between to have a 4' spacing. We also used 2x6 for the frame where I see you have 5/4 x 6. 

Looks good though.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

I would also echo what Jason has said. Although I dont have the experience in a layout setting that he did, I have it in other building applications. Definately need a 4' spacing if you dont want any sagging in the middle of the span.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Posted By Kovacjr on 23 Mar 2011 03:08 PM 
I assume that you are making the decking raised? I do not recommend spacing of the posts at the 8' length. We orignally did 8' spacing on the steaming bay and at each post there is a hump and a belly between posts. This is after 3 years. Thjis year we are going to add posts between to have a 4' spacing. We also used 2x6 for the frame where I see you have 5/4 x 6. 

Looks good though. 

Most of the curved section will be about 5' spacing to accommodate the curve radius.

May I ask what type of lumber you used, and what the surface was?


We are trying to minimize the amount of posts we have to put in since each one is going to require a 4' hole to accommodate a 4x4 and half a bag to a bag of concrete.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Re; 4x4 posts 
On another thread it was posted that your post needs to pass through the concrete, not encapsulated as with rebar, so that moisture can pass through and NOT create a rot zone. 
Would be a real bummer having to replant those posts in 4 - 5 years! 

Wood will sag of it's own weight over time, I would at least add angle braces from the posts to a third of the span, from each direction... 

John


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Well, we finally got a good day to work, and boy did we work.

This morning we rented a post hole digger, and started our days work. By the end of the day, we had dug 20 holes, and finished putting in all 20 posts.

Each hole is roughly 28" into the ground. We then filled the holes with about 2" of stone (pond pebbles). We placed the 4x4 into the hole, and filled concrete around it up to the very top and created a cap. This used about 35-40 lbs of concrete per hole. 


Here are some pictures of our days adventure: 



Here is the digger: 
 

Getting back with all the stuff for the posts: 
 

Three pictures of the posts all in the ground finished, we still need to cut them off accordingly - that will be a project for later.


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## Bill4373 (Jan 3, 2008)

I had pressure treated 4 x 4's in the ground for 20 years. Had to dig them up......and then used them again. No sign of wear, tear, rot, etc.
I agree with Jason....brace every 4 feet to keep from sagging.

.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Posted By Bill4373 on 11 Apr 2011 08:37 PM 

I had pressure treated 4 x 4's in the ground for 20 years. Had to dig them up......and then used them again. No sign of wear, tear, rot, etc.
I agree with Jason....brace every 4 feet to keep from sagging.

.

Good to hear about the posts, that is exactly why all our building materials are meant for outdoors.

We are still not convinced there is going to be any problem with sag, all the calculations work out to this design being very over engineered. Our spans range from 5' on curves, to a max 10' span on the straight.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Although most of our weekend was spent doing other train related tasks, we were able to get the posts all cut to their appropriate length.

They are all within 2/8" of each other over the total 26" height difference. The decking will add another 5 inches to the top of the post, so the height you see is not the decking height.


Our next project will be to mount the 10' test table section we built, and that will provide a working surface to build the rest of the decking on. 


Here are some photos of the cut posts:


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Well, we got a nice day and a spare moment to mount the ten foot test section we built previously (photos in my first post in this thread).

Since we have one other major train project that does have a deadline right now, we are going to stop working on this project until we finish the other. Once that other project is done though, this will be our primary project and we will work full bore on this. 


Here are three photos of the mounted section, the last shot shows a good view of how we connect it to the posts.


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## ChaoticRambo (Nov 20, 2010)

Well, after a few weeks we have finished putting all the stringers up. Next project is to finish decking the top surface, put down the roofing material, and lay the track!


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

looking great!


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