# Roadbed reconstruction project..



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Firstly, let me say HOWDY!.. I know it may seem like I've been MIA lately. My main computer has the Swine Flu, or some other virus, currently and I've been accessing the net via my wife's laptop.. So,Ii have not been quite as active online.. Fear not, I'm still alive and well. 

As the winter has receded around here and my railroad has emerged from under the snow I was greeted with a few issues.. a couple of places where I had some underlying supports fail and had some fall through. The main issue I have is the roadbed. I had used a series of short supports spaced about 18" apart, the space in the middle was infilled with the soil mix that I use. Over the winter I had enough setteling to yield a main line best described as a sine wave....











After a bit of brainstorming I setteled on repacing all the roadbed with a consistant layer of 2" foam insulation board. As I see it it is
a) stable with regards to temperature, weather, water, insects, etc....
b) it's cheap (as am I)
c) it's easily available
and 
d) it's easily shaped, cut and worked. 




























Once I infill with soil it covers up nicely and is quite easily disguised... I also think it'll be able to support strustures, signs, posts and other detail parts by just "sticking them in".. 
A little ballast in the ties should cover the board nicely. 










I'll keep you all posted on my progress..


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

Welcome back Dave. Was woundering where you have been. Sorry to see the damage to your layout. Maybe you should paint the foam with some LATEX black paint to help hide it first. Incase rain or snow moves the ballast ect. Just my 2 cents. Hope this works out OK for you. Have a great summer and will be looking for more posts from you. Keep those ICG trains running.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey, thanks Leon.. 

I was going to mention that one could make the argument that the "wavy" roadbed I am repairing is mearly prototype on some parts of the IC....


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Whoo-Hoo.. just a side note.. I still have a lot of roadbed to replace, but freight is running again. I cleaned the track, powered things up and ran trains for a bit this morning..


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks a bit like what I did in my shop: 










I figured on putting ballast to hide the foam. Of course, since it was indoors, I didn't have to worry about UV exposure.


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## Dennis Cherry (Feb 16, 2008)

I put down 3/4" blue foam board under part of my railroad. Couple months later I found all this blue foam dust and discovered that fire ants made tunnels in the foam.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Denis
First get some Soldier Ants....They will get rid of the Fire Ants.....Then get some Carpenter ants.....They will shore up the tunnels and you wount have trouble with your road bed









The negative side will you will have to listen to the carpenter ants generators running all hours of the night


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Whatever you do, don't get any contractor ants. They overcharge and underdeliver. Hire and supervise the carpenter ants yourself.


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## Dennis Cherry (Feb 16, 2008)

But we are not a unionized state.


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