Why ply on track risers?


C

CbrandonB

Member
Hi all,

I've started researching benchwork and I've seen people using 3/4" ply for track risers? Isn't that extreme overkill? I would think 1/4" hardboard should do a great job. Anyone using something easier to work with than 3/4" ply? Or is there something I don't know?

Thanks!

Brandon
 
Brandon,

Most people will use either 1/2" or 3/4" ply or Homosote (about 1/2" thick) as a base for their layouts. Chances are they simply continue using the 3/4" ply for risers for convenience more than anything.

1/4" sounds a lit thin to me unless you are going to use a lot of supports for the risers, fairly close together, and yes, there are other options.

The easiest, and quickest, way to put gradients or inclines in is to use Woodlands Inclines and risers. These are nothing more than 24" lengths of foam cut to height and gradients from 1% up to 4% with appropriate risers to match. If all you want is risers, then I would be inclined to use 1/2" ply minimum or homosote coupled with an appropriate amount of riser supports.
 
CbrandonB said:
I've started researching benchwork and I've seen people using 3/4" ply for track risers? Isn't that extreme overkill? I would think 1/4" hardboard should do a great job. Anyone using something easier to work with than 3/4" ply? Or is there something I don't know?
Click to expand...
For risers like your message says, or for sub-roadbed on the risers like the title says?

I use 3/4" sub-roadbed because it won't change grades too quickly, bend, or flex too much. I guess it also depends on how far apart the joists are. The further apart they are the thicker the sub-roadbed needs to be. At the club we used 3/4" because we wanted to be able to walk on it.

If you really mean risers I would guess people are just using scrap 3/4" stuff that would otherwise be thrown away.
 
CbrandonB said:
Hi all,

I've started researching benchwork and I've seen people using 3/4" ply for track risers? Isn't that extreme overkill? I would think 1/4" hardboard should do a great job. Anyone using something easier to work with than 3/4" ply? Or is there something I don't know?
Click to expand...

Just so we are all on the same page here, roadbed is the flat stuff that you put track on. Risers are the vertical pieces that lift the roadbed above the benchwork. For example I use 1/2" plywood with Homasote on it as roadbed and use 1x2's or 1x4's as risers to raise the roadbed above the open grid benchwork. The risers vary in height between about 7" and 12" above the benchwork. I don't see how 1/4" hardboard could be used as a riser at all.
 
I have found that screwing about 6-8" of 1/2" decent grade plywood flat and meeting grade with the roadbed, and then allowing it to bend either upward or downward as it likes to, imparts a very nice vertical transition into or out of a grade. From the point of fixture at the end coming after the vertical curve, you can use more risers to support more roadbed.

There are kits supplied by Walthers or Woodland Scenics (never used them, but I believe either outfit supplies them) that fashion a ramp of sorts for those who don't want to craft their own. The kits comprises pylons that are meant to sit on a surface, each pylon being shorter or longer than the one one either side of it. I don't know how well those kits offer the necessary transition so that locomotives don't buck up and lose traction abruptly or snag the leading coupler pin.
 
I used the pink foam board for mine :). Easy to work with.
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