Really Old Ties That Bind

This is not a new, and certainly is not an original, idea, tip or hint, but from time to time it deserves revisiting for the benefit of newcomers and to refresh the minds of old fogies. Not all railroad ties were created equal. A lot of them were not treated with preservatives and in fact many were not even sawed into 4 sided timbers. They were simply tree sections chopped into the correct length and hewed flat on the “up side” to take rail and spikes.  I have seen some extreme examples that just left the logs round! I think we have to do a little better than that for models to work properly but even that could be done on abandoned sections.

Most any layout can find some use for this “tie” technique somewhere. The old logging roads did this on their “main lines” and virtually everyone did it anywhere there was a tree standing when they ran out of “proper ties” in an emergency. This can be used on an old spur or industrial track, abandoned right of way where the rail has been removed or, depending on the era, just about anywhere you want to use it. It looks terrific and is easy to do as long as you do things in the proper order and don’t get in too big a hurry. It is simple and requires very little in the way of materials or cost and is fun.

The finished product. A bumper like that scares a train crew to death, it won’t just stop the car, it will destroy it. You’d be surprised how many of those I’ve seen over the years!

Start by collecting twigs of the appropriate size (diameter). For “O” scale that’s about ¼” in diameter or about 1 scale foot.  HO would be about half that and frankly I haven’t tried it that small. It’s getting awfully tiny for the next step which is sanding.

Actually you have to cut all the twigs to length first, since I model On30 that’s about 6’6”, but you might have something different to work with.  I set up my miter box with a wood block and clamped it in position to make all the ties the same length.  It’s quick and easy. My stock is American Black Walnut. It matters because this species has hollow twigs when they dry out. I wouldn’t use them for extensive operating trackwork but for a scenic accent they are perfect. Check your twigs before committing to a large project.

You can see how the set up works here to make all the ties the same length. No fancy power tools required.

Next comes the first sanding part. I use a sanding board shown in the next picture.  It is a piece of ¾” plywood with a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper and a sheet of 220 grit paper glued to it with 3M spray adhesive. It has a couple of advantages.  It is flat and easily held in my lap or on the workbench. I can hold the object to be sanded and rub it across the surface and be guaranteed to get a flat part.  No rocking back and forth which will happen when you do it the other way around. You will get a curved part every time.   Hold the twig in your fingers and rub it across the sandpaper and it will soon have a flat all across one side.

This is about the maximum you want to sand these. Smaller diameter ties even less.

Don’t sand more than 1/3 of the way through; just make sure you have enough of a flat spot to provide a good solid glue surface. If you have twigs of smaller diameter (you will) don’t sand them as much.

Sanding board. 

When all your twigs are sanded on the one side get out some epoxy glue. I use 30 minute type.  You probably should too, although I’ve heard tell of folks doing this with plain old wood glue, I wouldn’t trust it myself. Glue the ties, flat side DOWN. You’ll notice that for this demo the ties are glued to a wood board.  Don’t try to glue them to foam because the next step, sanding again, will rip them right off the foam.  If you lay track right on foam this isn’t going to work for you.  You’ll have to replace it with a wood insert.  However, I do believe that the ties will adhere to cork roadbed if they are properly bonded. I haven’t tried that yet but I think in the dim recesses of my past that this was done that way.

Yep, got it from my local hardware store for $6.95 on sale. This stuff will glue most anything I need to hold together.

I used about a 30” spacing on the demo board and did everything by eye.  Put the smaller diameter twigs between two larger ones. This will help prevent a dip in the track.  The funkier this is the better, but we do want it to function well.  Let everything set overnight.  Don’t believe the 30 minute thing.  It might work out for you but my experience tells me it doesn’t completely cure for about 24 hours. It’s more like rubber cement until then.

Ready for the sanding block.

The long sanding block.  Note how the end is rounded to prevent snagging ties when sanding. Works great/cheap.

Get a long block (about a foot or so) and glue some 60 grit sandpaper to one side.  I use a 1x2 and taper the ends so it won’t catch on the ties.  Gently sand the tops of the twigs until you get them even and level enough to spike rail to it.  In other words, sand until the smallest diameter twig has just enough flat surface to take a spike. If it’s abandoned track without rail it’s obviously not real important to make it smooth and level.

Note the three left hand ties are “rotted” after sanding with the long board and the middle tie (smallest in diameter) is just sanded enough to take a spike.  How cool is that!

You can now finish it with ballast or dirt and weeds.  Don’t forget to weather the raw wood.  Spikes may split some of the ties.  You can pre drill them or just let them split to enhance the old rotted out effect. 

I doubt seriously anyone ever used a tie plate on this type of tie.  Maybe at a switch location?

Addendum: You might want to make your sanding block longer if you are going to use this technique extensively.  If so, be very sure that it is absolutely straight and flat, you don’t want to sand imperfections into your roadbed. You might even consider using aluminum extrusions like a 2”x2” tube. There are also aluminum sanders made for model airplane wings available in local hobby shops that specialize in model airplanes or through Tower Hobbies via the internet. They would work well for this.