pink area goes from ¼” to 1¼”, and the pink area is 1¼” above
zero. This will give us 2¼” of clearance between the duckunder
and the bridge/park. This distance is a little less than the mod-
ern-day railroad clearance requirement, but many current rail-
roads are limited by the construction done in the steam era.
The change of grade was done to East Penn Traction Club stan-
dard of 10% maximum grade (1a-b).
Material
We also considered that we wanted the module to be strong,
but not too heavy. The goal of this module was something a
beginner could construct without a heavy investment in tools.
For this reason, I took a trip to my local home center and found
the section in the lumber department with small dimensional
materials (oak, poplar, pine and aspen).
Further notes for the table: We will bolt them to the end of
the module to serve as legs. EPTC standard is to have them cut
MRH $500 Contest - 4
Qty Description
Thickness Width Length
3 Aspen, long runners
1/2"
4"
48"
2 Pine, long runners
1/2"
4"
36"
2 Aspen, underpass
1/2"
3"
24"
6 Aspen, other pieces
1/2"
2"
36"
1 Pine, East Penn interface
*
3/8"
3"
36"
1 Luan sheet, 4x8
1/8"
48"
96"
2 Plywood pieces
3/4"
24"
48"
*
This piece will be ripped on the table saw later to be 7/8 of an
inch wide and will be part of the module interface. If I did not
have access to a table saw, I would use 3/8” square stock.
Benchwork - Lumber
MRH-Aug 2013
