Ways to raise track to waist height on a patio

[Wet Woking Neil]

Hi, looking at putting my small layout, literally an oval, couple of siding's and passing loop on my patio at waist height. Pillars in the ground or fixed to fence are not viable options. So what potential alternatives are there?

Initial thought is to raise the track with stacked hollow breeze blocks, placed on their sides, two on two as pillar's, with planks, or an alternative flat surface between them. With some sort of side walls attached to the planks to stop stock falling off.

Suggestions, recommendations, or links to YouTube clips greatly appreciated. Thanks

[ge_rik]

Breeze blocks sound like a good option. Relatively cheap if you get them from a builders merchant.
Are you wanting the structure to be temporary and removable rather than permanent?

Rik

[Peter Butler]

How about a folding table? Available in a variety of sizes and materials, some suitable to be left outdoors for a while. Easier and cheaper than piles of blocks and less of an eyesore when not in use. Takes up little space for storage. Also available for alternative uses if required.

[Wet Woking Neil]

Breeze blocks sound like a good option. Relatively cheap if you get them from a builders merchant.
Are you wanting the structure to be temporary and removable rather than permanent?

Rik

I want it permanent but there's a good chance it could expand and change over time, hence not looking at drilling through or removing stones.

[Wet Woking Neil]

How about a folding table? Available in a variety of sizes and materials, some suitable to be left outdoors for a while. Easier and cheaper than piles of blocks and less of an eyesore when not in use. Takes up little space for storage. Also available for alternative uses if required.

Thought about something similar to this, local builders shop does folding trestles, concern was ensuring can't be kicked shut, but thinking there maybe something I could use like sandbags, I could put on the cross legs.

[Peter Butler]

This is a link to a heavy duty folding table similar to ones which I use to display my models at exhibitions. They are strong enough to support even fairly large live steam models and have secure diagonal bracing which can't be accidentally kicked down.
They don't sag in the middle and are easily folded flat for storage..... Highly recommended!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/257352041889?_s

[Wet Woking Neil]

This is a link to a heavy duty folding table similar to ones which I use to display my models at exhibitions. They are strong enough to support even fairly large live steam models and have secure diagonal bracing which can't be accidentally kicked down.
They don't sag in the middle and are easily folded flat for storage..... Highly recommended!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/257352041889?_s

They look good at a decent price, how well do you think they would handle being left outside? Or potentially cover them with something.

[Peter Butler]

The tops are made of hard plastic and are strengthened by honeycomb castings on the underside. Metal parts are sturdy and possibly powder coated?
As they fold in half they are slim in storage and would easily fit into a small shed, under stairs or in a passageway. Outdoors I would cover with plastic sheet when not in use and stand above the ground surface.
My link was for comparison only, other suppliers are available but look very similar.

[gilfachphil]

I would be inclined to approach this from the surface downwards I think. If you were to make a wooden assembly of what you want to put the track on and then create legs to hold it at the desired height from the patio with struts between them to give stability. As my garden railway structure developed and finally completed the oval I was pleasantly surprised at how rigid the whole structure became. Everything can be screwed together which makes disassembly quite straightforward for when you want to modify it. You can have a custom designed amount of surface area where you want it and the whole thing is linked together. I can foresee problems with tying a wooden surface firmly to piles of breeze blocks and timber legs will occupy much less space,

Phil

[GAP]

I used racking to build part of my layout, it is sturdy but light weight.

Branyan Yard 1.JPG (96.09 KiB) Viewed 39 times

Branyan Yard .JPG (94.07 KiB) Viewed 38 times