Attics, Crawlspaces, And Tunnels

7/29/2019 Attics, Crawlspaces, And Tunnels

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Attics, Crawlspaces and TunnelsRich Raspy Shawver

There have been several discussions lately about using attics for storage. Most attics have no floor just

exposed joists. A real pain to move around on even worse with things you want to store.

How about using the crawl space under the house for storage or as a shelter. If you have 6 plus headroomthats not a crawl space it is an unfinished basement. How do you get around? The operative word is crawl.

What about an access tunnel from a hidden entrance in your house to your shelter under the back yard?How big, how much dirt are you going to need to remove? If you make it small how do you get through it?

Shades of The Great Escape. Why not build a railroad?

While searching through my files for some information I stumbled across an attic railroad article. I thought

this would be some interesting information to share with the other cabinites. The design can also be

expanded to act as a gravity powered outdoor roller coaster for children and grand children or a

transportation system around your place.

These plans are not set in stone just to give an idea of how it can be done. Im no artist so the drawings

arent that great or to scale. My hope is that they will convey an adequate amount of information.

To get things rolling lets start with the wheels. For a homemade wheel cut 2, 3 discs of plywood

and 1 of plywood [or you can use particleboard]. Also a 4 disc of plywood for a flange. See

Figure 1. Glue and screw the discs together and sand smooth and round. Ways of doing this are with a

lathe, a drill press, or even a drill. Center and mount the disc to what ever you decide to use to turn it and

sand smooth. After the wheel is formed drill a hole approximately 5/8 in the center. Installing and glue a

2 piece of copper pipe to use as a bearing. This is designed for an axle of a 7/16 steel rod. Drill

two holes in each end of the rod for cotter keys. The spacing [see figure 1] is cotter pin hole, washer,wheel, washer, and the other hole. The wheel is mounted so the flange rides the inside of the rails. The

axles should be greased with lithium automotive grease.

Figure 1An alternate wheel set up is to use roller skating wheels. [See figure 2] One to ride the top of the rails and

another one to acted as a guide on the inside of the rails. The wheels need to be offset so that the screws orbolts in the mounting block miss each other.


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Figure 2How wide will your train be? This will depend on the spacing or gauge of your rails. My opinion is that

about 2 ft. seems to be a good choice. It is wide enough to be useful but not so wide as to waste space or

use excessive amount of materials. One thing to remember when laying the rails is uniform spacing. If the

spacing fluctuates too much the train will either bind or fall off completely. You do want a small amount of

play to account for seasonal expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature and humidity. The

best way to accomplish this is with a template. A 2X4 cut to the desired inside width of the track and

another piece of wood that extends beyond both ends. To use, place the template over the rails with the

measured part between them. Attaching the rails at that point and then move further along and repeat asoften as necessary

Template

Mounting the axle of the first one there are several options. Here are two [see figure 3].


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Figure 3Take a 2X4 and cut a groove 7/16 wide by 3/8 deep. The reason the channel is not as deep as the axle is

so that when it is screwed to the platform this will cause pressure to hold its securely. For extra security

holes can be drilled to pin the axle. Another way is to use U shaped staples [figure 4] to nail into the

platform. For the alternate wheel [roller skate] set up will a single 2X4 is used as the mounting block/axle

screwed to the platform.

Figure 4

The platform is easily constructed from plywood. The width of the cart for the homemade wheels

should be cut to fit between the wheels. The other style the platform should extend over the wheels to limit

the possibility of entanglement with the wheels since this is a more high-speed style. The length of the cart


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should be a convenient length. Approximately 3 ft. is a good ballpark figure. Longer and you would need

a third axle to prevent sagging. Shorter and you would have a limited area for a rider or equipment. A

second cart can either be pushed or pulled. This makes one to ride on and one for your gear.

Now that you have built the train its time to lay the track. The rails are made from 2X4s placed on edge.

If used in an attic they can be mounted directly to the exposed joists in other applications they can bemounted to ties made from 2X4 or 2X6s. Attaching the rails the to the ties can be accomplished any

number of ways. One means is to drill a hole part way into the 2X4 large enough to fit the screw head.

Then inside of that, drill a pilot hole at the bottom for the screw into the tie. [See figures 5 & 6]

Figure 5


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Figure 6An alternate method would be to use angle brackets [see figures 7 & 8]. For indoor use untreated lumbermay be used. In outdoor usage pressure treated lumber will last a long time. Giving them a coat of sealant

will increase their life expectancy and can be renewed as needed.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Odds and ends plus special features to show the possibility for extending the line and/or creating a roller

coaster for you and the kids.


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When joining the track you can use an extra wide tie and mount both rail ends together on it. You can also

use steel strapping either bolted or screwed to both sides [see figure 9]. Also when laying rails on uneven

ground trim angles as necessary on the ends of the 2X4 to compensate so there are no gaps. It is beneficial

to plane any unevenness at these junctions. This will benefit in a much smother ride. [Also figure 9]

Figure 9To construct curved rails you use laminations. This consists of thin strips of wood that are easily bent the

height of your rails. You mount blocks to your ties in the desired shape of the curve then screw & glue the

strips to them [see figure 10]. Curves must not be on to tight of a radius or the carts will bind end to end.

Figure 10Laminations can also be used to form vertical curves. Just be careful not to make your vertical changes to

abrupt for your expected speed. This could cause the car to become airborne and jump the tracks.


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This next section is on switching between multiple tracks. Switching [as seen in figures 11&12] shows why

flanges are only on the inside and not both. The switch consists of two secondary rails mounted to plates

that slide over the ties. They are attached to a pivot point this is to allow the switching action. The sections

that mate in the single-track area have a gradual taper. When the end is shifted against the rail it directs the

wheels away from the rail that it is on to the desired direction. The other ends both pivots into the junctionpoint of the combined rails. Depending which set of wheels are directed to this central point causes the train

to continue straight [Figure 12] or onto the second track. [Figure 11]

Figure 11

Figure 12


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Now that we have the switch setup how is it switched? It can simply be preset before the run by grabbing it

and putting it into the chosen configuration. As the railroads did with a side-to-side pivoted level that

pushed or pulled a rod that moved the switching rails. Now days instead of a lever they use electro-

magnetics for remote operations. The switch operating setup that I have illustrated [Figures 13, 14, & 15] is

a system of cables and pulleys with two switching levers. My idea is so that a rod can be hooked to the rearof the cart and dropped into brackets projected to one side to the other. If the switch levers are set far

enough up track the rod will push the selected switch. This would allow select-on-the-fly switching.Pushing down one lever shifts the rails to that side and raises the opposite lever. The points where the

cables pass through the rails drill the hole large enough to insert a piece of pipe to act as a bushing.

Figure 13


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Figure 14

Figure 15

Suppose your needed layout requires an abrupt change of direction? The house is an L, T, or cruciform

layout. The attic or crawlspace would require a 90-degree direction change. This requires a turntable.

Basically a king sized lazy susan. The railroad term is a roundhouse. [Figures 16 & 17]

Figure 16


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Figure 17The size of the table must be larger than the distance between the front and rear axles. To use roll the car

onto the table then rotate to line up with the new tracks. Building the turntable start with the base platform.

This can be any shape just larger than the turntable. Drill a hole in the center. This is for a pipe or large bolt

to act as a pivot for the assembly. plywood would work well for the base and the table. Connect rails

[height adjusted as necessary] to the table. Attach wheels [Roller skate wheels should work well] to the

underside around the perimeter. 4 of the wheels should be mounted directly beneath the rail ends for

maximum support. If additional support is required more concentric circles may be installed. A hole in the

middle is placed over the pivot spindle. A skirt can be made of sheet metal or thin wood to keep objectsfrom entangling in the wheels.

Another contingency device is a set of brakes. Suppose there is a hill near the home or retreat? It might be

desirable to have a rapid means to get down. If it happens that the gradient is too steep brakes may beneeded to slow the car to a safe speed. [Figures 18, 19, & 20] The brakes, consists of one or two hand

levers that press a bar into the wheels as friction brakes. They can be connected from side to side with a bar

or rod.


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Figure 18

Figure 19


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Figure 20Hopefully these ideas will give some pleasure or help solve some problems. Any comments, questions,

suggestions, improvements or condemnations greatly appreciated.

If you use it as a transportation system or as a kiddy ride around your stead you have some choices. You

could simply push things around the place. But for more fun you can construct a locomotive. This can be a

simple drive system in a box or you can craft an elaborate scale model of an engine with simulated cars to

ride in. To power such an engine you could go with gasoline power. Or you could use a DC motor powered

from a battery bank.

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Attics, Crawlspaces, And Tunnels