Project Steady-Track

Knowing that Clark had a long, long, looooong time to spend in his crib in the hospital, Connor, Grandmom and I set out to create a portable wooden train track that Clark could easily use in his crib or on the floor. The goal was to create a track that was easily portable, would work on any surface, and was also fixed so the track wouldn’t come apart.

We started with a simple loop, and if we had success with that, we decided we would look at creating slightly larger and more interesting designs.

I went down to home depot, and found a 1/4 inch plywood board that we cut down to 18.5 inches square. We had taken some measurements and knew this would fit a standard wooden train loop perfectly.

Grandmom and Connor then painted the front and back of the board with emerald green semi-gloss paint.  We chose a water-based paint with a semi-gloss finish as this seemed the least toxic and the most resilient to cleaning with bleach cloths.

Before gluing, we placed the loop on the board and used clamps to hold the layout in place.  This ensured the loop was centered and connected properly. We then went around the loop gluing one piece at a time.  After giving the glued track 24 hours to dry, we applied silicone grouting around all the edges of the track and between each of the track segments.  The goal here was to seal the cracks to avoid trapping liquid from water or food.  Again, making it easy to keep clean and keep bacteria free!

Even though the paint dried in an hour or two, we gave the board a couple days to have the paint cure before giving it to Clark.  This was a little precautionary due to the possibility of fumes continuing to come from the paint and also to ensure the board was cured enough to be wiped down with bleach cloths.  It would be a disaster if we wiped the board down and the paint came off!!

Then the most important part.  Connor was tasked with testing the quality of the loop to ensure the trains ran smoothly around the track.  He ran 3 different engines around the track, both forward and reverse, and then physically turned the trains around, and proceeded to test again both forward and reverse motion.  This testing regime was all his idea, and he insisted on it even after I suggested he had done enough.  Needless to say, I was extremely impressed with his thoroughness.

When I finally brought the track in for Clark, his reaction was unbridled excitement and energy.  Upon getting the board, he immediately starting pointing and grunting, effectively asking for the trains that accompany the track.  He then proceeded to play with it for the next couple hours straight.  Laughter and good times ensued.

I think we can call this a success.  Enjoy the train track, Clark!  Daddy, Connor and  Grandmom love you!