CHAPTER XIV.

A BACK-YARD SWITCHBACK.

The back-yard affords an opportunity to build a summer toboggan slide, or its equivalent, commonly known as a

“Switchback,”

the difference being that, in place of toboggans, cars are used, and in place of ice and snow you coast down a railroad track.

The Wheels

of the back-yard “switchback” car must be made of thick, sound wood, and if there is a wood-working factory in your neighborhood it will save you time and trouble to go there and have the wheels sawed out with the machinery which they have built for that kind of work. But if you must do it yourself, then select a piece of two-inch plank, and after driving a tack in the centre, fasten a string to the tack and attach a soft pencil to the opposite end of the string. With this describe a circle about nine inches in diameter, or measuring about four and a half inches from the tack to the pencil.

With a hand-saw roughly cut out the wheel, using great care to only touch the circle with the saw, but in no case to cut through the circumference. You will now have an irregular wheel, with a number of flat surfaces for its edge (Fig. 123 A).

In this way you may continue to saw off the triangular corners until you reduce the wheel to a condition where it only needs the application of a sharp knife to round the edge until it corresponds with the pencil circle.

What is called

The Flange

of the wheel is practically another wheel, made of thinner material (Fig. 124), which is securely nailed to the first wheel (Figs. 125 and 126), with the grain of the wood of the flange crossing the grain of the wood of the wheel proper at right angles. The flange is made of one-inch board, and to prevent its splitting is reënforced by a strip of wood fastened on across the grain, with screws, as shown in Fig. 124.

When the four wheels are finished, and a hole large enough for a good strong axle is bored in the exact centre of each, you will be ready to begin work upon the car.

Set the Car-Bed Low.

The smallest boy will understand that the lower the bed of the car is put the less the danger of an upset, so instead of putting the axle, under the car, run them through the bed, as shown by Fig. 128.

Build the Axles

of four-by-four timber, and by the aid of a drawing-knife or a good, strong, sharp jack-knife, trim off the ends of the timber to the form shown in the diagram.

When the ends are small enough to allow the wheels to revolve freely, saw out places in the side-boards of the car (Figs. 127 and 128), into which the square part of the axle will snugly fit.

The Bottom of the Car

may be made of half-inch boards, which can be joined and nailed on to the car, with their irregular ends protruding, after which, with a hand-saw, cut off the ends even with the side-boards, as in Fig. 129.

Then nail in place the head and tail-boards, and in the same manner saw off their protruding ends, even with the side-boards (Fig. 129). To finish your car it is only necessary to slip the wheels upon the axles. The wheels may be held in place by pegs of hard-wood driven through holes in the hub, made for that purpose, as shown in Fig. 130. You will then have a car, but no track to run it upon. However, if you build the toboggan slide which is described in the next chapter, you may lay rails, made of two-by-four timber, down your toboggan slide and thus transform it into a back-yard “switchback.”

But if you have no toboggan slide you will have to build a tramway for your car against the back fence, wood-shed, or any other suitable place.

In the diagram (Fig. 135) here given, the slide is shown as it would be if built against the back fence, extending forward through the middle of the yard. But you must have a

Starting Platform.

You will need four pieces of timber, seven feet long and two inches thick by four inches wide, for the uprights or corner-posts (A and B, Fig. 131), unless the posts and rails of the back fence are on your side of the yard, as in Fig. 132. In this case you need only two seven-foot sticks and two short ones, to fit on the top rail of the fence. The tops of these short posts should be just seven feet from the ground. Nail them securely in place, about five feet apart, as in Fig. 132, and then see that the fence-boards, to which the posts are nailed, are secure. If they are not secure, climb over the fence and put in a few good wire nails, for if the fence is not strong your structure will be weak. Additional strength may be gained by making each of the uprights of two pieces of two-by-four, nailed together, thus making the posts four-by-four.

It is a good plan to erect one of the posts directly over one of the fence-posts; this will add strength and stiffness to the structure. If you have any doubts about the ability of the fence to support the platform, erect two seven-foot posts, as in Fig. 131, and spike them to the top and bottom rail of the fence. Next take two pieces of two-by-four and notch them, as E and F are notched in Fig. 133. Nail F to the top of A and B, and E to the ends of C and D, the two seven-foot posts of two-by-four. Near the other ends of these last posts nail a cross-piece (G, Fig. 133), and then, to stiffen the frame, turn it over and nail on two diagonal pieces of lighter material.

Erect this frame about five or six feet from the fence and secure it in place by the two diagonals, H and H (Fig. 133), which are nailed near the top of C and D, and “toe-nailed” to the bottom rail of the fence.

From the bottom rail of the fence, and level with it, run the two J pieces of board to C and D, and nail them securely, as in Fig. 134; then nail on the two top side-pieces, K and K, and the framework of the starting platform is ready for its floor. Nail boards across the top, from E to F, and saw off the protruding ends, as in Fig. 134.

The Track

must be a “straight-away,” which means no curves to round, hence you must build it in the position which will give the longest run for your trouble.

A Curved Track

means more difficult work on the tramway and cars, for the car must have a movable axle in order to be able to round the curve. But with a straight track the play of the wheel upon the hub should allow enough freedom of motion to overcome the little inaccuracy which may occur in the rails. Experiment will teach you just what is needed. I cannot give exact rules, because the material and location will differ with each builder, and I have found that when I give positive rules, the rules are followed, even when the material and location are entirely unsuited to the directions given. For this reason it is best for each boy to experiment for himself.

Erect the Uprights

first, and brace them with the diagonal boards, as shown in the diagram (Fig. 135). When you are certain the structure is firm and can stand the strain and weight of a loaded car, lay the two-by-four rails upon the ground, and fit them to the car-wheels by pushing the car over them, to see that they are just the right distance apart. If you make your track too wide the car-wheels will slip off the rails and run between them, and if you lay your track with too narrow a gauge the rails will pinch the flanges of the wheels so tightly that the car will stop, or the rails spread.

When one section of the track is laid and it is found that the car runs freely upon it, nail cross-ties of ordinary boards across from rail to rail, like a ladder. Then take the ladder, and turning it over so that the rails are on top (Fig. 136), adjust it to the tramway (Fig. 135), and fasten it securely, by nailing the cross-ties to the side-boards of the tramway.

In Fig. 135

The Cross-ties, or Sleepers,

are put in position, to show how they will look when the track is laid, but in reality the cross-ties must be nailed to the rails while the latter are upon the level ground, as I have already stated.

When each section of track is fastened in place, from the top of the tramway to the ground, and as much farther as your space or lumber will admit, load your car with stones, or some equally heavy freight, and start it down the “switchback.”

If the car reaches its journey’s end with no mishap, you can with safety get in the car for the next trip and coast down yourself and a jolly good coast it will be.

The plans (Figs. 135 and 136) may be altered so that the car will run down one hill and mount another not quite so high, and many other improvements will suggest themselves to the young civil engineers who build this “switchback,” but the first track you erect should be as simple as is consistent with strength and safety, and the improvements left to some future time.

Ticket-Chopper’s Box.

You may then take a square box, with a lock and key attached, and bore a hole in one end large enough to admit a good-sized marble; use this as the railroad and ferry-men use a ticket-chopper’s box, let every boy who wants a ride drop a marble in the box.

Some thirty years ago a certain boy built a “switchback” in his back-yard, very much like the one here described, and great fun he had with it; but as he was not rich, and the lumber cost him something, he issued a number of tickets at one cent each, every ticket entitling the holder to three rides on the “switchback.” In this way he was soon repaid all the expense he had been under during the erection of his wonderful railroad.

This is what that boy told the writer, and as the former young engineer is now no longer a lad, but a grave D.D., who wears solemn black clothes and preaches long sermons, the writer believes him.

But whether you charge a cent, a marble, or nothing, for a ride, you and your friends are bound to have a rollicking good time on the back-yard “switchback.”