Advice needed

[gamecoder.nz]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to build a railway in my garden and let the public in. I have never done this before but I'm excited to do this and I want to do a proper job so I have some questions.

I have been reading about retaining walls and everyone says that brick is better than timber but there are existing bits of concrete that would make bricks tricky so is timber a good alternative? Would I need drive big posts into the ground like a retaining wall or would building it like a raised garden bed be ok?

I'm going to use LGB trains and I see that they already have decoders but they don't sell controllers. What controllers would work with them?

I apologize if these are obvious questions but I am completely new to this so I thank you for your help

 

[dunnyrail]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to build a railway in my garden and let the public in. I have never done this before but I'm excited to do this and I want to do a proper job so I have some questions.

I have been reading about retaining walls and everyone says that brick is better than timber but there are existing bits of concrete that would make bricks tricky so is timber a good alternative? Would I need drive big posts into the ground like a retaining wall or would building it like a raised garden bed be ok?

I'm going to use LGB trains and I see that they already have decoders but they don't sell controllers. What controllers would work with them?

I apologize if these are obvious questions but I am completely new to this so I thank you for your help

May help if you could post a picture or two of the tricky concrete, it may actually be a good resource for a track bed with some mire concrete moulding/foundations and bricks ir blocks. As for controllers Maerklin do make G scale options for DCC but they can be a bit of an issue for some. Massoth are a rather expensive ootion but a good second hand system from say a shoo can be a good starting point.

 

[gamecoder.nz]

May help if you could post a picture or two of the tricky concrete, it may actually be a good resource for a track bed with some mire concrete moulding/foundations and bricks ir blocks. As for controllers Maerklin do make G scale options for DCC but they can be a bit of an issue for some. Massoth are a rather expensive ootion but a good second hand system from say a shoo can be a good starting point.

I've decided to break up the concrete and remove it. But if I went with timber what kind of wall would I need to build?

 

[dunnyrail]

I've decided to break up the concrete and remove it. But if I went with timber what kind of wall would I need to build?

Well your post idea works but they will rot over time, look at my build (New Railway is Started link below) where I have put posts in metposts with no wood in the ground holding in place in a dug smallish hole with Postcrete. Not the cheapest option but will have a long life. My posts hold my line in variations of 4 feet and 2 feet above the ground.

 

[gamecoder.nz]

Well your post idea works but they will rot over time, look at my build (New Railway is Started link below) where I have put posts in metposts with no wood in the ground holding in place in a dug smallish hole with Postcrete. Not the cheapest option but will have a long life. My posts hold my line in variations of 4 feet and 2 feet above the ground.

Thank you. I will think about using metposts

 

[Paul M]

Welcome to the forum. Can I suggest, before you start the hard work, visiting a few local garden lines, if there's any close to you? There are lots of ways of building track beds, each has it's upsides, and downsides, so it's best to see some examples.

 

[HobbitFertang]

You could try a 'crib' wall which is layers of separated timber infilled with rubble. You could use the old concrete as part of the infill. If you include soil, you could also plant in the wall.

 

[HobbitFertang]

like this . . .

 

[Northsider]

As P Paul M mentions, looking around (both online and in the real world) will give you some different examples. It then comes down to choice, and personal preferences. Many people (and I am one) use concrete/brick/thermalite blocks, which can last for decades -but do you anticipate staying in the same property for decades? Timber, and/or raised beds can be dismantled or re-purposed more easily should you decide to move house in a few year's time...

 

[gamecoder.nz]

These are all excellent points. Unfortunately there are no garden railways near me that I know of so I've been looking online and there are a mixture timber, brick, raised, on the ground etc. The main drawback for me is cost and I don't expect to be in this house for decades

 

[dunnyrail]

These are all excellent points. Unfortunately there are no garden railways near me that I know of so I've been looking online and there are a mixture timber, brick, raised, on the ground etc. The main drawback for me is cost and I don't expect to be in this house for decades

Cheapest option could then be just lay bricks on the ground or in shallow foundations on some sand. Lay track on that. Bricks can often be obtained for free, often people have a pile in their garden after some works or other that are happy to get rid of them. That removed concrete can also be used in the foundations being hamnered into the ground. I built a garden railway in 3 days using similar method some years back for a friend.

 

[justme igor]

Get some cheap fencing board 4 to 6 inch high, burry them 2 to 4 inch into the ground get some plastic tarp, cut them to the width of your inbetween space of your fencing, put gravel on that tarp, place rail, connect...enjoy!
Expend what you want and let it grow.
For real cheap tracks look at my signature.

Bets

 

[pugwash]

Hang on, G gamecoder.nz has said that the railway will be open to the public. If like my old railway the track was on the ground and people could look at the track but from a certain distance, the railway was fenced off with steel cables. If the visitors are supposed to get up close (with the risk of idiocy) then I think a raised, as in at least 0.5m but preferably 1m, line would avoid expensive stock getting trampled on.
In the absence of lines that can be visited I would be inclined to look at YouTube for some ideas along with asking the members here who have raised lines. There is a current thread under
'Scenery' -> 'Track & Track Laying' -> 'How to build a elevated 'deck' layout'
which might be of interest.

 

[DickyC]

I am currently creating retaining walls to layer my hillside garden too, Im opting to two different solutions.

1) OLD railway sleepers and RSJ I beams

Why ? because they are railway sleepers ! why not.. These are slotted in so that that they can be replaced if required at a later date, I have used I and C colum beams (RSJs) and its has been quite easy (apart from listing the sleepers in in ! ) so create. large areas/lenghths can be easier achiend. It will be backed up with 20mm gravel to help aid drainage as we live in a wet clay area with springs.



2) Concreate Barge boards and re-enforced concrete

Why, again easy to create on my own, These seam ideal for small heights, but I have used it on a 1m deep cut on the patieo but this also has 20cm of re-enforced concreate behind it and I have rendered it also.