Advice on Amounts of Gravel/Dirt/Etc in Humid Environment

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1to3

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Hi all,
I have been planning a small layout to start - with a separate bigger one for next year/future. I have trains, track, etc already... just trying to figure out filler due to humid environment and unwanted plant growth.

I am doing a smaller garden bed-type layout... 6x12'. Trying to figure out how much gravel, crusher fines/dust, mulch, and soil to use. I live in a heavily humid environment with lots of rain so pretty much EVERYTHING grows... fast! (This is partially a problem in maintenance. For this reason, I would guess my future larger layout will be elevated. This one will be about 1 foot off the ground in a garden bed planter.)

1. Would you fill the entire thing with basic soil/dirt, then use gravel only were needed?
2. Would you fill with cheap gravel or rock and only put soil where you planned to have plants? (In hopes that fewer weeds grow)
Does this even matter, or am I missing something?
 
1to3 said:
Hi all,
I have been planning a small layout to start - with a separate bigger one for next year/future. I have trains, track, etc already... just trying to figure out filler due to humid environment and unwanted plant growth.

I am doing a smaller garden bed-type layout... 6x12'. Trying to figure out how much gravel, crusher fines/dust, mulch, and soil to use. I live in a heavily humid environment with lots of rain so pretty much EVERYTHING grows... fast! (This is partially a problem in maintenance. For this reason, I would guess my future larger layout will be elevated. This one will be about 1 foot off the ground in a garden bed planter.)

1. Would you fill the entire thing with basic soil/dirt, then use gravel only were needed?
2. Would you fill with cheap gravel or rock and only put soil where you planned to have plants? (In hopes that fewer weeds grow)
Does this even matter, or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
There are endless ways to achieve what you want, best thing is to look at other railways in your area to see what they have done and perhaps more important what works and what doesn't! Not sure where in the US you are but mine was in the Bay area of San Francisco very damp but not really humid, I built mine with a concrete way with gravel ballast on top and never had a weed problem, moss yes, weeds no. If you use gravel on dirt you will always have a weed and maintenance issues in my opinion.
Any excuse for a photo or two!!ebay.sep 020 (Medium).jpg Railway April 09 001 (Medium).jpg railway destruction 008 (Small).jpg
 
Hi. First question is where are you? I think that makes a difference. I use different solutions in different parts of my yard.

I’m in Northwest Florida, near Destin. It gets pretty humid here, but we also go through cold patches (this past winter was tough on the plants and yard) and it can be dry at times. We also get ‘wind events’ (we don’t use the ‘H’ word) and tropical storms.

Mine is ground level with some areas on stone blocks, some on drainage rock, some on concrete. Underlying soil is essentially sand as we’re about 100 yards from a bayou and a mile from Choctawhatchee Bay. Just slightly inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

The line does need constant maintenance. In the summer months the vegetation grows at an alarming rate. In fact, the weather has just warmed up and we’ve had rain. You can watch things growing!
 
If you want to grow plants put soil where it's required for that purpose only.

As mentioned - concrete is the answer for your trackbed (and any areas where you might want to place buildings or other structures).

I used concrete blocks (18"x9"x4") - they were demolition saves. Compact the base first and the blocks spread the load. Equally shuttering and poured concrete works well (but only on a firm compacted base).

And, as you realise, nature will always win if you don't do any maintenance.

And welcome too!
 
I guess that getting rid of earth and dug up stuff may also be an issue.

I would suggest a line of blocks or concrete for the Track bed. Round Holes made from Buckets for planting with all the rubbish around that but with Concreted in Plastic Barrier to stop growth in the Rubbish. This should slope towards the edge of the main bed to allow water run off. Then another largish Pot inside the Concrete Circles where the Buckets have been removed and make a Circle of Concrete outside of that leaving you with perhaps a 12 Inch Circled Bed. Put good bed of Gravel at the bottom of these beds with a small amount of soil well mixed with grit say 5-6 inches deep. Now you have some planters that should be able to drain freely with all the outside stopped from growing by the barrier. Mulch up outside of the pots with Gravel but no soils and you should with a few Rocks have a nice Mountain Scene with some odd planting that Bonsai Style should not run away from your control.

Below very crude sketch to give you the idea visually.
image.jpeg
 
I am in the UK where is is at the moment neither hot (-1) nor humid (snowing!).

My first railroad in the garden had solid concrete base with the track fixed at regular intervals it was a massive undertaking to lay it all and there were track expansion problems in the heat as it was all fixed down. Then we moved. None of my 350m of track is fixed at all now. It is all floating and this has caused no problems at all. Elevated sections run on old railroad ties (we call them sleepers) (if it is a strait run) or plywood on posts cut to the profile of the track (curves). Ground level section are all in a trench lined with weed barrier and filled with crushed granite (in the UK called Grano). I am now on my fourth ton of it. I have tended to line the edges with bits of rock to maintain separation between the beds (for plants) and the track base.
It has been down about 6 years now. it gets a spray with weedkiller (glyphosate/roundup) a couple of times a year and the grano gets topped up once a year.
For me this has worked really well. It is a technique that requires much less effort than laying slabs of concrete and it looks much better too. There are weeds that grow in the track base (but then there was moss between the ties on the concrete) but these come up easily and can be controlled with chemicals (or time if you have it).
 
dunnyrail said:
I guess that getting rid of earth and dug up stuff may also be an issue.

I would suggest a line of blocks or concrete for the Track bed. Round Holes made from Buckets for planting with all the rubbish around that but with Concreted in Plastic Barrier to stop growth in the Rubbish. This should slope towards the edge of the main bed to allow water run off. Then another largish Pot inside the Concrete Circles where the Buckets have been removed and make a Circle of Concrete outside of that leaving you with perhaps a 12 Inch Circled Bed. Put good bed of Gravel at the bottom of these beds with a small amount of soil well mixed with grit say 5-6 inches deep. Now you have some planters that should be able to drain freely with all the outside stopped from growing by the barrier. Mulch up outside of the pots with Gravel but no soils and you should with a few Rocks have a nice Mountain Scene with some odd planting that Bonsai Style should not run away from your control.

Below very crude sketch to give you the idea visually.
View attachment 233776
Click to expand...
Thank you all. Apparently I forgot to follow the thread? (Silly me) Dunnyrail... the bucket for areas that have plants is just the kind of brilliant thinking I like! I will be heavily leaning towards something like that. Thanks for the idea.

Others... I live in Middle TN. We may not get the most rain, but we get a lot. Enough where I have seen weeds and grasses grow on steps leading into the house... as in, on concrete/wooden areas with no soil at all!? (I moved from completely different climate - closer to desert - so this is new to me and I am hoping to avoid spending 40 hours a week picking weeds from a small starter train garden-style bed.)
 
Well mate, I regret that pulling weeds from an outside layout, except in the desert, is pretty much essential. Even if there’s no soil, the small weeds will grow as long as there’s water. I guess that’s what hydroponics is based on.

....but, that’s part of the charm of garden railways/railroads.
 
well, I expect weeds... I just want to be able to maintain it with an hour or two of effort twice a week, or so. I have a job, and would rather I can go outside and run trains without spending 2 days weeding before I can run trains on day 3... then have to start over on day 5. (I know some of that will be expected... just hoping to minimize what I can.)
 
You will probably be able to set a train running, and 'potter' about pulling a few weeds..??

Best thing for a garden railway is to use it! - less track cleaning, and the odd hiccup is easy to deal with.

Leave it two months, and it will take a few days to sort out before you can run..
 
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