Laying Track with minimum damage to garden

[Tony]

welcome Jamie
2" x 2" posts hammered in the ground at any height you wish with decking boards fixed on top not ideal for long term but should last a few years when removed will only leave a little hole
Tony

 

[Westcott]

Hi Jamie,

Welcome aboard!

How long do you want to leave it down for?
How much track?

Perhaps cheap decking strips supported on tent pegs?
That would leave an air gap under the strips.

Hamish

 

[mike]

hi jamie, im also in rented acomadation, my landlord atitude is..GO FOR IT!!as long as im looking after the garden, and my nabures are happy, i can more or less do anything,.. building work requires written permisson, but so far, everything ive asked for, they havew said yes... ask ur landlord..

 

[bobg]

If you make it raised on posts of any sort, try to keep it high enough to get the mower and strimmer head underneath. I beleive in keeping the gardening side of things to an absolute minumum. That goes for any other maintenance around the property, there are far too many other things to do to have to bother about that.

Have fun, That's where it's all at!

 

[steven large]

hi jamie, im also in rented acomadation, my landlord atitude is..GO FOR IT!!as long as im looking after the garden, and my nabures are happy, i can more or less do anything,.. building work requires written permisson, but so far, everything ive asked for, they havew said yes... ask ur landlord..

yes tht is good idea to asked the landlord first to see if he accept it....beggin him and he will say YES!!..IF HE SAY YES..then u go ahead built it til he will go wow..i like it......simple way...
same as me got rented house....my landlord is my mum.....she accept it....nice one mum!!!! what a pity tht my dad didnt see my layout as he passed away.....

 

[Martino]

You could lay it on the flowerbeds, in a ballast base just like the real thing. Then when you come to take it up, remove the track and just hoe the ballast back into the soil.

 

[Gizzy]

Hello all

I am brand new to the forum and world of garden railways so please go easy on me.

I am in the early stages of planning a garden railway for my children (and me as well).

We live in a rented house so I was wondering if you had any tips for laying track over grass without damagng the turf.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Jamie

Are you actually asking if you can lay the track onto the grass?

The answer is yes, if you use set-track.

Flexi track will need fixing down, so it's best to lay that track on boards like the ones used for decking, but the standard LGB/ART/PIKO straights, curves and points can be laid on turf and then taken up again if you need to mow the grass....

 

[beavercreek]

Flexi track will need fixing down, so it's best to lay that track on boards like the ones used for decking, but the standard LGB/ART/PIKO straights, curves and points can be laid on turf and then taken up again if you need to mow the grass....

Marshman does exactly that (Hi Stuart). He lifts the track when mowing is due and puts it back down after, sometimes in a completely different layout design! I suppose you could set the mower height to just 'skim' across the top of the track and never take it up.....

 

[Aljosha]

Hi Jamie!
Welcome to the club! I very much encourage you to work 'with' the garden and its features than bulldoze. This worked for me when I lived with my (now) ex; = her garden + house!
Tracklaying: quite easy, if you want anythiing more durable than a few weeks I strongly suggest you lay it onto planks of wood, best is probably decking planks, and nicely wide - either side of the track 1inch cos the growth of lawn + other little plants will make you cut it every 2wks!
track on left on wooden plank, not wide enough! Other on right crewed onto slabs, or laid on some cardboard I pulled from a skip...

track is screwed onto slabs as kept sliding sideways:

wooden plank underneath, crossing lawn level so lawn can be mown easily by SWMBO!

PLease ignore the helper! Here crossing via bridge in front of the allotment, behind compost bin, past apple tree (bent to left) to reach in forefront flowerbed (on planks):

Pond needed extra solution planks on wooden pillars as also had to rise considerably (garden on a slope):

Choc block with goods train, again crossing lawn level on 'buried' plank:

Station is also on cardboard, although that disintegrated after 2years! Here b4 filling with ballast, again ignore the helper:

and after filling ballast:

 

[Bram]

Veeeery neat Markus, I bet the helpers find the ballast useful

 

[minimans]

Wow Markus that last shot of the cardboard and ballest is great, but I wonder if you could just lay it on weedbarrier? I know we usually bury the stuff under the dirt or a couple of inches of gravel but do we need to?? and is this the first time we've seen such a wide view of your railway?

 

[hornbeam]

Aljosha,

So sorry to hijack, ver interest in your RHB railcar and coaches, did you paint them?

 

[Aljosha]

Aljosha, So sorry to hijack, ver interest in your RHB railcar and coaches, did you paint them?

Hi hornbeam, I got the whole set from another G-scaler who had it made from a red set, according to pics of the originals he provided.
I think I will repost my old thread 'Otterndorfer Eisenbahn' from the old GSM forum rather than carry on here. Also to reminisce a bit in old pics...

 

[Aljosha]

Wow Markus that last shot of the cardboard and ballest is great, but I wonder if you could just lay it on weedbarrier? I know we usually bury the stuff under the dirt or a couple of inches of gravel but do we need to?? and is this the first time we've seen such a wide view of your railway?

Hi minimans,
The cardboard solution happened a bit by chance. If I remember right my decision (cardboard) got back-up by a discussion on GSM at the time, saying that all the weedbarriers fail after 2-3yrs anyway.
Disadvantage of any ballast close to the lawn is the 'fall-out' after mowing (see the many little grass leaves in the foreground; sorry couldn't find a better picture):

For more info + pics I think I will repost my old thread 'Otterndorfer Eisenbahn' from the old GSM forum, also to reminisce a bit in old pics...

 

[stevelewis]

Hi Markus

Nice pics but are they in PARIS now??

I have no G scale now:thinking::thinking:

Interesting to note my wife arrived home couple of days back, and yesterday the track bed was transformed!!

welcome Jamie ...............a couple of pics to show what my garden looks lke now minus the track!
I will try to find a before pic as well

I am having a rest from G scale having been doing it since'76!