Planning new Garden railway

[markrussell1966]

Hi we are about to move house and I have a blank canvas for my new garden railway. My existing one was ground level laid onto a large slabbed patio area. I would prefer a raised bed (thinking of my back) and am thinking of using railway sleepers to form the retaining wall. This would be back filled with hardcore? I would welcome any thoughts from anyone as to whether this is the best way or alternatively the construction of raised baseboards made from pressure treated timber.
Any thoughts or comments welcome please?
Thanks
Mark

 

[playmofire]

Unless you stand them on end (joke!), railway sleepers don't lift anything much above ground level. I made our raised vegetable beds two sleepers high and that's pretty good for gardening and probably would be for garden railwaying.

Don't use actual ex-railway sleepers as they are full of hazardous stuff. You can buy the same sized thing, pressure treated, for building raised vegetable beds and some people advertise new railway sleepers, although I think they may jut be using this as a generic term as they describe them as softwood.

When buying, try and see before you buy and lift before you buy. I bought the ones for the veg beds two years apart. The first lot were much less dense than the second and could be manoeuvred single-handedly; the later lot needed two people to move the longer lengths.

 

[artfull dodger]

Keep in mind the weight of the sleepers(quite heavy) and the back pressure of the backfill and when that area gets filled with rain and moisture. Drainage is needed when making a raised set up like this. Otherwise you risk the retaining wall bowing and blowing out from its own weight. A raised line using legs and and more of a table top surface is much cheaper, the legs can be hidden with plantings, hedges ect. I built my raised line like a "planters box", and its back filled with mulch and peat moss along with live plants.

 

[playmofire]

Keep in mind the weight of the sleepers(quite heavy) and the back pressure of the backfill and when that area gets filled with rain and moisture. Drainage is needed when making a raised set up like this. Otherwise you risk the retaining wall bowing and blowing out from its own weight. A raised line using legs and and more of a table top surface is much cheaper, the legs can be hidden with plantings, hedges ect. I built my raised line like a "planters box", and its back filled with mulch and peat moss along with live plants.

That's an interesting looking layout. Would you give the dimensions and overall layout, please?

 

[LGB-Sid]

I used 600 square x 50mm thick paving slabs to build my raised beds 300mm in the ground so railway 300mm off the ground, filled with hardcore for drainage my raise beds don't bow probably not as eye friendly as railway sleepers but cost me less to build.

 

[stockers]

Above ground - decking boards will last years.

 

[beachdonkey]

I used" new railway sleepers" for my railway.They have been in place for 4yrs now and have caused no problems at all.
It is only two sleepers in height therefore still fairly low. I laid the first course firmly onto soft sand and then using large coach screws from Screw-Fix bolted on the second course making sure the joints were all staggered then filled the structure with old bricks, excess soil and topped it with top soil.The sleepers have never moved or slipped,the only thing I overlooked was the amount of settlement of the top soil that I put in.

 

[The Tinker]

I made raised gardens, Did them bit by bit, was a fair bit of work and cost but wasn't to bad as I spread it out over a year. Bought timber Box by box as each one got filled I then started the next one. I have a fairly strict weekly budget so only way I could do it. So glad I did as back not getting any better

 

[ge_rik]

I've not used sleepers, so can't comment, but part of my railway is on timber supports while the rest is constructed on raised beds made from breeze blocks.

The timber supported section was much quicker to build. It was built into an existing hedge and so I had instant in-fill beneath it. If you plant something like lonicera beneath the timber it will grow quickly and can then be sculpted into a landscape. The disadvantage of timber is, of course, that it will eventually rot. Mind you, mine has been there ten years now and is still intact. I even used some 30 year old fence rails for some sections.

The raised beds have the advantage that you can plant in them and run your trains through undergrowth - much more interesting from a scenic viewpoint.

Rik

 

[Paul M]

What ever you use, and asking for ideas from this forum, there'll be numerous ideas, make sure it's not too difficult to add to or alter. You're bound to have new thoughts about your line at some point, so you need to plan for that.

 

[lgbmad]

I made a large raised bed out of old railway sleepers for a friend a few years ago. The bottom sleeper had six inch nails partly hammered in and then bent. This sleeper was then laid on a bed of concrete that had been dug a few inches into the ground. All other sleepers added on top of the first were then secured to each other by drilling a hole and banging in a suitable sized piece of rea bar every couple of feet. Using this method the sleepers could be stood on edge giving more height for very sleeper laid. Just make sure you get it right the first time because once that rea bar has been knocked in......there is no getting it back out. Once made the wall of sleepers are going no where.
Kev

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Ground level (with low boxing, as required). Refer my thread on Taita Gorge Railway.

 

[trammayo]

Concrete blocks? A little like Stonehenge



and rubble



Don't use wood of any kind - continuous problems with rot (based on experience).

 

[goneloco]

Unless you stand them on end (joke!), railway sleepers don't lift anything much above ground level. I made our raised vegetable beds two sleepers high and that's pretty good for gardening and probably would be for garden railwaying.

Don't use actual ex-railway sleepers as they are full of hazardous stuff. You can buy the same sized thing, pressure treated, for building raised vegetable beds and some people advertise new railway sleepers, although I think they may jut be using this as a generic term as they describe them as softwood.

When buying, try and see before you buy and lift before you buy. I bought the ones for the veg beds two years apart. The first lot were much less dense than the second and could be manoeuvred single-handedly; the later lot needed two people to move the longer lengths.

Not sure what is available in the UK but permapine treated sleepers common in Oz for retaining walls and used them along the front section of my garden railway with no problems. Vertical sleepers hold the horizontal ones in place, top filled with quarry rubble. Definitely easier on the back.

 

[goneloco]

Appear to be having problems uploading file showing sleepers in situ.

 

[dunnyrail]

There are many ways to go up high, Metposts with Wooden Uprights and Decking covered with Felt will last many years. Easy to do not so hard on the back and front planted with Lonicera as at the Peco G and 16mm Railway can look quite good in fairly short order. Have a look at my new build and you will see how it has evolved on the wood with planting softening a great portion now.
JonD

 

[maxi-model]

There is a bit of a trick with this one. The old sloped concrete paths were dug out and the front of the garden built up to bring the track level. Make sure you use some stout, concreted in, posts to support the sleepers. Where the buildings are shows how built up the paths had been at tha end. Railway goes into the house at that level with a double, scenic, siding behind and level with the back of the sofa. Oh, the joys of the single's life. Max

 

[stockers]

Looks great Max. Do you have a picture thread of your railway - would like to see more.

 

[maxi-model]

Looks great Maxi. Do you have a picture thread of your railway - would like to see more.

There are bits and bobs around various threads (Line with no trains). Perhaps I should get out in the garden and do a new album before the leaf fall season starts in earnest.

Here's a couple more. Thank you for your interest Alan. Max

 

[Rhinochugger]

There are bits and bobs around various threads (Line with no trains). Perhaps I should get out in the garden and do a new album before the leaf fall season starts in earnest.

Here's a couple more. Thank you for your interest Alan. Max

View attachment 227913 View attachment 227914

Uh oh - wait for it, we have pictures of Durango water tower, then we have the Lynton & Barnstaple.............

And, as it happens, I'm fascinated by both