True enough, and if you try it you may discover it within yourself! If your second try looks better than your first, and your third looks better than your second, then you'll definitely have it!
Resurrecting a disused garden railway - the SCGR reborn
- Thread starter Clive Tucker
- Start date
True enough, and if you try it you may discover it within yourself! If your second try looks better than your first, and your third looks better than your second, then you'll definitely have it!
Progress is progress, love skip raiding. Have you thought of sifting the soil and using that for a cement mix? The stones removed are fine mixed with cement as Foundation and the soil mixed with a little sharp sand makes what I call Crapcrete. May save a trip to the tip and you do appear to like recycling. 2 parts soil, 2 parts sharp sand and 1 part cement.More excavation today, only for 4 hours as it's so hot outside now:
All done with reclaimed Celcons and edging slabs - the only downside being that I now have 4 bags of soil to lose! Probably about a couple of metres more to do and I should have this section done!
Thanks Jon, that's an idea I hadn't considered! I just need to find a suitable sieve - I already have a big batch of potting grit and some cement, so I hope to make some experiments with ballasting soon.
I have made a stand up sieve with square approx 10mm chicken type wire around 2ft Square on a couple of legs with bolts and a couple of handles. A shovel or two sieved into a Barrow at a time, plant crap into a bag for the bin, good stones for scenery the rest on top used for Crapcrete. Little waste. Just do as much at a time as you feel able to, best in dry weather of course. If lumpy I break up with a small fork till small enough to sieve.
I must confess I cheated somewhat and ordered a sieve from Amazulu. Well, wifey was ordering some stuff and needed to make up the amount to qualify for free postage, so I jumped on and helped her out! It looks a fairly chunky piece of kit, with three different gradings for hole size. Hopefully it will be in my sticky mitt at the end of this week.
In the meantime, however, the new trackbed for the Dewey's End lower line was completed earlier today:
With the track reinstated, it only remained for some rigorous
Yep, looks ok!
A bit more progress today, eventually - once I'd managed to dig out a massive root that was preventing me from levelling the blocks better - back in 'cement' mode:
Of course, the track had to be taken up again first, so we are back to a replacement bus service for the time being
Of course, the track had to be taken up again first, so we are back to a replacement bus service for the time being
Excellent narrative and great work on the new bridge and the rest of the civil engineering.....
Thanks Dan, for your kind comments.
Some more progress over the past couple of days, I guess I am about 3/4 the way along this lower line with cementing the blocks in:
Some more progress over the past couple of days, I guess I am about 3/4 the way along this lower line with cementing the blocks in:
More progress today - the lower line stretch is now done:
As ever, there is a small amount of cement left over - rather than just ditching it, I used it to add a sloping ramp on the recently rebuilt goods platform:
I recovered my DR van from the other side of the garden, and gave it a clean up, served eviction notices on about 40 snails and assorted arachnids which had taken up uninvited residence. It is now standing patiently at the end dock line:
Right, what's next!
As ever, there is a small amount of cement left over - rather than just ditching it, I used it to add a sloping ramp on the recently rebuilt goods platform:
I recovered my DR van from the other side of the garden, and gave it a clean up, served eviction notices on about 40 snails and assorted arachnids which had taken up uninvited residence. It is now standing patiently at the end dock line:
Right, what's next!
Now that is my kind of weathering, just shows what a long time left in the Garden neglected can do. Happy to swop for a pristine one! Was not someone on here asking about any damage being created to LGB Stock left outside, none at all as far as I can see and I bet it runs just fine.More progress today - the lower line stretch is now done:
As ever, there is a small amount of cement left over - rather than just ditching it, I used it to add a sloping ramp on the recently rebuilt goods platform:
I recovered my DR van from the other side of the garden, and gave it a clean up, served eviction notices on about 40 snails and assorted arachnids which had taken up uninvited residence. It is now standing patiently at the end dock line:
Right, what's next!
Thanks all for your comments.
The van had been languishing, all but forgotten, under a derelict and rusting goods shed for about 9 years. After the cleanup operation it still runs great, given the wheels are the standard plastic ones. It served as another of my mules (for looking into alternative coupling methods), I had fitted 3-link couplings but they didn't work very well unfortunately.
I am hoping that in the fullness of time, this area will start to 'green up' a bit. I might drop some heavy hints in that respect by coating the blocks with a thin slurry of muddy water, which should also help tone down the light colour of the block.
The van had been languishing, all but forgotten, under a derelict and rusting goods shed for about 9 years. After the cleanup operation it still runs great, given the wheels are the standard plastic ones. It served as another of my mules (for looking into alternative coupling methods), I had fitted 3-link couplings but they didn't work very well unfortunately.
I am hoping that in the fullness of time, this area will start to 'green up' a bit. I might drop some heavy hints in that respect by coating the blocks with a thin slurry of muddy water, which should also help tone down the light colour of the block.
I would try 'Dunnyrail's Ferrous Sulphate wash.. You can add yoghurt, if you want to encourage 'growth'..
Glad you did not suggest the Cow Poo mix Phill! However off milk also works as a sort of ypghurt in the making. This weather I guess there may be a bit of it about, specially if we get some thunder.I would try 'Dunnyrail's Ferrous Sulphate wash.. You can add yoghurt, if you want to encourage 'growth'..
Question anyone explain for me why is it that slightly old milk will go off the minute that thunder appears but will still be ok for quite a few days without thunder?
Thanks for the suggestions 
I shall look into those.
A small amount of work done today in preparation for ballasting - I decided I needed a buffer to go in the end dock, but I couldn't afford the space needed for the normal buffer track piece. So I cut one down to the absolute bare basics:
I then carefully (well as carefully as one can with a masonry drill bit) drilled a couple of holes in the track bed right next to the end dock, and slotted the buffer in:
It fits the buffer height on the van perfectly:
That's looking a little better!
I shall look into those.A small amount of work done today in preparation for ballasting - I decided I needed a buffer to go in the end dock, but I couldn't afford the space needed for the normal buffer track piece. So I cut one down to the absolute bare basics:
I then carefully (well as carefully as one can with a masonry drill bit) drilled a couple of holes in the track bed right next to the end dock, and slotted the buffer in:
It fits the buffer height on the van perfectly:
That's looking a little better!
Neat little job there, laddie - and perfectly authentic, lots of examples to be seen around.
A bit more progress over the past couple of days - not as much as I would have liked, but real life got in the way, as it so often does it seems. Anyway, I bit the bullet and prepared for ballasting. Not the goods area, as I have some other work to do in that area which I can't start yet. No, instead I looked at my bay platform, and seeing as it is fairly stable now I decided this would be the start of my ballasting activity. For this small section I figured a couple of screws to hold the track in place would suffice:
Then I mixed up some sieved potting grit with some cement (roughly 3:1) and brushed it in along that section of track. For the area around the buffer stop, I added some finely sieved very dry soil into the mix, and similarly brushed that in. The hope is that this small area will eventually take on a greener tinge than the rest of it. Here's the result as of today, anyway:
Prior to this, I went into 'lumberjack' mode and rid myself of some particularly troublesome conifers - pretty sure they weren't this big when I transplanted them from a small pot some years back:
I still need to somehow get the roots up, but at least now I can see better what I need to do for the overhead line going round the curve towards Dewey's End. I have half an idea for that, but I need to get to Wickes first to see for myself if the material I am thinking of using will work.
Then I mixed up some sieved potting grit with some cement (roughly 3:1) and brushed it in along that section of track. For the area around the buffer stop, I added some finely sieved very dry soil into the mix, and similarly brushed that in. The hope is that this small area will eventually take on a greener tinge than the rest of it. Here's the result as of today, anyway:
Prior to this, I went into 'lumberjack' mode and rid myself of some particularly troublesome conifers - pretty sure they weren't this big when I transplanted them from a small pot some years back:
I still need to somehow get the roots up, but at least now I can see better what I need to do for the overhead line going round the curve towards Dewey's End. I have half an idea for that, but I need to get to Wickes first to see for myself if the material I am thinking of using will work.