Looks like a pretty shady statement to me.And here she be after an hour or so of pottering in the midday sun
View attachment 343225View attachment 343226
Just have to find the piano hinge I set aside for the door last fall
along with stuff for Herself 
Ah, yes! The infamous "I know I have it, but I can't find it (or, turns out it won't work) so I'll have to buy another one." Genius move getting something for Herself at the same time.View attachment 343227
Shady I may be, but slim I ain't
Anyway, I resorted to my usual runaround and ordered new hinges from Amazon
A plan so weaselly it deserves a turnip.
and here I was thinking I was the only crafty bugger
......what comes in a Amazon parcel must be inspected by me first , as long as I get to the post box first!
I think it took me 15 years to reach that conclusion, learning the hard wayI broke my own Rule #1: Wood has absolutely no place in a garden railway.
Be warned!
. Timber and plastic seem to be about the same price these days, and the wood sold in the UK is usually so awful it is a no brainer for me now.
Ply outside as you have found is certainly a no go no mater the so called quality or how well you protect it with even varnish or roofing felt. Your construction would have been ok with external grade gravel board covered with felt that can give very long life. My boards made with such have been outside near 3 decades now.I built a similar structure just nine years ago.
I had a lean-to shed on the back of my garage in which was stored an "instant train", in that it lived in the shed and was available for immediate use. I had been planning its replacement for a while, but last weekend one of our cats jumped on to its roof from an adjacent fence and part of it collapsed. Here it is today, on its way to the tip. The orange beard on the top sheet is some impressive fungal growth!
Nine years. And this was so-called weather-proof, boil-proof "it'll last for decades" marine ply, the best I could get, and it cost a small fortune to get the "quality" I was assured it had.
Its replacement will be made from Filcris plastic sheets, already in stock and delivered cut to size.
I broke my own Rule #1: Wood has absolutely no place in a garden railway.
Be warned!
View attachment 343618
Depends on the wood!
And on the place/use.
I built a similar structure just nine years ago.
I had a lean-to shed on the back of my garage in which was stored an "instant train", in that it lived in the shed and was available for immediate use. I had been planning its replacement for a while, but last weekend one of our cats jumped on to its roof from an adjacent fence and part of it collapsed. Here it is today, on its way to the tip. The orange beard on the top sheet is some impressive fungal growth!
Nine years. And this was so-called weather-proof, boil-proof "it'll last for decades" marine ply, the best I could get, and it cost a small fortune to get the "quality" I was assured it had.
Its replacement will be made from Filcris plastic sheets, already in stock and delivered cut to size.
I broke my own Rule #1: Wood has absolutely no place in a garden railway.
Be warned!
View attachment 343618
Although we do have many timber framed buildings that are 100s of years oldWhen I was a younger man, I thought that, being a carpenter, wood could be used for anything outdoors, as long as it was cedar, redwood or some similar species. It did not take me my entire career to switch sides and proclaim that if it was to be made for outdoors it should be stone or steel. There's a reason the pyramids are still there.....
