Garden Railway Forum

That is simply amazing. Very very well done.
Really looking forward to seeing a train going round that!

philipy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:23 pm That is simply amazing. Very very well done.
Really looking forward to seeing a train going round that!

My thoughts exactly. Especially if the video is taken from the angle of that final photo.

Rik
PS - I can just visualise a mountain stream tumbling down over rocks inside that big loop

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:31 am

philipy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:23 pm That is simply amazing. Very very well done.
Really looking forward to seeing a train going round that!

My thoughts exactly. Especially if the video is taken from the angle of that final photo.

Rik
PS - I can just visualise a mountain stream tumbling down over rocks inside that big loop

Yes I see what you mean! that gap in the middle is just made for a steam to go through it.

Trevor

The trestle is looking very good Some suitably dramatic landscaping of the slope will really set it off.
Going back to your embankment, what about trying various plantings in small sections to see which works best/fastest/cheapest before committing to one option? Another plant to try may be a ground covering Sedum, and/or a ground cover Thyme. Both are doing well in areas of my garden, which is NW facing.

Many thanks for all the encouraging comments on the viaduct.

Sedums certainly work on our green roofs, over my workshop for example, but they took a while to get going. Dinah, my other half, likes herbs so the thyme is certainly possible. Of course the area involved is large and there is scope for different plants in different areas - or at different heights.

She has been using wild strawberries to cover a bank in work and is keen to try the same here.

We have also planted a few Cotton Easter plants, one of which is doing really well, and 2 of which got lost in the grass - and of course I ended up striming them, much to her annoyance! I think the real issue it to cover the bank with membrane and plant enough plants to allow them to cover it in a sensible period of time - I mean before the grass gets back.

I am also going to try raising Cotton Easter from seed.

A number of comments mentioned water - and I have promised a pond - and I always intended to put it in the centre of the loop - so it could well go where the pile of rubble is at the moment, and feed a "stream" down through that central arch.

Trevor

I assume you are talking about "cotoneaster". If you know somebody that has the variety you want, their garden will be full of seedlings. I have to pull and throw hundreds away every year, it is a very prolific plant.

I'd be wary of wild strawberry, personally. It grows as a weed in my garden and I spend a fair bit of time trying to get rid of it. It is, shall we say, "prolific" .... but I tend to use another word each time I find its tendrils have infiltrated yet another bed.

Rik

Yes it was cotoneaster I meant - I just remembered it was spelt the way I wrote it, and forgot it was one word. Yes that is exactly what my wife said - or at least that she had taken the seeds of the one good plant do do just that with!

I suppose if wild strawberries spread like that they might have a chance against the grass. I don't really favour them anyway - we have some against the track by the terminus and when the strawberries encroach onto the track I get into trouble for cutting them back.

Onwards - the track approaches the viaduct. Next length will have check rails on the inside, and the longer sleepers to take the handrails:
Trevor

Testing the track on the viaduct:
That is 2 yards laid and four more to go before we get back onto concrete trackbed.

Trevor

Brave man ..... doing it without a safety net!

Rik

I can't see how you've fitted the check rail - is it a double shoe or have you sliced part off the checkrail shoes? Either way it looks great. Looking forward to seeing it progressing.

I don't think there is much risk of it falling off, what with the check rail and the fairly level track with gentle curves. However I did try a battery loco first - and at various speeds.

The check rail is secured with special check rail chairs which have slots for both rails and at the correct distance apart. They are from Cliff Barker, as are all of the chairs, and I suppose are really intended for making points.

Trevor

Been away from the forum for a few days and wow, what a sight to come back to!
A pond feeding a stream down the middle would be perfect.

I'd be inclined to give Box a miss - I've had my 6 or so Box bushes for over 15 years, but this year they were all ravaged by the evil Box Moth, as was every other bush n Bristol it seems. It can only be a matter of time before it flutters to West Wales...

Andrew wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 3:03 pm I'd be inclined to give Box a miss - I've had my 6 or so Box bushes for over 15 years, but this year they were all ravaged by the evil Box Moth, as was every other bush n Bristol it seems. It can only be a matter of time before it flutters to West Wales...

Yes I thought box might not be a good idea.

Trevor

Sorry Trevor, I haven't been online much lately and kind of missed the fact that the Box conversation was a week ago! I'd be cautious with Thyme too, I think it likes sun, and you mentioned it was shady. Periwinkle might work, and I've got some stuff that I like called Woodrough ( or something like that), a smallish leaved ground cover plant which grows well in the shade...

I like the pond and stream idea and will watch developments with interest. I've got a sort of idea along those lines myself...

Cheers,

Andrew.

Andrew wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:52 pm Sorry Trevor, I haven't been online much lately and kind of missed the fact that the Box conversation was a week ago! I'd be cautious with Thyme too, I think it likes sun, and you mentioned it was shady. Periwinkle might work, and I've got some stuff that I like called Woodrough ( or something like that), a smallish leaved ground cover plant which grows well in the shade...

I like the pond and stream idea and will watch developments with interest. I've got a sort of idea along those lines myself...

Cheers,

Andrew.

I'll talk to D about Wiidrough. We did try Periwincle some time ago and it didn't seem to like the location.

Trevor

While I await the delivery of more chairs I have made a start on the "Y" points for the passing loop just beyond the viaduct. This passing loop is where Dduallt station building is going to fit.

The plan downloaded from the 16mm Association website with the sleepers glued to it:
and the frog unit ready to silver solder:
I like to silver solder this part because I can then use ordinary solder to fit the wing rails to the frog without fear of the parts already assembled moving. I am using stainless steel rail, and while that is not a problem when silver soldering, it adds extra complication when using ordinary lead or lead free solder in that it requires a special flux.

The frog is in the pickling bath to remove the flux, and the wing rails are ready to fit next.

Trevor

Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:02 pm
I'll talk to D about Wiidrough.

Here's what you need to know: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ry-flowers

I can see what they mean about it being invasive, but I don't think it's problematically so. A concrete trackbed seems to stop it, although it sometimes tries to creep beneath the rails - when that happens, it doesn't seem to mind being hacked back pretty hard.

Cheers,

Andrew.

I’ve found Sweet Woodruff really useful for ground cover, filling holes and hiding scabby bits. It’s easy and quick to cut it back (with scissors) every now and again as necessary. Here’s a healthy plantation of it (permanently in shade) in the picture below, to the left of the loco.

I’ve also planted loads of slow-growing, small-leafed Euonymus Japonicus ‘Green Spire’ (not the quick growing, potentially very much larger variants) to replace all the Box that was killed off by the beastly caterpillars. It looks very similar. The local garden centre displays it in neatly trimmed, dense, low hedges — say 25cm high — as edging to paths and so on, which I’d like to emulate. Might be useful to you?

Sorry, it's not the sharpest picture you've ever seen

Euonymus Japonicus ‘Green Spire’ (with spelling corrected)