Garden Railway Forum

IrishPeter wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:56 pm Mind you in the old days they were extremely useful trees in that they were pollarded and systematically harvested for basket making, hurdles, etc..

I think I read somewhere that Col Stephens planted some alongside the KESR as an additional income stream... A tree that size in the lineside would make a 16mm scale Stephens a very rich man...

Well the tree has almost gone. The landlord wanted to keep the main part of the tree has a reminder that he planted it when he lived in the house some 45 years ago.

The guy who came to do the job has a diploma in tree surgery from the forestry commission when he did his apprenticeship, so the tree was in good hands so to say. He did a great job of actually not doing any damage at all to the back fence, in fact the neighbour came out and thanked him, although I am hoping it does get replaced, but I am not holding out for it.....

Some photos of it coming down,


Has you can probably see, though it's not quite clear in the 1st few photos, he is taking the lower branches off first, so he can lay them down as a cushion if you like, to stop the bigger branches and the thicker trunk he cut off to land without causing any damage, for which he did.

And this is the final photo with it clear away, although there are some bigger shaving and we were not able to get due to the expected sleet shower, that did turn to a little bit of snow. So I will need to get one of those garden vacuums when it gets a bit calmer and get rid, otherwise it will end up with a really big bare patch of lawn.


Even Anne's concrete containers and the scarecrow didn't get harmed.....

The guy did however need to cut the bigger logs up to what he called biscuits, so he could get them to his wagon, the reason being was our garage is fixed to the side of the house with just a standard door leading into it from the garden, but he did manage to get a large enough piece for his sculpting he does when he has some spare time.

I myself am knackered though, has he didn't have anyone to help him clear the branches away, so being the type of person I am, helped him with the smaller branches that were dragged through the garage. I couldn't believe how long those branches were, until they were felled........

Anne wasn't happy when she came home, but if I didn't help him, he would have got caught up in the sleet and snow we had. I am regretting it now though. It's not my heart, it's all the other muscles that haven't really been used for such a long time. The backs of both legs and my back are hurting so much.... Might need to get Anne to give them a massage Although they are very tender to touch, so I will leave it and let them heal on their own....

Thanks for the pictures and description of the felling Rod, trees are much larger and heavier than we think. We always underestimate the effort involved in removing the branches and trunk, especially when we have to do it manually.
Just rest for a while to recover, the wood-chips should take care of themselves without causing further harm.

Willows are extremely robust, so I think you might need to keep an eye on the stump for suckers growing out of it. If you let them grow unchecked you'll simply end up with a Willow bush rather than Willow tree!

Thanks Peter. Wont they leave bare patches though, it took some mowing last year and lots of feed to get it looking like a lawn after we moved in.

philipy wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 11:01 am Willows are extremely robust, so I think you might need to keep an eye on the stump for suckers growing out of it. If you let them grow unchecked you'll simply end up with a Willow bush rather than Willow tree!

Thanks Phillip for your info. A Willow bush Phillip, can't say I have ever seen one. Would be easier to look after would it. Only reason I am asking is, the back does look rather open now and has the back fences don't belong to the landlord, I can't see them getting replaced anytime soon.

I was trying to illustrate what I meant when I said "bush", the technical term is "Pollard".
This shows what can happen:

A beautiful looking tree there but potentially back to square one in Rod's case. That probably represents just a couple of years growth too!

Depending on your point of view pollarding can be quite appealing where there is plenty of space but in a small garden a bit of a nightmare. I had a very similar situation to Rod about 15 years ago in my garden where the willow was reduced to around 10' tall, the resulting growth the following year was so dense it severly reduced the amount of light getting into the garden. I ended up having to pollard it every year, not my idea of fun so after a few years of doing that I eventually had the tree professionally removed which is what I should have done in the first place.

I would have had it completely down also Phil, but the landlord wanted to leave some of it.

May get that guy to come and see if he wants some more big trunks for his sculpting...

Well it's been one of those months, not been in the best of health, but got through it. So today Anne and I went into the garden and did a bit of clearing of a bush so we (Anne) could see the little stone wall that was hidden by it. After clearing the debris away it has left a nice bit of space for the extension Anne said we could have....

After some discussion, Anne wanted the line to go to the little patio and stop, so the station could be sited there. I said " I we did it that way, it would mean the loco or anything pulling stock would end up running backwards, has well as forward on one line!" So I have come up with an alternative, though it takes up more room. Something Anne really doesn't want. I think it would be the only way to get any train to run has if it's pulling and not pushing.

I know it did happen, but I don't seem to recall any videos or film of them pushing. Can you tell me if it did, also was it a common practice.

The station could be sited at the top of the line, if it meant keeping the line as low as possible, so Anne had easy access to her Fairy Garden on the right...


It's only a proposal at the moment. I also don't want to be taking too much off the garden. The thinking being, because it's not our own garden, we could't go putting loads of stuff into it, like soil or anything that would drastically change the appearance of the garden. If we had to leave again, we would have to put it back has it was. Can you imagine the work it would take....Plus all the hard work of getting to look something like we would really want it to......

Do you mean something like this, Rod?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotrain

Rik

It wasn't Rik, but you have given me an inspired idea for my next loco build.

I meant some locos went backwards, but they were nearly always at the front of the train pulling. I don't think they ever pushed from the back did they?

Rod,
I think you mean push-pull? Auto-train in GWR speak.
You'll need a driving trailer.
Ffestiniog ran them for a while, using a diesel loco.

Oops! Belatedly looked at Rik's link.
Anyway, found an FR pic:-
[attachment=0]FR95-103.jpg[/attachment]

Thanks Rob for the photo. It's a great looking train.

But this is what I am meaning mate.




It does happen on lines. That is something I really don't want happening on FWLR, so that's why I am proposing the line to run like the photo I have put up. Do members think it's ok, to run the train backwards for a short distance out of the proposed station and then run it forward has should be.

Thinking about it now though. If I was to run it clockwise into the station, that's all I could run, clockwise. May have to look into it more, unless you all have some better ideas to do it.

Can't you put a run round loop in?

Kurseong (DHR), Killarney, Guisborough all have/had stations that were drive in and reverse/propel out (or vice versa.) Killarney used to be the most exciting of these as IE would cross the up and down Tralee there, so you had a class 141 and a rake of Cravens reversing into the bay platform, then an 071 or (new)201 arrive with a rake of mk.3s from Dublin. The signaller would exchange the single line tokens which were picked up on the fly as the trains departed for Mallow or revered into the headshunt to proceed to Tralee.

Peter in Va

For a couple of years after completion, WHR trains used to be dragged out of Porthmadog Harbour station by the pilot locomotive. The train engine would then couple up and take the train in the opposite direction toward Caernarfon.

There’s always a prototype

tom_tom_go wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 8:24 am Can't you put a run round loop in?

Hi Tom, if you look at the photo I have put up, you will see a long blue coming out from the track at the bottom of the photo to run around. There is also a small line going to the lawn, which is planned for the station. All I want to know is, does it matter if I was to reverse out of this and then carry on with running round the line.