Garden and railway complete re-hash

On the right hand side of the garden the old fence is demolished and is being replaced, it will be topped off with flowerboxing. The railway on this side of the garden will probably be laid on torched on mineral felted external grade plywood tied to the fence.... however that plan may change yet ???   

Due to work ,all I got done today was a wee bitty progress on the fence.... 

Davy,

 

Amazing amount of work there, but it sure is going to look nice. Thanks for the update.

It's shaping up.

Hi Joe,aye its a big job for sure but I have the bit between my teeth. We've had the summer from hell here in Scotland this year,much of it cold ,windy and rainy, but hey ho ,sun'll shine again. I'll just get done what I can when I can before the winter frosts close things down till spring comes round again. Ye can never tell here with the weather though ,November could be better than July !!  . I have two grandsons ,one 4 and one 2,so I want to get the trains up and running ASAP so we can enjoy some shared quality time wi them. I've got three grandaughters too but they're more girly girls than tom-boys so I don't see them gettin all that excited about trains...but ye never know ! stranger things have happened !  thanks for the thumbs up Spence...  cheers  Davy 

Hey Davy,

 

Great to hear your back at the yard layout! And when you do scenery,it's the real thing no foam board and rock castings.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi George,aye the scenery is all too real.... and my back and old bones know it ..

 

Wee bit more wall building progress this morning.....now I need to go to work !!

Hi Guys these next 2 pictures show the direction I'm goin in. Some of the old track formation coming off the loco stabling area still bears to the right ,this will be re-hashed as the doubletrack mainline's new route will be tighter to the loco yard and a much longer straight run too.The new pond will extend a good bit more towards the house too.  

And a bit further with the wall construction....

That is really looking great......always wanted to create a garden layout like yours......like the idea of train running by the dining room and kitchen. Should look outstanding at night!

 

-Pete

Hi Pete, am gettin there,but I have a huge job in front of me, still the good weather the last couple of days has let me push on a bit with the wall building. In the next two photos you can see todays progress.Up in the right hand corner where you can see the track pieces is the location of my turntable (still in situ and to be reconnected once the new mainline is laid. The main line will go straight to where the build has extended to date ,next job is to demolish the old formation and swing as gentle a curve as possible into a straight section along the front of the house window. Once I get the walling and track base finished to there I can start to lay track again and re-hash the sidings into the loco stabling area. The former patio in the forefront of the picture will be part of the floor of the new pond. Anyway,won't try to confuse you,I'll just keep posting progress pics as pics speak a thousand words eh ??   I think the forecast is for rain tomorrow ...ah well such is Scottish weather !!    Cheers  Davy 

Hi Guys.. todays project .......demolishing the old track bed formation and breaking thru and shaping the line of the curve into the straight section along the front of the house.  

Davy

Fantastic work, makes me tired reading about what you're doing. Having to carry everything through the house.

What could you do with one of our US sized gardens?

Hope the weather holds for you to get to the track.

Scotie

Hi Scotie, believe me I;m tired tonight that old trackbed formation is as hard as hell, could be doin with hiring a jack-hammer .however got on not bad with the big hammer and steel pinch. I'm almost thru though ,had to finish at 3pm due to torrential rain ,but got few hours at it while the sun shone. As soon as I get pushed thru I'll get the new wall foundation in and  the stonework rattled up. Old bones achin tonight though ... Never mind tomorrow's another day. this attached pic was taken just as the weather started to break this afternoon. Not the greatest photo but you can see what I'm workin towards.... Davy 

One of my daughters took this pic of me today batterin away at the old stonework ,all the old stonework in the foreground has all to be demolished and moved this was the route of the old intended layout .However the priority for now is breaking thru it where I'm working in the picture to get the new formation built. 

Excellent and sure beats my G scale layout

Work is coming along nicely. What kind of track is that? How has it held up?

Davy,
Once again I'm getting inspired and I don't have any rock to smash !
Davy will this new layout be 2 rail O scale or like your old G scale layout?

Matt and George, the track is PECO bullhead rail ,O gauge 2 rail. Nickel Silver rails and UV resistant plastic sleepers or "ties" as you guys in America call them.The track thats been down for a couple of years is as good as the day it was laid. The bulk of my G scale layout was also Peco G scale nickel silver track ,great stuff and far better than any other make I experimented with by far .   

 

Thanks. I'm hedging my bets on home layouts and looking for various alternative track brands should I have to build outdoors.

Only copped a couple of hours at the job today but managed to finallt break thru the cement and stonework of the old route to let me get a start made to the new curve...  

Hi Guys well had to down-tools for a week or so due to making a living and bad weather,however back into things today. Got the sandstone wall pushed on a bit and some track timbers laid..... 

I've enjoyed your progress reports and excellent photos.

 

Never thought of sledge hammers, wheel barrows, etc. as model railroad tools.

 

Thanks, again, for sharing.

I love seeing those step-by-step progress reports and photos, Davy!

 

You ought to consider doing a series of articles for the magazine over time. I would certainly be interested in publishing them as a continuing feature in small, manageable doses.

What a labor intensified job, but it is looking great.

Thanks for the interest guys, as for doin articles for the magazine Allan, feel free to use anything you want from what I'm posting if that suits you. I;m sure you'd make a better job of putting things into words/editing etc., than me. I have a general plan for the garden and layout in my head but nothing's definite other than the rail route must go to as near the extremities of the garden as possible. Believe me I'm as curious as anybody else to see how it pans out as I have only a loose general plan in my head. Great fun !! 

 

 

Great work Davy,

 

What are you using for track boards and how do they hold up with your weather. Do you have much problem  with the cold weather and the boards warping?

Keep the posts coming.

Mike

Hi Mike, the wood I'm using is pressure treated "tile batten"as we say in Scotland. Kinda wood strips used here for fixing tiles on roofs. They're about 1.25"X0.5"profile..... As for warping ......doesn't happen. The timbers are laid in wet cement .To stop springing or warping....before laying the strips I hammer nails half way in on the underside of them  leaving the nail heads exposed. A few nails protruding at various angles ensures that when the cement sets round them it takes a grip of the nails...result.. the wood is going nowhere. As for cold and frost ground-heave,again,doesn't happen because with the rubble underbase everything is well drained....nowhere for water to collect so no frost heave. Only 6.45 AM as I write this so too early to go hammering in the garden just yet....don't think my neighbours would appreciate it...lol. but I'll be laying timbers again today so I'll post method-photos  later on for you.

  

Hi Mike, heres a couple of pics of a typical length of track-bed timber. Like I said these nails hammered in at angles ensure a good grip in the cement bed. 

OK Guys, heres a section I've just done. The top stones in in the walling were all incorporated in the same batch of cement as the track base.So makes for a very strong over-all finish. OK first the timber was cut to the desired length then nails hammered in. Then the wooden strips are bedded in the cement nailed face down and then levelled.Then more cement spread and tamped in to shape,finally a few handfulls of fine crushed grey rock/rockdust is spread on top and tamped into the cement to shape. This gives a nice ballasted look to the track and also being tamped into the wet cement it stays put. (Incidentally the sand I'm using for the cement is is rough/coarse grade sand ,not fine building sand used for brickwork.When I finally lay the track more of this fine crushed rock will be spread and brushed in between the sleepers (ties in US-speak). See stage by stage pics attached.  

Same idea on the curves but this time the wooden strips are laid across the way. No tight curves necessary like using set-track. Flexi all the way. 

End of todays shift ....

Some aerial views , turntable and loco servicing area. The trackwork in this area will be re-laid to suit the new mainline route.Last picture shows the curve into what will be a station area.  

Davy,

 

Thanks for the explanation and pictures of how the tack is laid. I will keep this in mind, my wife wants me to do a garden layout.

Hi Mike, hope its helpfull .....  look forward to seeing your garden project too...

That's a fabulous project in a beautiful setting. But I wonder about the challenges of keeping it all operating reliably when it sits out there in the weather long term. 

Davy, as usual outstanding and very interesting to watch unfold. Will you use straight dc power or DCC.?

Hi Guys,  Ace....thanks for the thumbs up.... don't enviseage any major problems,had a G scale layout for years so the only difference is that its an O gauge layout this time as opposed to 45mm. George ...as for power ...I have too many locos that would need chipped for DCC so I think it'll be straight DC. I'll probably use a radio control system to track though along the lines of the old Aristocraft G scale system. I think the German company Massoth make a similar unit.

Hi Guys, well got a bit done this mornin then another bit this evening. Nearly have the track-bed timbers into what will be the station area in front of the kitchen/diner window..... lookin forward to the view of the trains coming and goin at the window , will make the effort all worth while ! 

1st pic is a view from the kitchen window..... I've almost got the curve finished into the station area... however ,right now I need to go and work... so tools downed for now !! ...Loco is a French diesel by Lima  

Finally round the curve and ready for the next part which will be the station area.However at this point I need to turn my attention to the rest of the garden re-build for a few days. Whole lot of demolition and moving stuff about required

Looking good, but don't hurt yourself again.  Lot's of work there.  Bending all the time is very hard on our bodies if we aren't careful.

 

havr lots of fun!

Hi George, too late....I'm still fallin to bits...lol..... its an effort to get the old creakin body parts to move of a mornin these days ,they ain't kiddin when they say age doesn't come itself .... but hey ho.... upwards and onwards.... no pain no gain....

 

Hi again George what was that you were sayin about not hurtin myself again??..... ...here's todays right hand.... cut on the middle finger and a later wound where I stabbed myself with a bit of broken timber between my thumb and first finger.... lol....

Hi Guys, well after a couple of (painfull..ouch) boring days burning rubbish, demolishing and muck shiftin I'm back on the rail route today .As you can see I'm round the curve and onto the straight in front of the kitchen window. Hoping to squeeze a station in there but because the retaining wall narrows on that section it might be toght to get much in the way of platforms and sidings in so it may well yet just be a central simple platform between the two mianline tracks,we'll see. 

This next picture hopefully kinda will give you a picture of where I'm goin with the part of the garden  forward of the kitchen window. The grassed area still in place will be lifted and that area filled with rubble then a new patio built .A new lawn the base of which you can see under construction just forward of that remaining still to be demolished bit of old wall will be forward of the patio,then where the parts of the swing seat etc., are sittin right now is where the new pond will be. Solookin out the window it will be ,trains, sun patio,lawn and a sloping pebble "beach" down into the pond with a decent sized waterfall smack centre., however a lot of work before I'm anywhere near that stage. Anyway after a crappy summer we've finally had some really nice weather the last wee while so I better get back out and get on with it !!

Hi Guys,not much to report on the railway side of things but a whole load of other work has been in progress. Since I last posted I have moved my next door neighbours old front lawn turfs and soil into my back garden and have also lifted most of the small lawn I had . This material will be getting used as bottoming for the new lawns I intend to lay. All stockpiled  for now. Been filling in the old lawn area with demolition rubble from other parts of the garden and am now starting to cover this with "type1 hardcore" as we call it here. (Type of crushed rock). Once I get that complete I'll be laying a new patio. As you can see I have started to build a curve with sandstone,this isn't for trains this will be a stone built bed for plants and shrubs  running up the garden to split it into two pretty much seperate areas. The trains will go straight across to the right . Kinda hard to explain but all shall be revealed as work progresses.Anyway,thats where I'm at for now.Luckily the weather is being quite kind so things are advancing slow but steady.

Davy, incredible stone mason and yard work. I am getting sore just looking at the pictures!

Hi George, believe me am gettin sore doin it ...lol  .... 5.24 pm and have downed tools for the day,had a shower and already in my snooze pit. Dying to get trains running but I think it will will be into next spring before I get to that stage .Trying to get as much done with the landscaping  before the frosts arrive  

 

Ran out of sand and cement today ,more coming tomorrow. Made a bit of progress on the straight station section. Re-cycling demolition brick etc. Old lawn now completely removed too. 

Oh well.., decided to have a go at demolishing the old formation before I had my dinner.... got horsed into it with the big hammer and the pinch,once I got a start made it broke up quite nicely ,managed to salvage a lot of the sandstone too. So thats all for today....

Just had to post these two next pictures my wife took..... sun was blindin hence the screwed up face , but they came out like I'm a maniac with murder on ma mind.... had a good laugh at them....

A bit track bed progress..... dining room with a train-nuts view in the making ....

Hi Guys a bit more progress, in these pics., the long straight secion along the house is almost up to height to take the track-bed. The other sandstone work will come up to the same height and will be a flower/shrub bed and will be the front part of the shrub bed which will divid the garden in two from front to rear. Kinda hard to explain but ,you'll get the picture as the work progresses....

Hi Guys, been busy with other things the last coupleof days but got a bit more track-bed done.Had to form a slew to get the track alignment central on the next section, this will let me get two passing loops along the next section on the straight. 

Another wee bit progress.... rain stopped play though !!,gettin to that time of the year. Just hopin the frost stays away for a few weeks yet !..

A bit more progress. Some wet weather and earning a living have got in the way of progress a bit the lastf ew days however still advancing. Where the new concrete block ends will be the new access to the whole garden so a lifting section of track will be require to bridge the gap as and when. As you can see the track base timbers are widened to take a double track main with passing loops .

Great weather today ,got on quite well. Got all the timbers in for the passing loop section. Thats the track-bed build up to where the new access to the garden will be.

Hey Davy,

Do you have a basic track plan in mind? Looks good! I need a cold drink just looking at your heavy duty landscaping and lifting!

Hi George, no track plan per se other than the intention to lay a double track main all the way round.I had intended to put a station where the passing loops are but space dictated otherwise. However theres another couple of potential locations for stations. I got on well today with some stonebuilding work but never got photos. I'll post some tomorrow. We're now having  superb weather here and its to last a while so I'll keep pushing on as much as possible before it breaks. 

 

Hi Guys, working on the planter/garden divide today and yesterday. Not quite finished. The big boulders in the middle are resting on old blocks and rubble. Doesn't look all that impressive at the moment but once its filled with soil planted out and dressed it should look the part. I intend to plant thyme and the like adjacent to the rail tracks but on the other sides trailing plants. End of this season so it will be next year before the finished effect is seen.

Hi GUys well,amazing beautifull weather here,can't believe its October.Anyway,put in a great shift today about 10AM till now 7.45PM. Got a huge chucnk of patio laid and the planter-cum-garden divider section filled with soil and topped off with ornamental fine gravel. It can sit like this till next planting season apart from some Narcissus and crocus bulbs I'll probably put in next week. We'll see. Anyway,I'm goosed,so I'll let the pictures do the talkin. These are my old reclaimed paving slabs Ive used,incidentally laid in a bed of about 2" to 3"wet cement.  I'll hit them with some chemical cleaner and the powerwasher and they should come up fine. Still a bit to go with the patio but at least thats a decent start.

wee bit more slabbing progress this morning... however now I need to go and make a living for the rest iof the afternoon ....

Hi Guys, well sods law, just as I get round to laying some track we get the first rain for weeks ! Never mind its a start...

Just waiting for the rain to stop !!.... got a bit more track laid yesterday . I love the realistic look that can be achieved using flexi track. Oh well, hope the rain abates sooner than later

 

Davy, opposite here in New England USA no rain to speak of.

Hi George, its been excellent here most of September ,tomorrow is supposed to be a lot better. Just workin between showers right now. Track laying is advancing slow but sure !

OK , heres the first loco test. No great Hollywood production ... but at least the track wiring is working.

Rain again today but got some ornamental chips laid round whats laid of the patio so far, ..... raining heavy now .so thats all for now folks 

Davy,
Do you attach the track to those boards and or does it float on top of the Stonework ? Do you use ballast?

Hi George,yip,track is pinned to the timbers and levelled as much as possible .loose ballast is then spread over the lot and brushed into place. In some places where the timbers have settled uneven in the cement you can get dips and tilts. the fixing pins in such cases don't need to be hammered all the way home ,just enough to hold the track in position and any dips or unevenness under the track can be  packed to level with the ballast ,pretty much as per the real thing. supposed to be dry tomorrow. I'll post pics of exactly how I go about laying the track for you.

  

 

Hi Guys, George, laying track pictures.... pretty self explanatory....

Dave, this whole thread has been a joy to follow, I tip my hat to you mate, not only the hard work you've been doing but your skill and planning is brilliant. 

 

I will join you with a single on your completion  by the rate you are going in the not to distant future.

 

cheers and thanks for sharing.

Cheers Airedale, just keepin my fingers crossed that rain and hard frost stay away for a few weeks yet. I'm making progress but still a helluva work to be done yet,..... however every bit I get done now is a bit less come the spring,hoping to at least have the bulk of the landscaping's back broken by then....if it doesn't break mine first .... ha ha. The moral support is appreciated 

 

Davy, Great work on a one of a kind layout. I like your method of planning in your head and building as you go. I was born and raised here in the U.S. but my family originated in Orkney. My clan name is Sinclair. I must ask what part of Scotland are you from?

Thomas

hi thomas, thanks for the thumbs up. I live in the central belt just oustside Glasgow, however my ancestry is from all corners of Scotland ,Highland and Lowland alike..... a son of many clans . 

 

Hi Guys, had few days off due to being away making a living, working on the curve at the right hand corner of the garden today . Weather still holding up quite good but noticeably chillier.

Hi Guys, well ,almost finished the right hand curve build. This will be the tightest curve on the whole layout . There will be a lifting section across the gap in the second photo ,thats the main entrance to the garden. A lifting bridge would be nice but don't know if my engineering skills are precise enough....we'll see !. 

Davy,

 

You make me tired just looking at these pictures. Awesome job.

Hi Joe, make myself tired doin it ...lol . weathers to be good tomorrow but I'm takin a day off to take my eldest grand daughter and her pal down to the Scottish borders. Takin them to see the A4 4-6-2 pacific steam locomotive "Union of South Africa" on the newly re-instated border railway. The line used to run from Edinburgh to Carlisle in Northern England but was closed and demolished in 1969. 30 odd miles of it have been newly re-instated and its hoped that it will be extended back to Carlisle in future. Steam specials have a been a feature since it re-opened in September. Two locomotives ,the newly built pacific"Tornado"and the A4 60009 "Union of South Africa"have been hauling the trains. I remember 60009 from my childhood when it was in regular service on trains between Glasgow and Aberdeen. So it will be nostalgic to see her in action again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNNv_5-Tmz8

 

 

Joe

That makes two of us.

 

I just thought building a layout inside was tough

 

Larry

Hi Guys, well had a day away from the garden , took my eldest grandaughter and her pal to the newly re-opened borders railway between Edinburgh and Tweedbank.We missed seeing the train on the outward steam hauled run from Edinburgh but caught her with the diesel hauling on the return trip. There are no turntables or Y tracks on the line so its steam out and diesel back. Video attached of the train passing thru Galashiels ,diesel class 67 at the head and 60009 steamer on the tail.

Hi Guys, well not much in the way of rail progress to show right now as I'm back demolishing and rebuilding. Just demolished the bulk of the old central trackbed formation and have pushed on with the back retaining along the fence on the right hand side of the garden. Was originally goin to do this part with a timber base attached to the fence but decided to keep the stonework theme all the way. Rough lookin block work I know but its all built using reclaimed block .Still does the job and will not be seen once the jobs finished. Weather still holding thought the forecast for tomorrow isn't lookin good . Ah well, upwards and onwards as and when

Hi Guys, well got a wee bit more done this afternoon, started building the central garden diveder on the other side of the path and also got a few more slabs laid.Took these pics in the fading light.

Hi Guys, just pushed on with some slabbing today. That 18" path will have lawn to the left and the garden planter divider bed to the right. The old track formation finally completely demolished and removed from that area..at last ..thank goodness !!

Hi Guys,well,all progress has been halted for now mainly due to bad weather. I reckon it will be into the spring now before much more gets done .,anyway ...to be continued. 

 

Davy always interesting to read your backyard layout construction updates. Opposite over here, we're having unusually warm weather here in New Hampshire it was 70 degrees yesterday and we're having a very warm Fall season.

Hi George,also not cold here but very wet and to be so till the middle of November then its to get colder and drier. I can live with light frosts but if we get heavy frost then theres no construction possible. Fingers crossed !!

 

Hi Guys, still raining...... when it rains in Scotland   IT RAINS!!.....   so....now you know why theres no progress with the layout..... view from the front of house window

Well at least the pond is getting filled.

Hi Davy,

I like the fact you have more hardscape then grass, I spend many hours cutting my lawn and now picking up leaves with my tractor.  Looks like a good Drenching Rain!

 

Hi Joe, aye,being filled to say the least. !!  Aye George no grass at the front at all, though I do intend to have two small lawns at the back . Hardscape is much less work though thats for sure.