roddy

That's all of the felting done barring the missing few feet that will probably be done in about a fortnights time. What an awful job. I don't think that I would do it again this way. I think that a good base could be made to last by the use of tanalised timber (pressure treated) plus a good coat of fence stain to improve the colour. That has a 20 year life which I'm sure is a lot more than the felted boards. Never mind, it's done now and looking OK with neat joins and no bitumen spillage.

We have been back to Summer weather for the last week. Rain, showers and the odd thunderstorm. Between the showers I have cleared out the brick shed where my sidings will be, and after removing the brick from the inner skin, laid the base for those sidings. I have also glued down four metres of felt to the outside boards leaving me another four metres to fix. So it's progressing slowly. I have just read though Georges Cherry Parkway thread and noticed that he may be planning a Forth Bridge. I must have missed that first time round, but feel that I must rethink my own thoughts on using that as a template to be fair to George. There are lots of other nice bridges around for inspiration. Of the two bridges/removable sections that I must have, one will be a simple affair such as a standard girder bridge, but the other one I would like to be a bit special. Sweet Peas are dying off already which is a shame, but when they are gone, I can fix the last board into position, and the last curve which I have roughly cut out already. I need to visit a shop somewhere to buy two sets of points and a crossover so that I can check the geometry on that final curve. For some reason, my head is not getting to grips with the Peco points/crossover thing, but that seems to be the norm for me this year, so a trip to find a Peco stockist is a necessity. Now that Modelzone is no more, the nearest is about 20 miles away. I need to start thinking along the lines of electrickery soon. I shall be sticking with DC. I'm not going to muck around with buss wires, but will bond each track joint. Most of the bonds can be made indoors in pairs of track. Two bonds between two 36" lengths, with two bonds on one end ready for the bare end of the next pair means minimal outside soldering. I shall have a double track, each one being controlled with it's own controller. The double track will disappear into the shed and become one track to the sidings. I shall need to have an isolating break so that the sidings can be operated by one or the other controller. Should all be simple enough, but I have no experience of this, and my knowledge is extremely minimal. I shall be operating at a distance of 10 or 12 ft from all the points, so point motors are a must, together with a wandering lead to the operating console. Lot's of Winter reading to be doing. On another note, I have an appointment with the Surgeon in about three weeks time. I hope to get an idea of when to expect my next stay in hospital. All plans can be made around that date and the recovery period. No doubt it will be 14 days of boredom and hospital food, and it will be several months before I can tackle anything heavy again. Soldering joints and modelling bridges or refurbishing wagons whilst sat at a table hardly qualifies as heavy work does it?

Apparently it was a lineside camera. Horrible indeed.

Trackbed laying continues slowly. I found that B&Q have a sale on some decking boards. It looks like rejects, but at a saving of £2 per board they will do. Duly upended their stack to find the straight ones with no twists and now have a total run of about 60ft with another 15 to go when the Sweet Peas have died off. The shelf around the garden is starting to look more purposeful than just a shelf. I still have about 25 ft to fix the felt to, to complete what's there so far. To be honest, I've run out of steam a bit. Nice as this hot weather has been, I find it drains what little energy I have at the moment, and I have also been continuing with the garden work that has needed doing, but the planting of a couple of dozen shrubs in the front garden pretty has well taken care of that. All down to maintenance and mowing now. I bought enough boards to finish the job including the sidings that I will be putting in the brick shed so I really have no excuses not to get cracking. I shall certainly be well on target to lay track as early as possible next year and be running trains after that. I'm already seeing foliage problems. Where the lines run through and below climbing roses and honeysuckle, there is an almost constant drop of dead flowers and petals. That stretch will need some watching. Incidentally, I have just run a board acrosss from one end to a nail in the middle of the sweet peas. A board from the other end to the nail proves that I am absolutely cock on the bubble with my levels. Not bad for an impatient old geezer with varifocal specs that can sometimes make sighting through something difficult.

That's some pond. 14 cubic metres or 14,000 litres. I'm glad you are not filling it from my water meter. I hope you kept some soil back for backfilling behind the blocks. Nobody appreciates the work involved do they, or how much soil will bulk up when dug from the ground.

The two extra boards are in and fixed. It's starting to look as though it has a purpose, rather than just being a shelf around the garden. Today I have stuck down two pieces of roofing felt. I tackled two awkward places that are curved for the bridge approach. What a palaver, especially as the second piece is behind the shrubbery. I made a bigger mess of myself than when I have done full roofs with a tar boiler. One more awkward one to get at and the rest should be plain sailing being the two straight runs down the side fences. I've been seeing a thread about stopping smoking. Now that's hard. Well it is for me anyway. I have been smoking rollies for 50 years at the rate of half an ounce a day. Thats close to £5 with the papers. All the usual stuff doesn't seem to help at all. I can cut it to half consumption if I really concentrate, but get no further. I curse myself for picking up the baccy tin as soon as I came home from hospital last Autumn. Five weeks in there unable to smoke, and I really didn't miss it. That just proves to me that it is just habit. A doc said to me some years ago that make your own smokers find it harder because of the ritual involved in making them, and pipe smokers are even worse. He could have a point. Fortunately, I'm not suffering too much from it, as I managed to run the Great North Run aged 60, 61, and 62 with no running history since leaving school. I suppose the only way will be to stock up on sweets and go cold turkey. Weight is not a problem as I'm still 3 stones lighter than before last years troubles, and I was 14 stone then at 6 ft tall.

Did a bit of gentle pruning today to make room for the next two boards. Hopefully these will go in tomorrow so that will take me right round to the greenhouse. It was suggested to me last night that it would be nice to join the ends together and have a roundy roundy. Of course I agreed because I was going there anyway. Interested to see tomorrow how the two ends line up for level. I have been pretty carefull with it, but strange things can happen between bubble and eyeball. While construction is still underway, I have taken the opportunity to change the name to the Ivy and Honeysuckle Railway, as there is a lot of that to pass as a passenger.

Now that IS a neat answer.

Oh yes, the girls are good at that. What always gets me is when "we" have done the decorating/gardening/planning, and she has been nowhere to be seen! Joe Soap has done all of the thinking/planning/digging/etc, but "we" have done it. It won't be long before the railway was her idea. In fact yesterday evening, she was enthusing about the Russian railways and the Metro trains and stations in Moscow. One of my regrets is that I didn't take the camera opportunities that I had, so perhaps she has thoughts on asking her Brother to find a Russian loco and carriages. I never actually saaw any in the shops over there, but who knows. I might as well tell you about the bridge. It will be known as the Third bridge, because I am going to construct a 54" span of 1/3 of the Forth Bridge. By it's very nature this will be a construction of some complexity, yet will need to be robust enough to be moved about. The track bed is of open construction, so there will be very little of any substance to support the rest. I shall be taking some liberties with the original design, but if I can achieve an impression of the fine latticework of the original in appearance, and have trains running across it, I shall be happy. I am from a Royal Navy family, and don't think I shall cause offence if I mention an unproven story from WW2. It is said that the Captain of a US navy ship sailed up the Firth of Forth on his way to Rosyth Dockyard. He was instructed that Rosyth was to starboard just after passing under the Forth Bridge. It is said that the ship ran aground many miles upriver because he had only passed under the first bridge and no others.

I was sitting quietly on the garden bench late yesterday afternoon enjoying a cup of tea and a cigarette when the Building Controll Officer came home. She sat beside me and looked at the garden. She then noticed that last week I had put in the approach curves to the bridge plus another board that she hadn't seen before. The conversation developed to my plans for the bridge and continuing to the greenhouse. She said that it will be nice to sit and watch the trains, and asked how much I needed to do before that happened. She hadn't even noticed the missing brick from the outhouse wall, but that too was accepted. She was very interested and indicated that the Borough Treasure would probably release the funds for continuation, and that if I'm a good boy, the bearded fat man in the red suit could be persuaded to bring me enough trackwork to be up and running. The only stipulation is that I can't call it the WWMR. Nobody has asked, but I have heard the comment "What a Waste of Money" so that's where WWMR came from and she says it's not a waste of money. Softly softly catchee monkey, and I have a convert to the idea. I'm sure that you realise that all the above is light hearted, but my wife controlls the household account, and if I just dip willy nilly into the funds, she can come unstuck with the budget. It is very nice though to know that she does like the idea. Car Insurance is due in a week or so and I have spent a good amount on garden shrubs over the last week. These things always take priority over the playthings. I have made a start on the trackbed for my bridge, and will photograph as I go. I'm sure that I can make it work now, so when I have a few progress pictures, I shall announce what I'm doing. There is not one here like it.

I have been using my trusty 3ft level. Checking at both ends of an 8ft board and in the middle. Also checked across the board in three or four places along the board. Perhaps a better levelling device would be a long water tube.

I'm not at all confused by this thread. I understand absolutely nothing, so confusion doesn't enter into it. I suppose that it would be possible to build a railway with multiple stations, and operate a complete timetable without pressing more than a start button. Nice for me to see that, but I admit to never understanding how it works. I shall have my work cut out just wiring my simple layout for normal DC running.

I don't know about Griff's plumbing, but if he hasn't had surgery, it's not the same problem. At the moment I have to wear a bag, and to put it simply need the bag taking away and my backside re-connecting. Not pleasant to suffer, and not pleasant to talk about so you just have to make silly jokes about it. I'm just about getting moving again since last October, but things are still slow and is why I'm in no rush. Re the plummeting to earth, nothing will be run at high speed anyway which should minimise the event, but I intend to pin a small timber to the board edges like a small retaining wall. Hopefully that will redirect anything trackwards instead of downwards.

Easier to make than describe, but here goes. As mentioned above, you need the pivot point above the rail height, plus any other fixtures that you may have. At the hinging end of the fixed track, and the lifting part, make two matching pieces of ply. Attach these to the two track parts with hinges so that they hang below the boards. Join the two ply pieces together with a trestle hinge. Repeat on the other side of the boards. To open the "Bridge", raise the flaps to an upright position, and open using the trestle hinges as the pivot. During opening, and when open they will not move from the boards. As also stated, a catch is needed at the other end. I may need to draw and scan this for better understanding.

I'm glad you are enjoying things so far. We have some heavy rain forecast over the next few days, so I shall have to let it all dry completely before waterproofing it. I'm sure that I shall be going down the bitumen and roofing felt route, but nothing is decided until it happens. Before I lay track, I want to construct the bridge. Being a bit of a glutton for punishment, this is going to take a lot of care and a considerable amount of time to achieve. I shan't say what I am trying to do, but will post progress as it happens. I'm confident that I can make it work, and it should make for an impressive span. When I am happy with the waterproofing and the bridge, I shall tracklay all of it together up to where I am now. That I think will not happen before Springtime. I'm in no rush, and will not be content with running a few yards of track, so shall wait until the full length is in. I can spend the Winter fitting the rest of the world sidings into the shed, and completing the tunnel portal plus a waterproof over door for the hole in the wall. No doubt sometime in the Autumn or Winter, I shall be spending a couple of weeks in hospital again for the surgeons knife and handiwork, but I doubt (and hope) that recovery won't take as long as the last lot. It will be nice to have the plumbing all going in the right directions again, but after what I went through, the discomforts are much better than the alternatives.

I have now got the board fixed to take the run into the corner behind the water feature, and the bridge approch curves are also in place and fixed. I have used 3/4" ply for the curves. This is the remaining piece salvaged from my old garage roof two years ago. An old neighbour remembers the garage being built some 60 years ago, and the ply itself was salvaged from the shipyards having served it's purpose. Scored into the surface, are lines that were used as an aid to frame construction during the building of a particular ship, the ply being discarded after serving it's purpose. The piece shows no signs of deterioration, and I have every reason to believe that it will continue to remain true. The bridge needs to fill a gap that is 52 inches wide, and paper is being used for sketching at an alarming rate.

The boards are an inch thick and are supported at the ends and in the middle. That's every 4ft. There is a good drop to the ground in event of derailment, so I shall screw a thinish hardwood timber along the outer edge as a mini wall. Behind the ivy is an old fence with oak uprights. It can be seen in photo 4. I can screw timber supports from those uprights if it looks like sagging. I am going to fix the supporting posts back to the fence anyway as a belt and braces approach to stop any possible movement. Theslight bend between boards 1 and 2 is deliberate, and not a case of dirty specs. The Building Control Officer raised no objections on her return this evening so that's enough of a go ahead for me to continue.

I think I've got the reduction thing sorted, so let's see. This is before I began.

Construction begins. It has been a glorious day today, so what better excuse to make a start. I intend to have a few storage sidings inside a brick outhouse, but enough of that for now. First job was to remove the outer brick from the double thickness wall. Easy enough to drill out the mortar and then assist the loosening with a hammer and cold chisel. Brick removed and a batten was fixed below the opening to support the board end. I wanted to fly the board through the wall, but the height isn't enough and I didn't want to remove another course. I shall cover the brick's hole with a double tunnel portal. First deckboard has been laid on top of two timber posts set into the ground. A little concrete around the post and soil back on top. Two more posts set in the ground, and a second deckboard affixed. Nice and level so far. Just realised that my pictures are too big, so they will follow shortly.

She's not really as bad as I make out, but it would be bad form not to complain.

After numerous cups of tea on the garden bench when I have supposed to have been weeding recently, I finally laid a string line along the fence between the honeysuckle and roses. On the other side of the garden, I placed a line of posts. The string and posts represented the approximate track height and position. These have remained without remark for a week or so. Last week I was asked to purchase a few decking boards for a little job in my stepdaughter's garden. I can't magine how I could have miscalculated and bought 6 boards instead of three ( nudge nudge wink wink) but today I collected the surplus and placed them on the posts and across the pergola at the bottom of the garden. When the Planning Officer arrived home, I suggested that the boards and string represented my railway. Not a word, other than " I thought you only wanted to go down one side and come back again". Think again Lady, these things have a habit of growing! It just so happens that I have enough of the right timber already cut to the correct length (offcuts you understand) to provide the support pieces for the first side of the garden. I suspect that when she disappears tomorrow morning, the ivy will be getting a haircut and construction begin. Time to warm up the camera, and start a new thread for the WWMR. As long as I have got something else done to show her for my day's efforts in the evening, I shall get away with it. No good getting old if you don't get crafty.

Brilliant video. That looks so real. I'm surprised that the chap on the platform didn't turn a hair when the train derailed though.

I don't think he has been doing much lately either. We had a club run out in the cars a fortnight ago. Had a lovely run around the Yorkshire Dales in the sunshine. I'm going over one day soon so we can run a train or two. I'll prompt him about the pictures.

It is about forever since I showed my face here I'm afraid. The improvement in the weather has seen me catching up in the garden, but my rate of progress has been painfully slow. I have not been feeling too good for the last couple of days, so have spent most of the time sitting on the bench in the garden. Tea in one hand, cigarette in the other trying to visualise where I can go with the railway. I even got my stock out the other night and sorted through it (there's not a lot) and split it into ready to run and needs some work boxes. Upshot of the surveying is that I can use a brick built outhouse for storage sidings. If I knock a brick or two out of the end wall, there will be 8ft inside usable space. A double line can run another 22 ft down the fence before a 80 degree bend. I shall need the next 3ft to be removable as it crosses an opening into a pergola area. This can be built as a nice bridge. Another 8ft or so before a 70 degree bend behind a water feature and follow more than 20 ft down the fence, through the stems of honeysuckle and climbing roses to the greenhouse. From the greenhouse I can cut back to the water butt where the lines emerge from the shed (another 20ft). All will be about waist height and will have to be done in three or four phases. I am pretty sure now that I can make the railway fit the garden rather than making the garden fit the railway. I will have to do some pruning now and then to keep any wayward growth from the track, but I think that the trains disappearing into and behind the shrubbery before reappearing can only add a bit of interest. I have said before that I like short trains, so at a maximum of 4ft length, nothing should look too silly on the curves. I'm needing about four more coaches to have two passenger trains. Got enough wagons (40) and five locos. So the stock is OK for starters. A bit of penny watching now, and get the boards and some track, and let's hope it turns into a long Summer so that I finally get started. Good luck to you all.

Agreed!