roddy Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Did you just say...Pictures?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 I think I've got the reduction thing sorted, so let's see. This is before I began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 It looks like a railway. The tunnel into the out building looks nice and cleanly done as well. The boards between your posts are they re-enforced somehow? You might want to put something under there or you may get some sag on the boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Griff, the boards look like decking so shouldn't sag at all. If they do I would be worried, as they haven't got much weight to take. Its looking good so far, now we want track layed and even its its just end to end at present a train run. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 ahhh... inch thick is good. I have one of those and it's rock solid on my railway. I just couldn't see the scale of things in the pictures. Are you planning on some kind of sealant, or do they come pre sealed? Or do you plan to do roofing felt over top of it? I gotta say, I just love seeing people's builds as they develop. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Very exciting stuff. You definitely have an audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 22, 2013 Author Share Posted June 22, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Enjoying following your progress Roddy, keep up the good work, you'll be playing trains before you know it! Ian R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykarost Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Showing some great potential there Roddy & you certainly are putting some thought into it's development....... Another one for us to watch with interest & I can almost visualise trains sweeping round those curves (but hopefully not plummeting to earth). Wish you well with the surgery & rest assured, your 'project' will be a great 'motivator' in your recovery. Your not the only one with 'dodgy plumbing' on here but I think Griff is the one suffering the most ..... His is stopping progress completely & He ain't even had surgery!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykarost Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Ha Ha, sorry if I mislead you Roddy but Griff' 'Plumbing' really IS Plumbing of the underground pipe sort. I assumed you had seen his thread & was aware of his difficulties, obviously not. It was just my weird sense of humour I'm afraid !! Sounds a bit unpleasant to say the least but keep trying to joke about it because 'laughter really is the best medicine'!! My 'Oakdale Valley' is only 3' above ground at it's highest point but I did that on the edges with treated battens. I also incorporated 'fencing' by using that black plastic mesh used for protecting gutters from leaf blockage & available from £1 shops. It's easily cut with scissors for whatever depth/length you want. I built mine throughout last winter (which we are still in I think!) & probably did it a bit to quickly , I did however make sure the woodwork was well protected (as your doing) & the minor issues I have can be rectified through the summer (hopefully). You just have to work at whatever pace suits so it remains a hobby to be enjoyed rather than a job of work and it beats watching telly ..... Take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Sorry to hear about the "plumbing" issues. It does not sounds fun at all. Fencing of any kind is a good idea. There is no need to see prized if not valuable stock, falling to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyR Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Enjoying the progress Roddy, it's always good to see a new railway taking shape. Things seem to be a bit quiet so far this summer, but the weather has been up to it's usual tricks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Depending on her taste in things... - Place just one ceramic collectors building on the layout. - place some OO figures on the layout. - or... If you don't have a windmill, get one. - or, place some ceramic wild life on said layout. - or else add a planter near the layout with some low creeping plants. Once the garden potential is realized, you may have someone interested in the other aspects of the layout. You may be the luckiest man alive now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 On the bridge front... You art digging down so people walk under it? You're making a really tall pedestrian overpass? The bridge swings like door? Waiting to find out is killing me! As to layout funds. My sister started selling things on ebay after I had harassed her about doing it for a bit. Two weeks ago she called and told me she had bought some stuff at a second hand store for nothing and that she had an ebay store. A week ago she told me she had made 700.00$ in a week. Now, she is telling me how it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 traingeekboy said: On the bridge front... You art digging down so people walk under it? You're making a really tall pedestrian overpass? The bridge swings like door? Waiting to find out is killing me! As to layout funds. My sister started selling things on ebay after I had harassed her about doing it for a bit. Two weeks ago she called and told me she had bought some stuff at a second hand store for nothing and that she had an ebay store. A week ago she told me she had made 700.00$ in a week. Now, she is telling me how it's done. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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