JimG
Western Thunderer
Great progress Jim, I remember the joy of getting a line of posts in the ground
I used the same Postcrete as you and when filling the posts themselves, just tipped the postcrete in and added the water in one go. Smacking merry hell out of them to get them out of the ground revealed a good solid plug of concrete all the way through so perhaps it may be easier than alternating during the filling up.
I have new fence panels waiting to go in before I can start on digging holes, hopefully the weather this weekend will soften the ground a touch
Steve,
I've been watching how the Postcrete works when filling the main hole. The third full hole with water seems to wet most of the mix poured in and it only seems to require a small amount of water added to get all the mix fully wetted. So I'll go the same way with filling the posts.
The weather over here doesn't look great this weekend and Saturday might be the only day I can get out in the garden. It's raining right now and is forecast to continue for the rest of the day, so no more post going in today.
I'm digging my holes with spades and that hasn't proved too difficult. The width of the larger spade blade is pretty well spot on for the suggested width for the post. And the depth is OK. When my house was built, I reckon my back garden was the site for the brick piles and cement mixing. When I get through the top layer of what the developers laughingly call top soil, I hit a layer of broken bricks, chips of cement, etc. Luckily, the recommended depth of hole is just about where that layer starts, so I've not had too much hard work digging the holes out. I did have some thoughts about hiring one of these mini caterpillar tracked diggers - I could get one locally for about £100 + VAT for the week. I suspect that would have meant a morning to dig the holes and the rest of the week playing with a new toy.
Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
Simon,
She's not too sure about what's going on.
And she's not too keen with cameras being pointed in her direction, hence her slightly hangdog look. Jim.
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
I did have some thoughts about hiring one of these mini caterpillar tracked diggers - I could get one locally for about £100 + VAT for the week. I suspect that would have meant a morning to dig the holes and the rest of the week playing with a new toy.
Jim.
You could have sent it up here for the rest of the week
JimG
Western Thunderer
You could have sent it up here for the rest of the week
It would probably have taken the week to drive it up to you.
Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
There was some good weather at the end of last week so I got the post holes at the lawn end dug, which took a bit of time since I hit some old ivy roots just where one of the holes had to be positioned. My spade wasn't sharp enough to cut through them so it was a case of clearing round them with a trowel and getting heavy secaturs in to cut them out. Then it has been poor weather around here up till today.
Here are the three post holes at the lawn end, with the post supporting the end of the rear beam in place with the Postcrete setting.
...and in quick succession the other two posts are placed and the Postcrete poured in.
The position for the final post at the door end was settled using a temporary beam parallel to the house wall and marked on the path and the concrete drain cover - you can just about see the chalk marks. The crazy paving was lifted at the position and the hole dug, then the post planted and the Postcrete poured. I forgot to take a picture of this.
...and the finished posts. I filled all the posts with Postcrete using Mick's method. I roughly half filled them with water by eyeballing the level down the tube, then the Postcrete was poured in until the level of the water and Postcrete reached about six inches from the top, then the wood plugs were put back in and the Postcrete added through the small aperture left until the concrete was level with the top.
I used nine bags of Postcrete for the job - so just over one bag per post. I bought ten - B&Q do a good deal if you buy five or more at a time - so I hope the bag that's left will keep until the next bit of post planting.
The next job will be to tidy up all the earthworks around the posts and build up some decorative drystone walling around them. I don't fancy trying to do this with the baseboard top and its supports in place.
Jim.
Here are the three post holes at the lawn end, with the post supporting the end of the rear beam in place with the Postcrete setting.
...and in quick succession the other two posts are placed and the Postcrete poured in.
The position for the final post at the door end was settled using a temporary beam parallel to the house wall and marked on the path and the concrete drain cover - you can just about see the chalk marks. The crazy paving was lifted at the position and the hole dug, then the post planted and the Postcrete poured. I forgot to take a picture of this.
...and the finished posts. I filled all the posts with Postcrete using Mick's method. I roughly half filled them with water by eyeballing the level down the tube, then the Postcrete was poured in until the level of the water and Postcrete reached about six inches from the top, then the wood plugs were put back in and the Postcrete added through the small aperture left until the concrete was level with the top.
I used nine bags of Postcrete for the job - so just over one bag per post. I bought ten - B&Q do a good deal if you buy five or more at a time - so I hope the bag that's left will keep until the next bit of post planting.
The next job will be to tidy up all the earthworks around the posts and build up some decorative drystone walling around them. I don't fancy trying to do this with the baseboard top and its supports in place.
Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
I started on the earthworks tart-up by building a small dry-stone wall around the door end of the terminus area.
This was done on Friday morning
On Friday afternoon, half a dozen paving slabs were bought to complete the linking path to the garden, and a start was made on laying them.
And now skip to today since Saturday is sailing day and I'm in no fit state to do anything when I get home. The linking path is on a slight gradient since the lawn is a few inches higher than the area around the house. So I used a length of straight wood as a guide to getting the slabs at the correct angle. The small pool on the right was empty two or three weeks ago. I've had to put a clamber rock in to help wildlife.
The path is virtually finished. I just have to insert a few small stones at the joint between the slabs and the crazy paving round the lawn but I will leave that till later. The pristine slabs should weather down to match the existing slabs - although I could get the airbrush and the IPA and wood stain out.
The "finished" station area with the rustic stonework edging taking over from the drystone walling - I ran out of the thin stone pieces to go any further with the drystone wall. This is as far as I'm taking the tidying up of the earthworks for now.
...and here's the reason - on the left - a rather large buddleia bush which is going to take a lot of messing around to get it out. I might have to give in gracefully and cut it off close to the ground and fill it with stump killer. I suspect that its roots will spread out over quite a large area.
However, the baseboard tops should be the next job and the buddleia can be put on the back burner for a while. Its blossom has just come out and it will keep the butterflies busy for the next few weeks.
Jim.
This was done on Friday morning
On Friday afternoon, half a dozen paving slabs were bought to complete the linking path to the garden, and a start was made on laying them.
And now skip to today since Saturday is sailing day and I'm in no fit state to do anything when I get home.
The linking path is on a slight gradient since the lawn is a few inches higher than the area around the house. So I used a length of straight wood as a guide to getting the slabs at the correct angle. The small pool on the right was empty two or three weeks ago. I've had to put a clamber rock in to help wildlife. The path is virtually finished. I just have to insert a few small stones at the joint between the slabs and the crazy paving round the lawn but I will leave that till later. The pristine slabs should weather down to match the existing slabs - although I could get the airbrush and the IPA and wood stain out.
The "finished" station area with the rustic stonework edging taking over from the drystone walling - I ran out of the thin stone pieces to go any further with the drystone wall. This is as far as I'm taking the tidying up of the earthworks for now.
...and here's the reason - on the left - a rather large buddleia bush which is going to take a lot of messing around to get it out. I might have to give in gracefully and cut it off close to the ground and fill it with stump killer. I suspect that its roots will spread out over quite a large area.
However, the baseboard tops should be the next job and the buddleia can be put on the back burner for a while. Its blossom has just come out and it will keep the butterflies busy for the next few weeks.
Jim.
Wagonman
Western Thunderer
With all those extra posts, what's not to like...
JimG
Western Thunderer
They don't hold quite the same attraction for a bitch.
No rain today, so on with a bit of the woodwork.
The first piece to fit was the central beam which was a full length 2.4m length spanning the three central posts, which was set level to the rear beam. The beam was screwed into the wooden plugs in the top of the posts.
Next was to sort out the door end of the framework with the angled joint cantilevered between two posts. Here's the first wood section being lined up and screwed to the posts, with the far end being supported by the small workmate using a clamp and venetian blind packing. The next beam was temporarily placed parallel to the house wall and the joint position marked on both pieces, then both parts were removed and the beams cut to the marks.
...and a jump ahead to the two parts in place - I forgot to take any pictures in between.
You can just see the longitudinal brace behind the joint to which both pieces are screwed. One of the left over pieces was just the right length to do a cross beam, so in it went.
Fast forward, and four cross beams are in place and that's as far as I got before the wood ran out. There should be another cross beam where the angled joint is, but placing the four shorter beams made better use of the wood remaining and that "missing" beam will be put in when I get further wood supplies. I'm placing the cross beams at approximately two foot pitch which I think might be satisfactory with the 15mm plywood to be used as a top.
I'll take a break for a day since I want to get the next batch of wood from B&Q on Wednesday when I get my 10% off for pensioners.
I've also got to do a bit of work on a track plan. I haven't finalised anything yet and I should have a more definite idea of what I'm doing before the baseboard is complete. I'm looking at basing the terminus on Brechin on the Caledonian which did have a junction right on the end of its station throat which would fit in with the two roads to the proposed oval providing an out and return road from the oval.Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
John,
It's quite a nice change from CAD, CAM and CNC.
Well I didn't get as well ahead as I had hoped. I popped round to the local B&Q to get more timber last Wednesday afternoon to find that they had run out and that deliveries would be this week. At first I opted to wait the week, then I considered that the wood might not come and decided to do the rounds of other B&Q stores around Bristol to see if I could get it elsewhere. It seemed as most of Thursday was taken up with navigating to Cribbs Causeway and Filton since the traffic in that area of North Bristol seemed to be at virtual grid lock with extensive road works and lane restrictions - and the stores didn't have the wood either.
So on Friday I ventured out to Longwell Green in South Bristol. I got there in a fraction of the time although it was further away and they had ample stocks of the size of wood. As an aside, it was interesting to compare the three B&Q centres I visited. I was surprised at the level of autonomy on show with completely different methods of arranging and displaying the products. All were the huge superstore size whose floor areas have to be measured in acres and the differences were quite marked. The Filton store felt well past its sell by date. I think it was one of the first superstore sized ones in the Bristol area. It had a fair range of timber but it was poorly labelled - my local mini-store B&Q had a better range and labelling. The Cribbs Causeway store had a surprisingly poor range of timber which maybe reflects its situation in the major Bristol out-of-town shopping centre for the weekend shopper. The Longwell Green store had an excellent "Builders' Yard" section which contained a full range of timber, well stocked and well labelled, and that's where I got my required bits.
I wasn't able to get re-started on the work over the weekend for various reasons - weather and other commitments - and I didn't get a chance to get started again until yesterday afternoon and I got the last bit of the framework done today.
...from the garden end...
...and from the back door end
Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed something in the picture above
Now you see it...
...now you don't.
Someone happened to knock on my door this morning asking if I wanted any tree pruning done and I pointed him at the buddleia for some extreme pruning. I had been working on Templot designing the station layout and it looked as though I would probably have to venture past the end of the station boards for half of a cross-over. If I had to build more of the track supports past the end of the station boards then the buddleia would have to go and that might have to be sooner than later. So the deed was done and the butterflies have lost out - although I have to admit that there have been few around the bushes since they came into flower - the odd cabbage white, but nothing else.
The next job will be to treat the timber and I fear that might be sometime next week if the weather forecasts are to be believed.
Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
Bad weather at the end of last week, and sailing both days of the weekend, didn't let much work get done. But I had started to plan out the layout in the garden more accurately in Templot and found that I didn't really have an accurate enough plot of the garden to be absolutely sure where things would fit. The garden is wedge shaped with a curve in part of the angled wall. I originally drew up a plan of the garden by measuring the perimeter walls and plotting it out in AutoCAD with some help from a picture from Google maps. This gave a fair representation of the garden but it had become obvious as I proceeded with the station support frame that the plot wasn't accurate enough.
So yesterday I set about setting up some trig points in the garden to allow me to plot things more accurately.
This was the key trig point - on the corner of the house. It was made from an offcut of the support timber with a small woodscrew inserted 25mm out from both wall faces.
The key trig point on the house is foreground left. Two trig points were mounted on the buttresses on the wall, the further one now being clear to be used on the chopping down of the buddleia. The fourth one in the middle left distance is situated on the corner of the garden wall which borders the car parking area at the rear of the garden. It's actually over eight metres from the key trig point - it looks closer since it should actually go behind the washing drying frame to look right. This was actually the site of a third buddleia as was - it was taken out to provide clearance for a path to the rear of the proposed oval on the lawn.
I took some measurements between the trig points and tried plotting them last night, but wasn't satisfied with the results. I had worked to the nearest centimetre and that wasn't accurate enough. I also hadn't paid attention to the fact that there was an offset in my measurements since the hole in the end of my 30 metre tape which hooked on the screws on the trig points was effectively adding a centimetre to my measurements as well.
So I opted to re-visit the measurements today and also to add more trig points to allow me to set the agle of the side wall more accurately.
The two foreground trig points are the key point on the corner of the house and the adjacent point on the wall buttress from yesterday's placings. I added another trig point by the door of the house (right middle) and on the wall buttress where the straight section of the wall ends (left middle) to give more definite relationships between the angle of the wall and the house wall. The point at the centre rear marks the end of the rear wall and the edge of the baseboard support and lets me set the front edge of the baseboard at the end of the layout.
Tomorrow I'll draft out a new plot of the garden and the layout based on the measurements I've re-taken today - this time to the nearest millimetre and allowing for the tape offset. Hopefully things will tie up a bit better this time.
Jim.
So yesterday I set about setting up some trig points in the garden to allow me to plot things more accurately.
This was the key trig point - on the corner of the house. It was made from an offcut of the support timber with a small woodscrew inserted 25mm out from both wall faces.
The key trig point on the house is foreground left. Two trig points were mounted on the buttresses on the wall, the further one now being clear to be used on the chopping down of the buddleia. The fourth one in the middle left distance is situated on the corner of the garden wall which borders the car parking area at the rear of the garden. It's actually over eight metres from the key trig point - it looks closer since it should actually go behind the washing drying frame to look right.
This was actually the site of a third buddleia as was - it was taken out to provide clearance for a path to the rear of the proposed oval on the lawn.I took some measurements between the trig points and tried plotting them last night, but wasn't satisfied with the results. I had worked to the nearest centimetre and that wasn't accurate enough. I also hadn't paid attention to the fact that there was an offset in my measurements since the hole in the end of my 30 metre tape which hooked on the screws on the trig points was effectively adding a centimetre to my measurements as well.
So I opted to re-visit the measurements today and also to add more trig points to allow me to set the agle of the side wall more accurately.
The two foreground trig points are the key point on the corner of the house and the adjacent point on the wall buttress from yesterday's placings. I added another trig point by the door of the house (right middle) and on the wall buttress where the straight section of the wall ends (left middle) to give more definite relationships between the angle of the wall and the house wall. The point at the centre rear marks the end of the rear wall and the edge of the baseboard support and lets me set the front edge of the baseboard at the end of the layout.
Tomorrow I'll draft out a new plot of the garden and the layout based on the measurements I've re-taken today - this time to the nearest millimetre and allowing for the tape offset. Hopefully things will tie up a bit better this time.
Jim.
JimG
Western Thunderer
I've now had a chance to draw out the garden and the proposed layout using the measurements taken today and I'm glad to say that I was only 2mm out on the check long diagonal across the lawn and that might have been down to the sag on the ten metres of tape.
I'm sorry the image is long and tall meaning that you have to scroll it to see everything.
The tracks are in mauve, the house and garden walls in red/brown and the station baseboards are black. The trig marks are also shown - the circles and crosses in red/brown as well. It won't all get built at once. The terminus will be first, then the outer track of the oval, then the inner track of the oval. It could take two or three years to get completed - or maybe even longer. The terminus will be laid to ScaleOne32 (Hallelujah!!!) but the pointwork on the ovals will be laid in some form of universal arrangement - probably a form of swing nose crossing so that G1 standard wheels on visiting stock can run on the ovals along with Scaleone32 (Hallelujah!!!). The spur to the left will be a loading/steaming bay for them.
The minimum radius is ten feet at the moment and the pointwork will be 1:7 or 1:8 crossings with 12ft or 15ft straight switches (Caledonian standards). The pointwork in the ovals needs a bit of tidying up. I slapped the two crossovers in to give an idea of what I'm going to do, but they need a bit of work on them to get rid of the slight reverse curve through them. The six foot way is set at 120mm at the moment and that might be widened when I've checked out clearances in Templot.
I bought some wood preserver today in the B&Q pensioner time to give the framework a coat before the baseboard tops go on - after which they will probably never get looked at again. But the rain has meant that there's no way I can paint the wood until it has dried out properly, and the upcoming weather for the next day or two doesn't look too good.
I also started a stinking cold last night, so I'm contemplating huddling up in my misery at the moment.
I've also got to start making some stock so that I've got something to test the track with.
Jim.
I'm sorry the image is long and tall meaning that you have to scroll it to see everything.
The tracks are in mauve, the house and garden walls in red/brown and the station baseboards are black. The trig marks are also shown - the circles and crosses in red/brown as well. It won't all get built at once. The terminus will be first, then the outer track of the oval, then the inner track of the oval. It could take two or three years to get completed - or maybe even longer.
The terminus will be laid to ScaleOne32 (Hallelujah!!!) but the pointwork on the ovals will be laid in some form of universal arrangement - probably a form of swing nose crossing so that G1 standard wheels on visiting stock can run on the ovals along with Scaleone32 (Hallelujah!!!). The spur to the left will be a loading/steaming bay for them.The minimum radius is ten feet at the moment and the pointwork will be 1:7 or 1:8 crossings with 12ft or 15ft straight switches (Caledonian standards). The pointwork in the ovals needs a bit of tidying up. I slapped the two crossovers in to give an idea of what I'm going to do, but they need a bit of work on them to get rid of the slight reverse curve through them. The six foot way is set at 120mm at the moment and that might be widened when I've checked out clearances in Templot.
I bought some wood preserver today in the B&Q pensioner time to give the framework a coat before the baseboard tops go on - after which they will probably never get looked at again.
But the rain has meant that there's no way I can paint the wood until it has dried out properly, and the upcoming weather for the next day or two doesn't look too good.I also started a stinking cold last night, so I'm contemplating huddling up in my misery at the moment.
I've also got to start making some stock so that I've got something to test the track with.
Jim.
Simon
Flying Squad
That is a most splendid looking track scheme, out and back and continuous running
I hope the line will be open to stock from "foreign" railways, without inflicting modern or dieselly stuff on you I could manage a period transfer freight from down Highbridge way....
Let's hope the sun comes back out soon!
Simon
I hope the line will be open to stock from "foreign" railways, without inflicting modern or dieselly stuff on you I could manage a period transfer freight from down Highbridge way....
Let's hope the sun comes back out soon!
Simon
JimG
Western Thunderer
After a long wait, the weather looks as though it might be improving a bit so I took the plunge and got the three 8' x 4' plywood boards for the station area and they were delivered yesterday afternoon.
This was the quick try out yesterday evening to give me some idea of what it would be like. I managed to cut the boards down to the required three foot width last night before the rain came.
This morning I started on cutting the oddly shaped board at the end of the terminus.
...sawn by hand since I didn't get on too well with my power saw last night. The other boards are covered with polythene sheet for protection from rain.
The end board has been cut to shape and is ready for painting with wood protection. Note the use of two pieces of wood. This was the outcome of my work with the power saw last night when the guide I was using to cut the one foot width slice off one sheet moved during the cutting and the slice width became a bit more than one foot at the end of the cut. So I opted to use the two pieces of this board for the end board and butt the two existing straight edges to make a join and then cut the other edges to make the odd shape. This has worked very well and I suspect that working with two pieces made the job a good bit easier - hefting an 8' x 4' sheet of ply around is not an easy job.
The next job will be to cover both sides and edges of the boards with wood protector. I'm using the Cuprinol product which requires a 24 hour drying period after application so I can see a fair bit of ducking and diving between rain over the next week or two to get all the sides covered. I can use polythene sheeting to give a bit of protection one the paint is touch dry, so that should let me get on a bit better.
Now off to see about steel for the wheel tyres.
Jim.
This was the quick try out yesterday evening to give me some idea of what it would be like.
I managed to cut the boards down to the required three foot width last night before the rain came.This morning I started on cutting the oddly shaped board at the end of the terminus.
...sawn by hand since I didn't get on too well with my power saw last night. The other boards are covered with polythene sheet for protection from rain.
The end board has been cut to shape and is ready for painting with wood protection. Note the use of two pieces of wood. This was the outcome of my work with the power saw last night when the guide I was using to cut the one foot width slice off one sheet moved during the cutting and the slice width became a bit more than one foot at the end of the cut.
So I opted to use the two pieces of this board for the end board and butt the two existing straight edges to make a join and then cut the other edges to make the odd shape. This has worked very well and I suspect that working with two pieces made the job a good bit easier - hefting an 8' x 4' sheet of ply around is not an easy job. The next job will be to cover both sides and edges of the boards with wood protector. I'm using the Cuprinol product which requires a 24 hour drying period after application so I can see a fair bit of ducking and diving between rain over the next week or two to get all the sides covered. I can use polythene sheeting to give a bit of protection one the paint is touch dry, so that should let me get on a bit better.
Now off to see about steel for the wheel tyres.
Jim.
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Great stuff Jim, I'm trying to keep up
I have my fingers crossed for good weather this weekend too...
Steve
I have my fingers crossed for good weather this weekend too...
Steve
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Nah, I'm just being dragged alongIs this a race?
I only started 10 days ago because the fencing took much longer than planned, it was a long wait for the right weather (new posts and panels in high winds aren't really an option when you are working on your own).Bits of free wood and different ideas this time round JimI note you are using a different method for your longitudinals from your previous layout, and your supports on the posts need some explanation.
I fancied experimenting whilst the layout is still small, nice to try different things out so I have a better of idea of what I like when I finally build the big'un at the next house.The longtitudinals (4"x1") are screwed to the supports (4"x2"), and the supports are screwed to the wooden posts (3"x3"). That way I only need to screw in from the top, or inline with the track meaning I can run the trackbed right up against the garage wall and fences, I need to maximise every half inch of space. I can also compensate for inaccuracies in post position this way, my marking out was a piece of wood and a tent peg - none of these posh trig points and computer design stuff
The track will be around 6'4"radius, the tight curves meant posts at 30 degree intervals with every longtitudinal meeting the posts at an angle - its a lot easier to screw down into a support that screwing in from the side, particularly next to a brick wall. Right, sorry for the hi-jack - its not raining so having finished my cuppa, I should head outside.
Steve
JimG
Western Thunderer
The good weather over the weekend has let me get well on with the job.
I got the first coat of protective paint on the undersides of the boards yesterday after coming home from sailing.
...and today I got the second coat on the undersides. Above, the further two boards have their second coat drying and the second coat on the underside of the closest boards has dried and I've turned them right way up.
Later on in the afternoon the other two boards were turned right way up and I screwed down the front edges.
The line of screws can just be seen on the front of the closer boards. I am spacing them at 4" centres so there are a few to put in and I just had enough time to get a row along the front of the boards before I got the first coat of protective paint on the tops.
...and the situation so far with the first coat applied to the tops of all the boards. It's beginning to look like I meant it.
Jim.
I got the first coat of protective paint on the undersides of the boards yesterday after coming home from sailing.
...and today I got the second coat on the undersides. Above, the further two boards have their second coat drying and the second coat on the underside of the closest boards has dried and I've turned them right way up.
Later on in the afternoon the other two boards were turned right way up and I screwed down the front edges.
The line of screws can just be seen on the front of the closer boards. I am spacing them at 4" centres so there are a few to put in and I just had enough time to get a row along the front of the boards before I got the first coat of protective paint on the tops.
...and the situation so far with the first coat applied to the tops of all the boards. It's beginning to look like I meant it.
Jim.
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