Garden Railway Forum

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:07 pm The plants are looking very lush and healthy.

Hence the need to clear the right of way. In an average summer I'd be watering everything constantly just to keep it alive. In the past two days we've had about 6 inches of rainfall.

Are your trees evergreens? You don't seem to be getting too much leaf fall. We've had an unusually hot, dry summer that has given rise to an early, persistent dropping of leaves by our wysteria. British farmers are renowned for always having the wrong weather, too wet, too dry etc Perhaps us garden modellers are the same? Battling the elements is part of the fun, I think!

The railway does look nice with the green growth and lovely to see the canine helper

Think we are all a bit envious of you greenery Dwayne.

bazzer42 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 8:15 am Are your trees evergreens? You don't seem to be getting too much leaf fall. We've had an unusually hot, dry summer that has given rise to an early, persistent dropping of leaves by our wysteria. British farmers are renowned for always having the wrong weather, too wet, too dry etc Perhaps us garden modellers are the same? Battling the elements is part of the fun, I think!

The railway does look nice with the green growth and lovely to see the canine helper

The majority of trees on my property are deciduous (pecan, silver maple, oak). There are four large western red cedars scattered around as well. And the wife unit planted three loblolly pines (affectionately known as the Tree Amigos) along the driveway when we moved here in 2011.

The layout is located beneath a medium sized pecan tree, which is towered above by a massive laurel oak. In a normal year they'll start shedding leaves during August as they protect themselves from limited rainfall. Since we've been getting inundated with rain late this season they're not dropping any leaves yet.

The canine helper... Hope... is my constant shadow. My other dog, Maggie, tends to busy herself sniffing around everywhere. They aren't such a help when they spot a possum or raccoon at the back of the yard at night as they'll rip right through the middle of the layout if I don't command them to stop.

FWLR wrote: ↑Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:59 am Think we are all a bit envious of you greenery Dwayne.

Glad to know. Normally everything is about to give up the ghost by this time of year because of the heat and lack of rain. Oklahoma is located in an extremely demanding climate range. Tornadoes are the funnest part of the entire experience.

Hello Dwayne,

You've certainly got your hands full taming Mother Nature there (if it's not plants it racoon chasing hounds!)

For all the reasons you've mentioned and one or two more besides, I've virtually stopped work on my line over the last 12 months. In that time some of the Alpines I planted have really found their feet! Some of the thymes are beautifully in scale and have wonderful flowers but boy do they creep, or what?

With a bit of look and a following wind I hope to start work again in the next couple of months.

Great to see your line establishing itself in the landscape now, it looks really natural.

Andrew

Hey all. Been awhile since last visiting the forum. Life has been keeping me busy and away from the Two Dogs unfortunately so nothing new about the layout to report since the last update. At the moment I'm recovering from a motorcycle accident whereas I was hit by a car. At my age it's taking awhile to recover though it is slowly happening. At least I survived which is a good thing. Hopefully in a few more weeks I'll be in a bit better shape and can get back to the railway. Cheers.

Glad you are alright, how's the bike?

I don't have the balls anymore to ride on public roads.

Sorry to hear that Dwayne.. I have never been a biker and aware of the vulnerability of being on two wheels without a steel shell around me! I hope the recovery will be complete soon.

Wishing you a speedy recovery. I don't think I would have the courage to ride a motorbike these days - certainly not on English roads which are jammed with cars
( often driven by impatient drivers) and potholes, lots of potholes.

Best wishes Dwayne.
Hope you can soon get back to the railway but in the meanwhile you will have plenty of time for planning the next develoopements, so it's not all bad

Thanks guys. I'm doing well for the most part. The body takes awhile longer to heal now that I'm in my 50's. Still having issues with my back which I think may be an issue for a long time to come.

Weather more or less curtailed railway activity this summer. Not the hottest by any imagination but abnormally humid which is nothing more than a condition where you wear the air.

Dwayne, Glad to hear that you're recovering albeit slower than you'd probably like.

I am do a lot of cycling and I am all too aware of how dangerous the UK roads are, not to mention there are far too many lunatics and careless drivers to contend with.

Hope you make a speedy and full recovery.

Good luck with the recovery Dwayne, hope the back problems don't become too much of an issue. Backs are bad news on garden railways.
Grant.

Glad to hear you are well Dwayne. I've missed your’e updates.

Don’t overdo it to soon like I did after my double bypass mate. Take your time and hopefully you can get back on Two Dogs. You can though make some more of your’e excellent buildings.

Sorry to hear about your accident Dwayne, and I wish you a speedy (and full) recovery. My summer was blighted by Lymes' Disease, but I'm now pretty much back to full health. Hopefully your back will heal with time. If you haven't already, a visit to a physiotherapist may give you some useful exercises to help the healing process.
I live in an area of the UK that is very popular with motorcyclists, especially 'born again' bikers - because of the roads and scenery, and unfortunately fatal accidents are all too common https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/le ... -1-9406879
Anyway, I'm glad you have survived your accident, and good luck getting fit again.

Sorry to hear about your accident, Dwayne. Some car drivers seem completely unaware of the vulnerability of those on two wheels. I still get car drivers passing far too close to me on my bike when they overtake - most recently a 4x4 passed at speed within inches when I was on an open road with no traffic coming from the opposite direction. By contrast the car following it went right over to the opposite side of the road as if to say "We're no all as stupid or dangerous as that idiot".

Hope the back recovers soon and the weather improves enough for you to get back out into the garden.

Rik

Hello Dwayne,

I was thinking you'd been a bit quiet! I'm glad you are on the mend. Look after yourself, particularly your back, don't rush things. Easy advice to give but not so easy to follow!

All the best,

Andrew

Thanks again all.

I have some house improvement projects that need to be completed asap once I'm up and running fully.

One project I had completed prior to the accident was the installation of a natural gas line to my outdoor shop for heat. I'm hoping to do many of the railway projects that I've had knocking around in my head but pushed to the back burner because of my motorcycle hobby. Although I'm not giving up that hobby (in spite of being a hood hornament), I've decided nine mototcycles might be a bit too much so I'm trying to sell at least half of them with the intention of just working on the remaining machines at a more leisurely snail's pace in the coming decade or two with the intent of focusing more of my limited time on the railroad and hanging out here.

Moving onward... hobbled outside today to take a photo or two of the layout, in particular the tunnel I had installed a few months ago. The "Creeping Charlie" has for the most part covered just about the entire layout at this time.

Before and after photos: