Time to build a railway...but where?

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Peter Butler
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:20 pm

There is a saying that (in urban areas) you are never more than a few yards away from a rat. Here in our rural area where we have water courses and an abundance of wild bird food we do see them out in the open. This year I have shot at least a dozen so far. I should say I have a good gun and a sharp eye!.... it's quick!
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by jim@NAL » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:59 pm

looking great peter

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by FWLR » Thu Jul 19, 2018 4:52 pm

Catching up on your thread again Peter and I can see in my minds eye the little villages we pass through on our days out while on our holidays in North Wales and Norfolk ( there are other places in the UK ). It is going to be a very impressive Model Village Peter. Are you going to put some of your model vehicles on it too.

By the way, did you need a Forklift to lift those concrete blocks, very impressed on how you achieve things mate.

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Peter Butler
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:21 pm

No forklift required Rod, although I do have a licence. All done with wheelbarrows and shovels... as my back is now reminding me!
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by jim@NAL » Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:48 pm

If you want a job concreateing Peter il give you one very impresive a lot better than some of the jobs if seen people do what are you going to have inbetween the sections roads ?

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Thu Jul 19, 2018 9:51 pm

Thanks Jim, I try to make a reasonable job so that I don't have to do it all over again! The gaps will be either roads or planting areas to soften the appearance of the structures. I have other ideas to add to the village which should make it look authentic. The last thing I want is for it to look like a city centre with no greenery. I had quite enough of that working in central Birmingham for 25 years.
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:27 pm

A step forward again today... the weather has been cooler but no rain so time to mix even more of the wet and heavy!
The plan is to set out the varying heights and gently slope the roadways so that water will find its own way into the drainage pipes. A first layer of ballast material gives the build some strength and shows me where the high/low points are sited. As you can see in the pictures attached, the recent castings from Cain are mostly in situ having spent most of yesterday playing with an assortment of angle grinders. They represent stone walling, which was plentiful when the local quarry was in full production, so was used throughout the village. The roads run between these walls giving a sort of Cotswold appearance (?)
Once the under-layer is complete a top surface of sharp sand with black powder mortar colouring will be screeded to make the road surface, just as I have used in the past......
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Ran out of material again today..... further stocks tomorrow!
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by FWLR » Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:42 am

It’s going to look a mighty fine Village Peter… :thumbright:

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by ge_rik » Thu Aug 02, 2018 1:02 pm

Terra forming on a lavish scale. Looking really good so far. Can't wait for the next instalment.

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by laalratty » Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:14 pm

Mightily impressed by this, it must take a fair amount of planning and thought to put the concrete where you want it to ultimately get the village that you want.
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:10 pm

The planning and thought process has take a while as you can see by the length of time I have been mentioning it on the thread. I knew what I wanted to achieve but not how to get there. Many different positions of the structures on the site were tried and altered time and again. It was only recently I discovered a final design I would be completely happy with as it had a look of organic growth about it, just as a village might have as it developed over time.
Something I can't do is drawing.... it would be impossible for me to put pencil to paper to make a design, it would never work.
As the concrete is poured I am feeling my way through the installation and only time will tell whether I have got it right. I certainly hope so as it will be a major job to alter it later!
At the moment I am not considering moving house, although if/when the time comes my hope is that new owners appreciate my railway, if not they will have good foundations for a new build!
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Aug 10, 2018 12:09 am

The final pieces of the jig-saw (wall sections) were cut and installed this evening. Cain has cast a slab for me to cut into strips and we met at 'Just Julie's' garden for the handover. I was amazed at the difference in texture between the new slab and the original ones which were all cast a few years ago. The setting process of concrete can last many years before reaching maximum strength..... not a lot of people know that! Certainly I wasn't aware of it but it was so much easier to cut with my angle grinder. I am enjoying my new found modelling tools, not ones usually found on the work-table!
The wall sections are now cemented in position ready to receive paint, the colours should reflect the local stone as they originated from the village quarry....
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As previously mentioned, drainage is important as there will be quite a lot of hard surface to clear. I have already laid pipework (overflow pipes) from the road areas and a friend has now made me metal drain covers (milled from solid alloy sheet) to place in the gutters of my roadways. A plasticard surround is now fitted to each and will be installed at the correct height to allow a slight fall for the water to enter.....
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by philipy » Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:18 am

Wow!
With building skills of this calibre I'm sure that you did the correct risk assessments before starting, not to mention provision of site welfare facilities, and that you gave yourself proper site inductions and training and wore full PPE at all times? Have you involved the HSE at all, I suspect that this project is probably Notifiable? !!!!
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by pandsrowe » Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:20 am

Not forgetting the necessary clearances and permission from the local council planning department. :P
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by ge_rik » Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:56 am

Absolutely brilliant so far. Those drain covers look so realistic. An otherwise insignificant detail turned into a miniature work of art!

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Andrew » Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:33 am

I'm experiencing a strange sensation of genuinely wishing I was 3" tall so I could put down a deposit on a house in your village and move in...

It'll be a model village in both senses of the word - a miniature recreation but also model "in the sense of an ideal to which other developments could aspire"*, like Bournville, or Port Sunlight... Or Portmeirion maybe? If I do ever wake up one morning and find that my body has shrunk to the same scale to which my brain spends too much time working, I shall pack my inch-long suitcase and head west - although it may take me a while to walk there on miniature legs...

Keep up the good work, it's wonderful!

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*Sorry Rik, was quoting Wikipedia there, rather than Tolstoy!

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by jim@NAL » Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:11 am

Looking all rather fantasic peter

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Big Jim » Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:16 am

pandsrowe wrote: Fri Aug 10, 2018 7:20 am Not forgetting the necessary clearances and permission from the local council planning department. :P
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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by Just Julie » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:27 pm

Brilliant Peter, :thumbright:

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Re: Time to build a railway...but where?

Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:37 pm

I have to ask Peter, would you prefer to just build a model village as you seem more into this than railways?

It is all impressive either way.

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