Garden Railway Forum

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:

Love the tunnel Dwayne.

You right that “Creeping Charlie” is a bit invasive… It’s not to bad having it over the mountain, but you would have to really keep on top of it on the track I bet..

The sunlight through the trees does it for me, very atmospheric.

Nice pictures, all the more so since it shows you are on the mend.
I do like the way the Creeping Charlie is hanging over and through the front timbers.

Since my backyard is heavily shaded growing grass beneath the shade canopy is a difficult task. And because I hate mowing, I set about to eliminate all the grass in the backyard (with plans to eventually rid the front yard as well). Creeping Charlie fit the bill for a ground cover as it thrives in the shade. Along with Periwinkle (Vinca Minor), most of the backyard is now covered in a carpet of green that doesn't require fertilizer, mowing and a minimum of watering.

I never understood why folk spend money to fertilize, water and spend so much time mowing grass week after week after week theoughout the summer. My neighbors are in that rut. And they rarely even set foot in the grass other than to maintain it. Seems a waste of time, money and energy.

This past weekend the weather was nice enough to allow me to get outside for some light physical activity as I recuperate from the accident. I'm still dealing with swelling around my right ankle from damage to the fibia (got crushed a bit), a left arm that is difficult to lift any higher than my shoulder and damaged muscles along my back between my shoulder blades... but the need for some physical activity was overwhelming after so much time being inactive.

I decided I was going to do something with the spur line that I had started earlier in the summer but had only managed laying about four feet of track. The plan had been to just install about ten feet of track in total culminating in a two track yard situated on an elevated bluff where a logging camp would be located. Sounded like a plan months ago but it didn't feel right. So as I surveyed my previous work I decided that instead I would eliminate the bluff and just have the track parallel the fence for a yet undetermined distance. There is about 75 feet of space before reaching the fence line that splits the backyard from the front yard.

So I removed the bluff and began slowly moving dirt. The fence has a gradual decent of about 12 inches along the 75 feet of run, so the track will have a slight downhill grade. The plan is to face the earthworks with blocks, bricks, wood timbers or a combination to take advantage of the track being elevated.

It took me two days to do the little that I managed shown in the photo. Definitely not on par with what I'm able to accomplish if I were 100 percent. But it's a start. Where my dog Maggie is standing is where the bluff was originally located. And the white stuff on the shovel blade and atop the dirt pile... snow... which came in on Monday along with 18°F low temperature (far below the average for this time of year).

Good to know things are going well Dwayne. A bit of excercise will do those muscles some good but just don't go and overdo it and set yourself back again.
I know what you mean about a plan seeming good but just not feeling right, so go with your gut, it is rarely wrong.
Think I'll stop moaning about our weather now, 18F and snow is not good!

Great to see you are doing a bit Dwayne, but please don’t overdo it. The cuttings do look good though.

I realise that the urge to do something does overtake the boredom of not being able to work on anything though. Would you be able to do some rolling stock or buildings for the line until you are fit enough to work better on your line.

Take it easy Dwayne and hopefully you can be just like your old self again.

I envy you having the best part of 2 feet depth of dirt to play with, without hitting boulders or bedrock! Obviously a benefit of living in an area not previously glaciated.

I'm taking it easy. Trying to let my thoughts come up with a track configuration. I'm leaning towards having the line dead end at the base of a large bald cypress located along the fence with a run around to facilitate switching.

As for working on rolling stock and such, my hobby bench shares space in my bike shed. Clutter from bike projects currently block access to the bench and are too heavy to move at the moment. Plus my portable gas heater that I use for heating the shed is being used in the house as my new central furnace install is on hold as I recuperate. Life...

It was a beautiful day Saturday here in central Oklahoma so I hobbled outdoors to spend some more time on the new extension. I wasn't really "feeling it" with the line potentially running straight and parallel with the fence. So I began to just move some dirt with no definite plan in mind. A few hours later the result was a roughed in curving route. From the existing end of track the line curves around a yucca, a small maple and redbud tree. It curves again and out around the base of my wife's wisteria tree. A small hill was added to act the part of an obstacle for the track to circumvent. The line then curves back towards the fence before heading down towards the bald cypress where it will terminate. Beyond the cyress some 20 feet is the fence and driveway.