Time to build a railway...but where?

[Peter Butler]

O, what a beautiful day..... in fact a 'T' shirt day today in West Wales, so a great opportunity to check out the railway and see what damage the winter weather has caused. First a trip around with trowel and bucket to remove all of the weeds before they get a firm grip, that filled a wheelbarrow to start! Then a thorough Henrying, (I don't have a Hoover) to suck up all of the loose material, twigs, leaves etc. from the track and finally make sure all of the points operate correctly.
That made it sound too easy whereas in reality I discovered one or two unexpected surprises....
My track is laid on treated timber supported above ground at varying heights according to the rising ground level, we are also surrounded by fields so there are a great variety of small animals which are always looking for suitable places to burrow.....

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What they are I have no idea but they have made themselves at home all over the railway.
The other thing I discovered was a jammed point which was caused by my home-made crank system. This has been in use for a good four years so has lasted well, however, the steel shaft has corroded inside the brass tube and no longer swivels.....

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Easily solved by making a brass replacement.
One Peco point spring had popped out but still under the cover plate.
Best of all is the ballast has remained firmly stuck with the SBR despite the continuous wet and occasional frost conditions.
I even managed to run a loco or two... now that is rare for me.

[FWLR]

How do you get to wear a t-shirt yesterday Peter, it was blooming wet again here, it only turned sunny about 6.30pm….

Put a humane trap down Peter and trap one of the beggars.
Are or have they caused any damage to your line and have you noticed them around in the past mate.

[IanC]

It was nice here too, but sadly other things prevented me from taking advantage even though there was a local group meeting.

Ian

[Peter Butler]

Put a humane trap down Peter and trap one of the beggars.
Are or have they caused any damage to your line and have you noticed them around in the past mate.

Trouble is, Rod, that we are in their territory! There are any more of them than us and a losing battle would ensue. But in answer to your question, no damage to the railway other than some soil spread over the track occasionally.
Diane's greenhouse has also been occupied by mice which have found a comfortable place to live in her bulbs dry-stored during the winter. She picked up a box and four little faces were looking out at her. She carefully put the box down and they moved on...... perhaps to find a railway to live in?

[FWLR]

So do you know what they are then Peter.

It’s my turn for a t-shirt today Peter, power washed the bottom patio and top has well this morning, sweating my proverbials off

Going to get “Partrica Anne” running this afternoon ...

[ge_rik]

That's normally my Easter weekend job, getting the railway ready for the new season. A bit indisposed at the moment.

Rik

[mymodeltrain]

O, what a beautiful day..... in fact a 'T' shirt day today in West Wales, so a great opportunity to check out the railway and see what damage the winter weather has caused. First a trip around with trowel and bucket to remove all of the weeds before they get a firm grip, that filled a wheelbarrow to start! Then a thorough Henrying, (I don't have a Hoover) to suck up all of the loose material, twigs, leaves etc. from the track and finally make sure all of the points operate correctly.
That made it sound too easy whereas in reality I discovered one or two unexpected surprises....
My track is laid on treated timber supported above ground at varying heights according to the rising ground level, we are also surrounded by fields so there are a great variety of small animals which are always looking for suitable places to burrow.....
IMG_5326.JPG
IMG_5325.JPG
IMG_5324.JPG
IMG_5323.JPG
What they are I have no idea but they have made themselves at home all over the railway.
The other thing I discovered was a jammed point which was caused by my home-made crank system. This has been in use for a good four years so has lasted well, however, the steel shaft has corroded inside the brass tube and no longer swivels.....
IMG_5327.JPG
Easily solved by making a brass replacement.
One Peco point spring had popped out but still under the cover plate.
Best of all is the ballast has remained firmly stuck with the SBR despite the continuous wet and occasional frost conditions.
I even managed to run a loco or two... now that is rare for me.

I also have many holes like that in the garden, particularly more significantly this year around the track. But this happens mostly in the Winter since I did not run the trains. There are 2 types of holes created by chipmunks and moles. From your photos, it seems you have chipmunks since the holes are deep, round and created from above. Moles usually dig tunnels underneath and when in reaches to the surface, you would see a tunnel of cracking soil and small dunes. Usually, in Tennessee there are services to get rid of moles in the garden, but for my experience, I just need to turn the light on at night and let the trains run around; it is effective enough to scare the moles since they don't like vibration. To scare them more, I have a sound card with noise from farm animals, I noticed that moles' activity moved out of my railway on the other side of the fence.

[Peter Butler]

I absolutely love the idea of wild Chipmunks alive and well and living in West Wales! Somehow I have my doubts and I'm unsure whether I would enjoy their presence. We do have moles, loads of them, and their hills and holes are easily recognisable. The holes I have in the railway appear to be larger than mice would need but I haven't seen any other animals which could be responsible on the site. We do have voles, rabbits and rats elsewhere so it might be any of them? Strangely, our dogs (Springers) take no notice of activity on the railway itself but do dig into mole-hills and even on flat surfaces where they smell moles underground.
Because we have a mole problem I have tried to deter them by placing vibrating equipment underground. I can tell you they don't work as our moles pop up next to them!

[tom_tom_go]

I've got it Peter, mines!

Couple of Claymores will do you right.

Otherwise, maybe a local Welsh choir could sing them to their deaths?

[Peter Butler]

Why am I getting the impression you have had a bad experience during a visit to wales in your past? I'm sure there are many who would defend the Welsh choirs as supreme amongst their peers and not to be confused with pest control!

[tom_tom_go]

I jest Peter although brown bath water might have put me off when I was a child on holiday in Wales.

[Peter Butler]

Brown bath water is a thing of the past, certainly in Wales, we did have a natural supply here when we first moved in but modern filter systems took care of that. However the brownest water I ever bathed in was in Scotland.... fresh from the peat bogs, although it tasted OK.

[LNR]

the brownest water I ever bathed in was in Scotland.... fresh from the peat bogs, although it tasted OK.

Is this a Welsh thing, drinking bath water
Grant.

[FWLR]

I might have an answer Peter for your hole’s, it may be weasels or a weasel……..
Just seems like the size of the holes are to big for mice and maybe there are lots of mice around that the weasel can prey on.

[Peter Butler]

the brownest water I ever bathed in was in Scotland.... fresh from the peat bogs, although it tasted OK.

Is this a Welsh thing, drinking bath water
Grant.

Do you mean it's not normal practise?

[Peter Butler]

I might have an answer Peter for your hole’s, it may be weasels or a weasel……..

You could be right Rod, some time ago I mentioned seeing a weasel pop its head out from underneath my railway but I haven't seen one since. If they like water then there is a stream alongside the railway and, as you say, plenty of other food available in the hedgerows.
I like the idea of having a resident weasel but thought it too good to be true!

[philipy]

We have a couple of 'wireless' cctv cameras set to watch our local hedgehogs feeding and fighting. Linked through our internal wireless LAN to an old very slow laptop thats no good for anything else and we can see in the morning whats happened during the night ( and potentially rescue any sick ones). A setup like that would soon answer your question, the cameras aren't expensive for the quality needed ( £25-£50 from fleabay) and the Eyespy software is open-source and free.

[Peter Butler]

Nice idea Philip, we already have a nesting box camera and it is fascinating to watch.

[jim@NAL]

We have fen tigers in Cambridgeshire

[Peter Butler]

We have fen tigers in Cambridgeshire

Thankfully my occupants go about their business silently.