Garden Railway Forum

Hi
I have been occupied building a station area here at the Øvj. I´ve been reading Peter Butlers inspiring thread. My solution is a low cost, not as advanced as Peter B´s, but as always I´m in a hurry and want quick results

I started with a simple framework and laid some comercial aluminiumplates that I got from my work, on the top

I have mostely used scrap materials

I´m still building, but the station is now in work and I´m thrilled of all the new possibilitys it gives to make changes to the traindriving



Now I´m building platforms
Michael

Great work. I like the platform.

Excellent work.. and much faster than my efforts.
Alluminium seems like a good idea as it should be stable.
Looks like a very useful addition to your line.
Peter.

Hi again.
The station area is now in full use, and what surprised me the most is that it gave so much more value and variation to running trains. Actually I think it´s so funny so it has become a long wait for the trains to come back to the station so I can do some shunting and put together new combinations with wagons and coaches


The last train for the day has gone...

Michael

Nice work!
You have done a great job and very quickly. My project has slowed down due to bad weather and a compete mind blank on track plan decision making.
I think I have it now and will post again soon on my thread.
How is your ballast fixed down?

Exlent job. It looks Scandnavand as I would exspect.

Again: Thank you for kind words about my efforts in building stuff
To Peter I have to say that the ballast fixing on the station is a failure  I tried with my of own mixing with something ready bought called "garden cement" but I added (far to much) gravel and sand so it lost its curing properties. But as I said earlier in this thread: the whole area works just fine,  I just have to check the points, so no loose stones have fallen in between and prevents them from switching. However I´m going to try again sometime and at that time I think of using fine gravel sprayed with thinned outdoor pva.
Michael

I like the sound of exterior PVA myself... many alternatives have been thought about and then dismissed on various grounds, e.g. cost, colour, flexibility. If PVA holds for just one season, it is easy and cheap enough to just do it again!
I bet there is someone out there who has the answer....?

I do like that hows it goin

Methsniffer: I really have to confess that some english expressions are difficult to understand for me

I do like that hows it goin

Please wright in a more simple way and I´ll answer.. Or maybe the question was to Peter Butler?
Don´t understand..
Regards from Michael

St.Michael:88818 wrote:Methsniffer: I really have to confess that some english expressions are difficult to understand for me

I do like that hows it goin

Please wright in a more simple way and I´ll answer.. Or maybe the question was to Peter Butler?
Don´t understand..
Regards from Michael

Translated into a more simple term, he was saying that he liked how the progress was going on the station area

St.Michael:88818 wrote: Please wright in a more simple way and I´ll answer.. Or maybe the question was to Peter Butler?
Don´t understand..
Regards from Michael

Hi Michael,
your English is very good. It is worth remembering that just because someone has English as their first language doesn't mean everything they write is good English.
My second wife was Brazilian and had learned English formally and to a high level. She used to correct my English all the time.

St.Michael:88818 wrote:Methsniffer: I really have to confess that some english expressions are difficult to understand for me

I do like that hows it goin

Please wright in a more simple way and I´ll answer.. Or maybe the question was to Peter Butler?
Don´t understand..
Regards from Michael

Sorry hows it going meaning how are you and how is the railway. It all looks very well and I like the construction so far. Don't worry about your english the pictures speak for themselves

Well done

Tres bien !

Peter Butler:83660 wrote:I like the sound of exterior PVA myself... many alternatives have been thought about and then dismissed on various grounds, e.g. cost, colour, flexibility.   If PVA holds for just one season, it is easy and cheap enough to just do it again!
I bet there is someone out there who has the answer....?

Hi Peter,
this has been discussed before on this forum and elswhere and there are a number of firmly held views as to what is best.
I have experimented with a short piece of Peco track screwed to a brick that was ballasted with granite chippings held in place using SBR instead of the usual PVA. This has been left in the dampest part of my garden in all weathers and has survived 4 years so far.  It would need a cold chisel and hammer to get the ballast off.   A word of warning has to be that once ballasted using SBR your track had better be where you want it to stay.
I bought my SBR from B+Q but not all branches stock it.


SBR is a builders product but it can be applied to ballast in a similar way to PVA however in large scale work there is no need to add washing up liquid to your water.

I use evostick waterproof pva with scale ballast. It works. It turns white when wet but disappears soon after. First dilute it 2 to one a creamy mix spread benneath track scatter a high grade ballast first then a scale fine mix this helps with adhesion. Level the rails as you lay and tamper

Well this is sort of funny  At first I thought " I haven´t done anything  on the station lately" But then I remembered my ongoing collecting of small slate-gravel down at Mjøsa (Norways biggest lake)  The railwaymuseum just happens to be situated not to far from the lake, and I have regularely been visiting the museum, and for every visit I have collected a few small plastick buckets with gravel...
I try and show you pictures of "before and after"
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Not the best of comparing pictures, but the point here is that this has made a big difference to the station area  :!:  
Regards to all

andymctractor:88841 wrote:

Peter Butler:83660 wrote:I like the sound of exterior PVA myself... many alternatives have been thought about and then dismissed on various grounds, e.g. cost, colour, flexibility.   If PVA holds for just one season, it is easy and cheap enough to just do it again!
I bet there is someone out there who has the answer....?

Hi Peter,
this has been discussed before on this forum and elswhere and there are a number of firmly held views as to what is best.
I have experimented with a short piece of Peco track screwed to a brick that was ballasted with granite chippings held in place using SBR instead of the usual PVA. This has been left in the dampest part of my garden in all weathers and has survived 4 years so far.  It would need a cold chisel and hammer to get the ballast off.   A word of warning has to be that once ballasted using SBR your track had better be where you want it to stay.
I bought my SBR from B+Q but not all branches stock it.


SBR is a builders product but it can be applied to ballast in a similar way to PVA however in large scale work there is no need to add washing up liquid to your water.

Having tried both exterior PVA and SBR I would confirm my total agreement with you that SBR is certainly the better of the two and probably cheaper overall, measure for measure..... (where have I heard that before?).
It is a bonding agent for cement mix which stays flexible even when dry. It is also water resistant so repells moisture from penetrating the ballast. (any royalyties would be gratefully received).
Although it appears white on application, it dries clear.

Do you use rowlands mix Michael on your line?

Lner fan Sam: So far I have used a cement, sand and gravel mixture on the part of the line that runs on the ground. The raised parts, about a third of the line including the station area is gravel sprayed with dilluted outdoor pva. This is an ongoing project and I became quite interested in the "SBR" thing... wonder if they sell it here in Norway?