Garden Railway Forum

Looks good, Philip. Is it pinned together as well as glued?

Rik

Yes, the handrail components are pinned and glued, but the deck and main logs are just glued. I got some of the new (-ish) clear non-foaming Gorilla Glue recently so I thought I'd give it a try - seems OK so far. The pins are small diameter brass dress makers/lacemakers pins that I've had for about 20 years. Drilling and pinning before gluing was the only way I could think of to hold so many irregular shapes together.

Nice and rustic bridge Phillip. It's a long way from the usual bridges we see. It well look excellent on your stream...

Just need a few little fishes now swimming under it....

OK, it's been a long time coming but the stream is finally finished. It still needs some attention to the planting and of course needs time for Mother Nature to do her stuff, and the railway itself needs some tlc as well, but other than that it's there.
I did say earlier that I needed to work out something that had been bugging me and that it would either be an epic fail or a triumph. Well I'm happy to report that it isn't a fail, but although I'm not 100% happy with the result, I'm hoping that time and plant growth will finish it off.

Rik's end sump he finished with an upturned lid filled with white pebbles which looks fine in it's context and I was originally planning to do something similar. However my sump would be in the middle of a planted garden border and a circular patch of white pebbles simply wouldn't look right ( Remember the conditions on my Planning Consent? " You can do what you like as long as it doesn't spoil the garden"). After throwing various idea's around in my head, I came up with a plan. I didn't want a static pond which might attract mozzy's and I was mindful of Rik's experience of trapping and drowning wildlife, so I fabricated a basket from some 1" weldmesh which was lying around and sized to sit inside the sump at about 120mm down.
Then I bought some marginal pond plants in 110mm deep pond pots and arranged them, along with bits of rock, in the basket. Around the sump I've arranged 3 Prostrate Junipers, bits of rock and various other plants to disguise the edges. When the stream is switched off, the plants are semi- submerged
and when it is running the waterfall created keeps them splashed wet. My hope is that in due course they will spread and sprawl over the rocks.

Finally, a video for Tom and Rik!

What an achievement Phil, the sound of the water is brilliant. I could listen to that for hours sitting outside with the occasional train chuffing along.

You should be pleased with yourself, enjoy it.

That's just brilliant, love everything about it, looks amazing, a very well big done

Looks brilliant, Philip! Once the moss and groundcover takes a hold, it will tone down the starknss of the concrete. Your sump cover does look a whole lot more subtle than my upturned dustbin lid and will probably be a lot more efficient.

I think this project is worthy of an article in Garden Rail.

Rik

That's a belting job Philip! I'm really going to have to do something about creating one for myself now! What's the total length of the Cuttle Brook?

Andrew

Thanks for the nice comments, Guys.
Andrew, the total length is about 5.5 metres. I bought 1 metre of liner from a 5.5m wide roll at World of Water so that I could do it without any joins.

Brilliant job Phillip. It sure does look great next to the house and your line...Next project please....


But why the video only for Tom and Rik.....


Agree about doing an article for Garden Rail...Worthy of great praise indeed.

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 9:55 am .Next project please....

No idea atm. I think I need to build up the Brownie points bank first!

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 9:55 am But why the video only for Tom and Rik.....

Because they both asked for a video. Simples!

philipy wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 1:21 pm

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 9:55 am .Next project please....

No idea atm. I think I need to build up the Brownie points bank first!

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 9:55 am But why the video only for Tom and Rik.....

Because they both asked for a video. Simples!

Well done Philip, you have earned your Brownie points for making it fit seamlessly into the garden and it will mellow in time. Somehow it has turned out to be a longer run than I anticipated, but all the better for that too.

Just a little bit of info for anyone thinking of a stream of their own.
Rik has commented in his various Peckforton writings about losing water and being worried about a leak. I've just topped up mine by approx 12 -13 litres because I noticed that the sump level had dropped. It has been running for 13 hours a day since the beginning of May, so on that basis it's losing say 15 litres a month!

I'm 99% sure I haven't got a leak, I put it down to a combination of evaporation, the plants using some, and the birds drinking and splashing. The local blackbirds, sparrows and goldfinches have dicovered that they can sit on the bank and drink, and if they jump in they can splash bathe for ages and the water goes everywhere!

Hi Philip,

Intersting infromation. I would consider that loss rate perfectly normal due to natural causes. Birds are infinately resourceful. In my case it will be jackdaws, I can resonably expect them to turn up with buckets of a styrrup pump! Their ingenuity knows no bounds. The sparrows are nearly as bad mind you.

My plans for a stream of my own are still formulating. I think I'll continue to turn things over in my mind and leave the terraforming until the vegetation starts to die back. I really need to throw a brick wall up first and that's going to require funding which is not currently available!

Please keep us updated on how you get on with your little watercourse. It's really intersting and useful information.

Andrew

philipy wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2019 10:00 am ...... it's losing say 15 litres a month!

I'm 99% sure I haven't got a leak, I put it down to a combination of evaporation, the plants using some, and the birds drinking and splashing. The local blackbirds, sparrows and goldfinches have dicovered that they can sit on the bank and drink, and if they jump in they can splash bathe for ages and the water goes everywhere!

That's quite remarkable. I reckon on losing around 5 litres a day, so quite a contrast. I know I lose some from splashing over the edge of the stream bed, and where the liner doesn't quite reach fully into the sump. I think, also, your mesh cover is a lot more efficient than my perforated upturned lid - which over time becomes clogged and so needs to be cleaned out periodically. The loss has increased over the years, so maybe there is a small leak somewhere in my system.

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2019 8:29 am I think, also, your mesh cover is a lot more efficient than my perforated upturned lid - which over time becomes clogged and so needs to be cleaned out periodically.

Since mine runs behind/under a Camellia and a couple of apple trees, I soon discovered just how many flower petals and leaves drop all the time, plus the bits of soil, moss and other debris from the birds. I've made a small net filter on a wire coat hanger frame that just sits under the final waterfall, and lift it out and shake it clean every 4 or 5 days, plus a wash under the tap a couple of times. It's amazing how much it collects in a short time. I cleaned this out under the tap yesterday morning and took the pic a few minutes ago.

I put an old plastic colander under the outlet for a few minutes each time I run the stream for the first time after a lay-off and it's amazing what debris it captures. I don't leave it there, though, because when it gets clogged it overflows outside the sump.

Rik

FWLR wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2019 8:36 am
Just need a few little fishes now swimming under it....

Rod obviously knows my stream better than I do, I hadn't previously realised that it is a Salmon river. As far as I know this is the largest specimen seen so far!

Brilliant Phillip..I love it...Now all you need is an open fire or pit and cook it....