Vale of Fairway

[Big Jim]

It is times like this that I use my official 16mm scale PMR rubber ruler.
If it looks okay, it is okay.

[bazzer42]

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Anyone having pure thoughts about scale may wish to look away now. Whilst this discussion was taking place my brass tube arrived and has been cut into joiner and end caps.
Another length laid and sufficient clearance for a steamer, no bogie stock as yet though

[philipy]

That looks really good. How long will the fence be when complete?

[bazzer42]

That looks really good. How long will the fence be when complete?

Probably a piece of string length! Not sure where I'm going next I have a small bender that would allow me to form tight curves but may resort to backing posts together. There's probably a 2m run there. I want to extend it in and around the goods area but have to be mindful of marauding Westies I've also cut 2 gate posts with 45 degree crowns but need to build a gate first and as I type I wonder whether the posts are too short...

[IrishPeter]

I hear you about the marauding Westies - ours is called Geordie, he is as old as mud and largely deaf and blind, but it just means he gets into bother more slowly than he used to. He is (and his predecessors were) the reason my lines tend to be either roadside tramways, or "foreign" - it gets me out of fences. He tends to leave buildings alone, and it takes a nimble Westie with a good aim to cock his leg against most buildings. Pooping on the track is another matter though, they seem to be genetically programmed to do that!

Cheers,
Peter in Va

[bazzer42]

Hamish is the older of the two and likes to leap from the goods area to raised bed but with age he has become less nimble and my last fence (in the background earlier) has been destroyed. It's a horrible thing to say but I won't be replacing that fence until it will be safe. Archie is a year younger and apart from the odd leg cock generally leaves alone. Yes we have had impromptu buffer stops

[Peter Butler]

I was given some metal fence posts by a friend giving up his garden railway. These are a soft, galvanised rod with flattened ends and holes pre-drilled to take horizontal rod ...

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A short section is shown here with more to follow. The unfinished trackside is where my village will eventually be sited...

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Pretty basic but strong and quite effective.

[bazzer42]

That is effective and love the backscene to the last shot. I have wondered about some brass bullhead rail as uprights for some estate style fencing. It would be interesting to see whether 1mm filler rods could be soldered in place being copper coated.

Already considering removing my last fence post and replacing it with a square profile one that could then allow a 90 degree turn.

I have also ordered some cheap mini chisels to see if I can build a gate as part of the next run.

[FWLR]

If someone nags me about scale I tend to reply "would that six feet be Swedish, Imperial, or Rhenish?" That usually gets rid of them. I have one line that is very definitely 15mm/Ga. 1, and the one I am making a start is 1:22.5/Ga. O mainly due to some demons left over from OO days, but I still don't count rivets. The method is stand six Rhenish feet away and squint, and if it looks right you are good to go!

Cheers,
Peter in Va

[FWLR]

It is times like this that I use my official 16mm scale PMR rubber ruler.
If it looks okay, it is okay.

[FWLR]

20171201_133631.jpg20171201_133646.jpg

Anyone having pure thoughts about scale may wish to look away now. Whilst this discussion was taking place my brass tube arrived and has been cut into joiner and end caps.
Another length laid and sufficient clearance for a steamer, no bogie stock as yet though

They look brilliant Derek, I may do mine like that if I may.

[tom_tom_go]

Last time I played with fencing I used OO gauge track with thin wire, looks good scale wise but not sure how well it would last on a ground level line.

[bazzer42]

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The fence has started to rust nicely. A right angle turn will take the next run across the goods loop so thought a gate might add a point of interest. It may be fractionally tall for a farm gate but I can live with that. New arrival George seems happy with it and is wondering whether he will be given a can of whitewash or creosote to paint it...

Need to add some plates to hide some of the joints and maybe some track pins where the angles cross. After living for 20 years in Somerset and having a farming father in law for even longer I can't remember how gate latches work, Google here I come.

[LNR]

By the look of Georges elbow, I reckon he's been sprung testing the gate for lean on height! Nice job on the gate, very formal by Australian standards for a farm gate. Perhaps a couple of straps to represent hinges and cover the joints as you mentioned.
Grant.

[philipy]

Nice gate Derek, well done. As for colour, no colour and heavily weathered is what most farm gates are, or black or white if its a well maintained railway. If it were mine I'd give it a coat of creosote ( or equivalent) and then leave it out to weather over the winter, and by spring it will have gone down to a nice weathered grey colour

I can't remember how gate latches work, Google here I come.

Most farm gates these days are fastened with a loop of orange baler twine!

[LNR]

"Where oh where would the world be without baler twine."
The gates I have, one at the farm, and one at the stockyards, are both secured with a piece of no.8 fencing wire, baler twine's stronger brother.

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Grant.

[bazzer42]

Thanks Philip/Grant, as soon as I looked at pictures last night I had flashbacks of father in law sending me out from the land rover to untie farmers knots securing the gates. Could never tie them like him!

[LNR]

Certainly been there, done that, but out of a Morris Commercial.
Occasionally "no I'll open this one" to return to the truck with "Hmmm someones been through that gate" because it was tied differently.
Grant.

[philipy]

If you want to be classy there is always the type of latch ( no idea what they are called) with a cast hook screwed to the gate post and a long vertical lever on the outer edge of the gate which is sprung to fit the hook with a horizontal iron loop around it to stop it going too far.
Wouldn't be difficult to model.

[IrishPeter]

Philippy,

Where I am from if you saw that type you usually had to pick the gate up bodily in one hand whilst working the latch with the other because the gate post with the hinge had settled. On the whole, though, you expect a little bit of effort with farm gates.

We also had some entertaining user operated level crossings around our way. The gate posts were tilted slightly inwards towards the track, and the hinges were well greased so that if you began to close the gate, gravity would take it the rest of the way. This was fine until the hedges grew up in the summer, and then you had to shove it well back into the hawthorn to get it to hold open, or you would end up down a tail light! Holding open occupational crossing gates was another "Kid Job."

Peter in Va