Garden Railway Forum

John,
You may already know, but in case you didn't and for anyone else interested, "Foamboard Online" currently have a special offer on A3 size, 5mm white foamboard - £10 for 10 sheets, inc VAT. They add another £10 for p&p, though, but still a good deal.

I think the problem is the roofing felt. I have several area's of impregnated timber where nothing really is happening. Those planks are fine, even after 7 or 8 years outside. But they are not covered. I guess rainwater is sucked in between the roofing felt and the wood and stays there a long time, keeping the wood beneath it moist.
The one area where I covered wood with a sheet, one of my old railways, was rotten within a year on some area's because of water being captured under the roofing felt.

I learned that when using roofing material, don't just cover the wood, but make a real roof out of it and there may not be any parts of the planks beneath it touching siol or be in contact with wood that is catching rainwater. The capilar working of water will cause any moisture to be sucked in the dry wood immideately. The roofing material on top will then capture the moisture and the wood will rot away.

It's a bit the same with isolating flat roofs from the inside out. That will also rot away in no time.

What a brilliant thread, just read it and some of the buildings are brilliant. :thumb right: The more i read threads on the forum, the more i am learning, i have used foam board how ever on my N Gauge layout to great affect and i can see how it works for outside, have you thought about using the Woodland Scenics Foam sheets, they come in all sizes from 1/8” to 4” thick.

The problems most people seem to have with the wood they use is it seems troublesome, it does put one off, though not me, it’s all a learning process has i have said, but what do you think about the plastic sheet that is used for barge boards on building, would that not be a better material to lay track on. Just a thought.

Happy Modelling

What you do think of this stuff i have come across,

https://www.filcris.co.uk/product/ladde ... gh-ladder2

This is as high has they go with it, but i guess you could buy longer posts. It looks fairly easy to put up and there is some wider top boards available so you could put a double track i think.

The loco shed area has been re-decked in treated timber as before.
Proper creosote was used, nice and smelly. This area is strong enough to be able to walk on – necessary while attaching the fence buildings/laying track etc.

The fence plastic retaining wall and the Post hotel have been re-affixed after repainting. The end section of the retaining wall, which had notches to fit over the fence rail and the cable that goes to the shed, is at home being modified as the cut-outs are now in the wrong place. The Factory building sections are also at home being refurbished/repainted.

Track has to be relaid of course, as well as the putting back of the engine shed.

The adjacent section of decking is in poor condition, and will not support much weight without flexing.

With regard to the more extensive use of plastic – [Thank you for your interest BCATRR] Yes, if I were to start to build a new garden railway that was to last at least ten years then I would make greater use of plastic materials and try and avoid using timber wherever possible.

Nowadays we use plastic square rain water pipe for the supporting posts. At first we post-creted these in, but now we just beat ballast (sand and stones) around them – this seems to work ok.
Offcuts of PVC cladding (facias etc.) have also been incorporated into some recent work, and will be in the future, but this may depend on being able to get any of this material free of charge or very cheap, as well as being able to transport it to the railway.

The funding of working on the FBGR is just a steady trickle over time, probably averaging to much less than £10 a week between the two of us for everything. Owing to the higher initial cost of using plastic sections (which also has to include a shipping cost), against that we can buy just a couple of bits timber at a time as we work out what to do next, we are likely to continue to use timber.

The fact that I am nearing 70 years old and that the FBGR will not likely be around in ten years time may also have a bearing on how much we invest in infrastructure.

JOhn

Well here is to you being around in another ten years time John as we all enjoy reading about your railway

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2017 5:40 pm Well here is to you being around in another ten years time John as we all enjoy reading about your railway

Amen to that sentiment!

I too hope that the FBGR railway is still around in ten years, and that your still enjoying running trains on it. I'm in a similar boat, so maybe I don't build with quite the lifetime in mind that I use to.
Grant.
PS, I do lament the passing of proper Creosote.

Thanks John (FBGR) for your reply and information, i went to a open day local to me Sunday and spoke with a member of the 16mm Association and he says he uses patio decking for his railway, so it’s some thing i will look into.

Why isn’t Creosote sold anymore.

I certainly hope your FBGR is still around in 10 years, you have a brilliant layout and i am learning so much from you.

LNR wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:07 am I too hope that the FBGR railway is still around in ten years, and that your still enjoying running trains on it.
Grant.
PS, I do lament the passing of proper Creosote.

Hear hear to both those sentiments.

On the subject of creosote. I am still using the fence panels, which were erected when the house was built 36 years ago, for the raised sections of my railway. I gave them a couple of coats of creosote (mixed with old engine oil) back then and the timber is still mostly as good as it was when the tree was felled. Some of the more recent 'pressure treated' timber has had to be replaced.

Rik

PS We recently bought new lounge furniture saying "It'll see us out........" (Mind you, the old suite was 30 years old, so we're hopeful).

I'm beginning to be concerned about the combined age of some of the regular contributors to the Forum and wonder why the younger generation are not staying with us? They enjoy their hobby I'm sure but don't seem to share their experiences with us 'seniors'!

Well Peter, maybe they have children to keep occupied and most of their time is taken up with them, i know when my own kids were younger, it was a full time job looking after them has well as doing my paid job, i was to tired to do anything else..

BCATRR wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:25 am Why isn’t Creosote sold anymore.

Elf n' safety

• Since 30 April 2003 retailers can no longer sell creosote and coal tar creosote wood preservatives to the general public in Great Britain
  Since 30 June 2003 general public can no longer use creosote and coal tar creosote wood preservatives in Great Britain

See - http://www.hse.gov.uk/biocides/copr/creosote.htm

Rik

I bought the "creosote" from the local real ironmonger - one of very few left.

It smells and feels right, even down to having to shake the container to incorporate some sludge in the bottom, although the lable may not have the "creosote" name.

I will get a pic of the container next time I visit the FBGR.

JOhn

Thanks John, You can’t beat good old Creosote mixed with old engine oil. My Dad used to make interwoven fence panels and sprayed the mix on...lovely

Health and Safety mean nothing to me, only interfering bureaucrats that make most jobs longer and harder to do...

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:49 am They enjoy their hobby I'm sure but don't seem to share their experiences with us 'seniors'!

Because we are not retired and do not have as much time as you 'seniors' do

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:49 am I'm beginning to be concerned about the combined age of some of the regular contributors to the Forum and wonder why the younger generation are not staying with us?

Peter,
When I was about 40 years younger than I am now, I seem to remember the model railway press had a continual stream of letters saying much the same thing.

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:49 am They enjoy their hobby I'm sure but don't seem to share their experiences with us 'seniors'!

Because we are not retired and do not have as much time as you 'seniors' do

Tom, you are an exception, you not only work, you also keep us posted on your railway build as well as keeping us all in check on the Forum..... for all your efforts we are grateful. It is the others I wonder about. As previously stated, I will have nothing to do with facebook but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that more members post there than on here; is it because it is simpler/quicker and takes less time or because it gets to a wider audience and receives a better response ?

Tom, you are an exception, you not only work, you also keep us posted on your railway build as well as keeping us all in check on the Forum..... for all your efforts we are grateful. It is the others I wonder about. As previously stated, I will have nothing to do with facebook but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that more members post there than on here; is it because it is simpler/quicker and takes less time or because it gets to a wider audience and receives a better response ?

I have joined the Facebook group only to see Peter Bakkes lovely set up. It is easier to post pictures but I do prefer the forum as it is a library of information I can easily access.

Going back to an earlier post I do wonder what future there is in the hobby for youngsters today. Student loans, colossal mortgages or rents and probably working til their 70 for a poor pension. Steam locos seem to broadly hold their value but I do wonder for how much longer if there is no disposable income. On that cheery note I will enjoy the rest of my holiday!

I increasingly loathe Facebook - mainly because of the amount of Politics/Celeb (to whom?) news that gets shoved on my "news" feed - mainly because I think we are all being played. I have a quick look at the 16mm Associate page from time to time, and a couple of church related pages, but other than that I would rather not go anywhere near the cesspit of the internet on a regular basis. The Forum is a lot more fun in that apart from a bit of banter, and chit-chat, it does what it says on the header, and that is what I like.

Cheers,
Peter in VA