Following a frustrating year of finding constant issues and spending all my spare time maintaining rather than playing… I’ve decided some drastic measures are needed!!
Mate what you want to do in order to control the weeds and grass is to get a weed burning torch fueled by paraffin or similar and brush the flame side to side across and on either side of the rails to heat the plants, you don't need to ignite them you only need to damage and disrupt the waxy cuticle on the leaves enough that they quickly begin losing vast amounts of water to the air and desiccate to death (the successful disruption of the waxy cuticle can be determined visually by the leaves changing from a glossy green appearance with a stiff feel to them to a matte darker green appearance and more floppy texture, use the spray as a preventative on top of that. Instead of manually running the torch over the areas of track you want clear of plants you could fit a burner to a small trolley/truck/car and slowly pull it along the track with a locomotive, much like the weed burning maintenance trains which do the same job in mainline service.
I can empathise. I have first hand experience of maintaining a full size railway - the costs and man hours are just incredible. Just because its a smaller gauge does not mean that the same issues dont arise again and again. I guess the hardest part is biting the bullet and making the decision. And you have done that. I really liked what you had before and wish you well as you progress the rebuild.
Great progress over the past few years 👍 Looks like a nice garden railway. I'm hoping to embark on a similar, smaller project and you have given me a lot of ideas and solutions.
Great stuff. Love the mixture of routine and technical. As an aside the flicker on your video is probably related to a conflict on video rate not matching the UK main power frequency. UK main is 50Hz, and PAL frame rates of 25fps/50fps will work best indoors under artificial light. Unfortunately most phone cameras only allow for 30fps and gives rise to flicker. Try adjusting - or use illumination using a DC fed light system.
How sad to have to undo all that hard work, have you looked at the line at St.Neots. They have a concrete base for the track, probably expensive for you but is long lasting little weeding after 3 or more years now. I found the ride to be less hard than you would imagine.
Thanks for the message John. It is frustrating, but it will be a lot better for it. I have seen a video of the track over there. Certainly cost would be a huge issue, but the bigger issue would probably be movement. We are so heavily clay here that the natural heaving as it gets wet and then dries would probably make it very difficult. Really appreciate the thought though 😊
Brilliant video lovely railway I am just in the middle of building a 5 inch gauge railway in my garden not as long as yours but should be enjoyable nevertheless I’ve built a few garden railways over the years and still so much to learn each time the levels are very important as you’ve found out keep going and you will get there I’ve subscribe to your channel what county are you in 👍
Thank you! And trust me, I’ve certainly learned that size isn’t what matters in this game! 😂 I hope your railway is a fantastic success. We are in Essex
It’s very tough to keep up with as just a hobby. Hopefully these changes might just make things more manageable, because if they don’t I might just have to admit defeat!
Mate what you want to do in order to control the weeds and grass is to get a weed burning torch fueled by paraffin or similar and brush the flame side to side across and on either side of the rails to heat the plants, you don't need to ignite them you only need to damage and disrupt the waxy cuticle on the leaves enough that they quickly begin losing vast amounts of water to the air and desiccate to death (the successful disruption of the waxy cuticle can be determined visually by the leaves changing from a glossy green appearance with a stiff feel to them to a matte darker green appearance and more floppy texture, use the spray as a preventative on top of that. Instead of manually running the torch over the areas of track you want clear of plants you could fit a burner to a small trolley/truck/car and slowly pull it along the track with a locomotive, much like the weed burning maintenance trains which do the same job in mainline service.
Early 20232 hardcore is going in -- looking good!
Thank you! 😊
I can empathise. I have first hand experience of maintaining a full size railway - the costs and man hours are just incredible. Just because its a smaller gauge does not mean that the same issues dont arise again and again. I guess the hardest part is biting the bullet and making the decision. And you have done that. I really liked what you had before and wish you well as you progress the rebuild.
Thank you Martin, those are some very wise words. It was a tough decision to make but I do feel better just for making it. Fingers crossed!
Great progress over the past few years 👍 Looks like a nice garden railway. I'm hoping to embark on a similar, smaller project and you have given me a lot of ideas and solutions.
Brilliant! That’s made me so pleased. It’s exactly why I wanted to do these videos, so that they might help others. Best of luck!
Looking forward to see what you come up with bro. Safe travels up your way
Thank you
Great stuff. Love the mixture of routine and technical. As an aside the flicker on your video is probably related to a conflict on video rate not matching the UK main power frequency. UK main is 50Hz, and PAL frame rates of 25fps/50fps will work best indoors under artificial light. Unfortunately most phone cameras only allow for 30fps and gives rise to flicker. Try adjusting - or use illumination using a DC fed light system.
How sad to have to undo all that hard work, have you looked at the line at St.Neots. They have a concrete base for the track, probably expensive for you but is long lasting little weeding after 3 or more years now. I found the ride to be less hard than you would imagine.
Thanks for the message John. It is frustrating, but it will be a lot better for it. I have seen a video of the track over there. Certainly cost would be a huge issue, but the bigger issue would probably be movement. We are so heavily clay here that the natural heaving as it gets wet and then dries would probably make it very difficult. Really appreciate the thought though 😊
Brilliant video lovely railway I am just in the middle of building a 5 inch gauge railway in my garden not as long as yours but should be enjoyable nevertheless I’ve built a few garden railways over the years and still so much to learn each time the levels are very important as you’ve found out keep going and you will get there I’ve subscribe to your channel what county are you in 👍
Thank you! And trust me, I’ve certainly learned that size isn’t what matters in this game! 😂
I hope your railway is a fantastic success.
We are in Essex
Mine has gone under, just don’t have the energy! Wife keeps nudging and it’s just got away from me!
It’s very tough to keep up with as just a hobby. Hopefully these changes might just make things more manageable, because if they don’t I might just have to admit defeat!
@GreatEastonRailway >>> 👍👍