CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 (edited) Hi all, On the H&BLR and on DA, especially DA, we used raised boards, the latter is due to our garden being heavy clay, ie quagmire in winter or cracked/hard in summer, ie concrete track bed cant be used as it would shift/break up. My baseboards in the garden are supported on old (free) galvanised trampoline poles with a plate welded atop, on trial Im also using FOC/low cost uPVC for the boards. This set up - like Stephenson's or Brunel's reeds - allows for movement, it cannot cater for subsidence though. The uPVC wont rot (it can be painted with certain paints), the posts could be made to be telescopic. You can also purchase miniature gabion cages too, they could be used as a foundation for a similar trackbed to the existing? Also all of these methods are lightweight and relatively easy to install - the gabions need filling with stones/debris/pebbles, but can be installed and then the filling can be moved/carried in small amounts at a time to fill them Hope that the above may generate some thought/be of help? ATVB CME Edited February 20, 2018 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Hopefully not! I met Fred Dibnah a couple of times, my dad did too, we stayed, at different times, in digs that were opposite to his house when working in Lancs. He was a quiet nice bloke. Those whove followed on after him, that others refer to as; 'the new Fred Dibnah', in TV land are pale imitations IMHO. ATVB CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 BTW, apologies if Ive missed something, is it just the railway thats moving or the whole garden?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 BTW, apologies if Ive missed something, is it just the railway thats moving or the whole garden?? Thanks for all the help and advice it's much appreciated, it looks like a big part of the garden and the hill is sinking away and not just my railway or its foundations, i think i'll only be plagued with the same probs' if i relay it all again. A friend came down yesterday and we found fresh cracks and breaks in some paving stones a bit further away from the edge and it looks like a fair chunk of the garden is sinking along that edge and in one corner! I've had visions for years of waking up in bed and floating down the brook down the bottom of this hill for years now The only way i can see is to move the line but i'm limited to get enough room to get the curves in. I'll figure it out, i'm sure no matter what i'll still have a garden railway somewhere even if it's smaller. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 21, 2018 If there is a sizeable area moving the only option I know is to drive piles into the ground to try to reach stable ground below. Probably with all the wet weather the top layer is sliding on the one below. Unless you can get anchors into the lower layer there is little you can do. However I doubt it is something you could do for yourself and getting heavy machinery there would probably cause more trouble. What I would suggest would be to drive tanalised fence posts (the round farm type are cheapest) as deep as you can and fix timber across the top to take the track. It should be possible to adjust the levels if some bits sink. A hedge is often a better bet than a fence across the top of a bank as the roots tend to stabilise the bank. However it may be difficult to get a hedge growing quick enough to help. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Thanks for all the help and advice it's much appreciated, it looks like a big part of the garden and the hill is sinking away and not just my railway or its foundations, i think i'll only be plagued with the same probs' if i relay it all again. A friend came down yesterday and we found fresh cracks and breaks in some paving stones a bit further away from the edge and it looks like a fair chunk of the garden is sinking along that edge and in one corner! I've had visions for years of waking up in bed and floating down the brook down the bottom of this hill for years now The only way i can see is to move the line but i'm limited to get enough room to get the curves in. I'll figure it out, i'm sure no matter what i'll still have a garden railway somewhere even if it's smaller. Im sorry to hear that my friend. Who owns the land outside of your boundary? It really needs some surveyors/civils guys in to find out the cause. Could be an insurance job-not your fault or liability though. Kindest regards, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Unfortunately CME, if its Local Authority land then trying to get anything done in short term will be a real pain and private land owners usually only respond to legal threats. Either route is pretty fraught. Don's thoughts on driving farm posts seems to be a possibility. Its a long time ago now but when in uniform we used to revett trench sides with uprights and then take ties outwards to more solid ground to help keep the posts upright with an anchorage forward of the trench wall. I understand fully what you are saying and yes some reinforced posts et al may help - short term - in the garden. BUT! If the problem is further down the embankment and the embankment needs berming etc then everything else is fiddling whilst Rome burns. Also, I would be VERY careful about any amateur works as those responsible for the main problem ie with the bank, may use such as leverage/an excuse to pass the buck....legally and otherwise. The way to deal with LAs and their lack lustre approach (with or without austerity measures in place)? via MP and media, lever the so and so's as the it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. Start with a polite letter to the correct department head and have cc pending list at the bottom which includes their CEO, then the next letter inc your solicitors and then media...... House insurance - as a last resort - should cover legal with neighbours, including boundary disputes and subsidence, whomever they are. Also advice from CAB might be useful too. ATVB CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 21, 2018 From the photo it looks to me that the land has not been used for anything so the problem may be natural. If the council or owner had been doing work on the land that could have caused the problem that would be a different matter. I remember when we were looking to buy somewhere in the Ironbridge gorge there were a lot of places where the land was unstable the advice I was given was Geologically the land was unstable and typically movement could be expected within 500 years. That might mean tomorrow or any time within the 500 years. Of course some bits were moving quite a bit as one local said when we looked at a place in Jackfield "Ah them got the slips down there". The only thing I suspect might be actionable would be if the problem was due to the brook eroding the banks and there had been a failure to manage the brook but somehow I think it would be too far away to be an acceptable cause. House Insurance should cover it if the house was affected I am not sure if the garden would be covered. Additionally once reported to an Insurance company no other wants to touch it and you can have problems selling the property if you want or need to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Natural or not, the liability rests with the land owner...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I am sorry to hear this. We can't have your wonderful railway falling off the edge. Check the insurance, but be careful. Insurers are the Spawn of Satan (though you have to imagine that the Spawn of Satan are not scaly, pointy tailed demons, but crawlingly slow, inefficient mediocre, middle-management types with meagre intelligence but with the finely honed moral sensitivities of a Third World dictator (or Donal Trump)). The NFU Mutual came round to look at a crack in the wall. Smugly declared that is was subsidence, and subsidence wasn't covered. Then they trebled the policy because we'd notified them of a claim they'd refused to pay out on. B*stards. I suspect that you will get nowhere with the Council unless you have a surveyor inspect the site and report on what is happening. This may also give you a prognosis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) Agreed.....upto a point, mind you, as Solomon was 'God's man' so is Trump? SMEs and low income families are being helped by him. Killery (Hilary Clinton) was funded by 9/10 military industrial complex manufacturers and Trump was put up against her as TPTB, super elite, thought that she, as Obama's puppet master, would be a dead cert, sponsored by serpents like Soros et al. They were wrong. Hilariously so. Now whinging soldiers of communism, the so called free thinking liberal elite cant stop whinging about it. Let us not forget what her husband was like too-an out and out liar. Agreed too, 'insurance fraud'? Definition:- The greed and cons and fraud committed by the insurance industry! But I digress.. ATVB CME Edited February 21, 2018 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 23, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2018 My father was in Reinsurance ( i.e. insuring Insurance companies against heavy claims rather like bookies laying off bets) so he knew all the insurance companies. I mentioned that one company had given me a good quote his response 'They are not gentlemen' something he found rather distasteful. H e was of the view that a decent insurance company should meet claims unless the owner was obviously fraudulent and that wheedling out of claims was immoral. That said Edwardian's experience on a claim is what I would fear. Subsidence of the garden would not be covered but they would up the premiums and probably the excess in case the house was affected. Don 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 (edited) My father was in Reinsurance ( i.e. insuring Insurance companies against heavy claims rather like bookies laying off bets) so he knew all the insurance companies. I mentioned that one company had given me a good quote his response 'They are not gentlemen' something he found rather distasteful. H e was of the view that a decent insurance company should meet claims unless the owner was obviously fraudulent and that wheedling out of claims was immoral. That said Edwardian's experience on a claim is what I would fear. Subsidence of the garden would not be covered but they would up the premiums and probably the excess in case the house was affected. Don Hi Don, Sounds like your dad was an honourable fellow of the old school, life was simplier then, and most of the time one knew where they stood. Conglomoration has put paid to that. Back on topic now.... Kind regards, CME Edited February 23, 2018 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 Had an hour of fun in the Snow and Sun yesterday, there was'nt much progress with the batt' powered trains but i enjoyed myself and thats what it's all about!" 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted February 28, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2018 Have to get 2-3 locos shoving the plough, or build a rotary Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 Have to get 2-3 locos shoving the plough, or build a rotary A steamer would do it easy but i can't be bothered setting it up in that stuff....yet! Maybe later when i've had enough brews. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted February 28, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2018 Hope you've got a video camera, steam ploughing sounds fun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
77philg Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Hi bob John Fox ,and the defunct foxfields light railway His lady Anne got this far with the plough and couldn't push it any further. The snow compacts and then wheel slip occurs. So live steam doesn't always work. Weight is the key on the loco though. phil 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 28, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2018 img048.jpg Hi bob John Fox ,and the defunct foxfields light railway His lady Anne got this far with the plough and couldn't push it any further. The snow compacts and then wheel slip occurs. So live steam doesn't always work. Weight is the key on the loco though. phil Love the picture and the way there is snow in the background. Wet snow is often too heavy for plowing the light powdery stuff is usually better. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
77philg Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 That picture stirs a few memories Phil. Mind you here in the Midlands we currently have a cornice hanging from the garden retaining wall of Himalayan proportions. My boots of course are up in the shed along with spade and stiff broom. You could always do what I do, send the good little wifey out to clear it .But make sure she operates the kettle before she goes Cant get thirsty while watching the entertainment Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 Some good news for followers of my line, the Daughter managed to retrieve a lot of my photos off 'Photofeckitupbucket@ coughitup.dotcom. and i should be able to post them soon, i would'nt think they'll be in any great order, but i'll try to explain as much as i can remember about them, as there's lot more than i thought Had a good warm morning tidying up, re-ballasting and topping up the line-side with soil all around the line. Surprising just how much gets washed or blown away over a few months of British weather. I'm waiting for it to get a bit warmer for a lot longer before i start to mix some concrete again to get the subsidence sorted! Looks a bit stark at the mo' but it'll soon all weather in ok. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fillipe Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Now then 'Bob', Good to see you still producing masterpieces Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
44690 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Good to see the progress on the railway. Take it easy and enjoy it. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Great to hear from you again Bob! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) Nice to be still breathing and waking up alive in the mornings Mike Really Nice to see some old names and some old previous forum mates popping up again, have you all been in Hibernation? ..........Fillipe!.... will the real Phil' please sign in! Wow! Ian! Sundays day out! i'm still recovering from a really great day ..it'll take some beating Ian...Thanks! Edited March 27, 2018 by Owd Bob 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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