Installing SR concrete fencing

[nberrington]

This may be a redundant question for those of you on Scaleforum, as I posted this there too.

 

I have a goofy question.

The Southern Railway installed thousands of concrete fence posts along the permanent way.
While considering the Scalefour Diorama Challenge, I got thinking more along the lines of a vignette (i.e. a really tiny diorama I can put in my carry-on luggage.)

A crew inserting said fencing was a thought - I nice opportunity to model some departmental wagons and paint some of those lovely Modelu figures.

Now this might sound like Eccles speaking - but "how did they dig the holes?" I imagine a hole digging device like one uses to plant poles? ( A pole with two rounded blades on it ) - Something akin to the gizmo they use on the golf green to cut a hole? Or did some poor sod literally use a shovel?

Like these:

https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/ ... -pro-tips/

Any thoughts?

[Wickham Green too]

I doubt if they had those hole digging gizmos back then ......... but I'm sure they would have had an auger for the purpose.

 

If you don't get a better answer, you can build a diorama of the guys removing SR concrete lamp posts ! : - 

Hayes :  7/8/83

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/spear-jackson-post-hole-auger/3911K?kpid=3911K&cm_mmc=Google-_-Datafeed-_-Outdoor and Gardening?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=Google-_-TOKEN1-_-TOKEN2&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6s3j8Lu8hAMVbptQBh2HFw4-EAQYASABEgJW2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Oldddudders]

Did tractors have a power-take-off in those days? I have no idea. But if not, then Mol-PMB's link is to a tool that is simple enough, and seems likely to have existed in times past. I have two of them. 

[bécasse]

An auger only works where there is nothing hard just below the surface, a pick-axe would probably be defeated by granite or slab slate but not much else.

[fulton]

I suspect the Southern Railway fencers dug their post holes exactly the same way you would manually do it today, using a post hole digger, sort of two grafts fixed together, a graft is a type of spade/shovel for heavy digging and a post hole chisel bar, good for getting through rock, stone, light concrete, on site we called the post hole bar, a pin, they were 5' long and weighed at least 20kg.

Edited February 21 by fulton
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