The LNER Encyclopedia

Hi All,

To continue - this is a bit about the rockery section. The rockery came about due to a large wall being nocked out of the workshop - the rubble had to go somewhere - build a rockery on it! And the fact that the 5" GL line - I wanted a wooden bridge - so a pond had to be dug - the soil for the rockery!!

The O Gauge line had to be moved to accomodate the 5" line so where better to take it thatn across the rockery to be?

The Piccies show some of the stages in the construction of the line across the rocks. The last pics were shot today - the under arches have still to be put in place, but I am giving the cement a week to get up to a decent strength before I put them in place (cementious material takes 28 days to achieve a maximum strength, apparently!).

Next stop - the bridges! The one for the waterfall area is about half finished at present.

More later.

GeoffB

The earlier views in the construction.

GeoffB

An exercise in civil engineering in miniature!
The concrete bases have been constructed complete with the baseboard supports and drainage ready for the fitting of the boards. The waterfall and the rockery have yet to be added after all the bricks have been "sifted" out of the soil!

Still very much a builder's tip!

GeoffB

Good progress!

What were the baseboards made of?

Cement curing times: Yep, that's why with skyscrapers, they'll keep the wooden bracing in place for a few floors after the shuttering and pouring has been done.
A few years back, New Scientist had a pie-in-the-sky feature article about using magnesium-rich cement and concretes as carbon dioxide sinks. I think they said it would still be curing and taking CO2 from the atmosphere after two years! I don't think the quantities worked out (how much concrete would you have to lay to make a dent in atmospheric CO2?) and I have never heard anything since.

Richard

Hi Richard,

The baseboards are made from 18mm ply covered with roofing felt. I use OSD most times as it is quite stable and as it is not in layers, it doesn't part plys - and it is half the price!.

A quick guide to this in case anyone is interested in starting a garden layout. If you've done it, then, sorry - not trying to teach "sucking eggs"! Just giving another approach to the idea.

The boards are cut to size and shape, then the edges are rounded off (with a router) both sides to give a complete roll edge which allows the roofing felt (coarse grit type) to be rolled over the edge without splitting. I usually lay the felt out on the lawn on a warm, sunny day (the odd one or two that sometimes arrive in the typical British summer - remember them, Richard?) to get the felt pliable.

The felt is then cut to shape, laid on the baseboard that has been screwed in place on the 4x2 batterns and then rolled over the edge and tacked into place with large head roofing tacks.

The joints are sealed with black silicon sealer and the grit that comes off the felt is collected up and sprinkled very liberally onto the wet silicon and left till the silicon has gone off - I usually give it a day - then the surplus is swept off and kept for the next joint. Apart from the boards that went around the rockery, I usually try to cut the board joints at an angle which tends to alleviate "stepping" and try to keep the felt joints away from the board joints. I cut the felt joints at an angle too, as they are easier to disguise.

In the case of the boards around the rockery, as they were to be screwed to the support bricks, the felt was applied first by laying face down and the board positioned upside down on the felt, the felt rolled over, then tacked to the underside (which is facing upwards). Then board was then put in place with the screws going through the felt and the silicon/grit treatment applied to seal.

Regards,

Geoff