Large Scale Central

Adding water feature on the RC &TR Ridge RR

Gardening
#1

After a few months of planning work has finally begun on adding a waterfall and pond feature on the railroad. Heavy lifting started today by moving one large boulder away from a cluster of three in order to open up a section for the pond. A second boulder will also be moved to finish the area.

The grand plan is for a waterfall to come off the mountain next to the tunnel and spill over the tracks. Yes, the train will be going behind the waterfall. There will be an upper pond on the layout which will spill into a pool just in front of the raised bed. This is where the pump, etc will all be housed.

My biggest challenge is getting the liner under the boulders…very heavy. I’m always appreciative of thoughts or suggestions. I’ve never done anything like this before so am looking forward to the challenge.

Richard

#2

Go Richard go! I look forward to seeing your progress.

My water feature is still in the thinking stage. I would like to make the feature about 60 feet long but I don’t know if the pump can handle a three foot height change in that many feet!

#3

The best leverage tool for $12 turned out to be a 10 foot 4x4. Made short work of moving two boulders into their new resting spots…now its time start digging the pond…

Richard

#4

Doug Arnold said:

Go Richard go! I look forward to seeing your progress.

My water feature is still in the thinking stage. I would like to make the feature about 60 feet long but I don’t know if the pump can handle a three foot height change in that many feet!

If not, then buy a bigger pump. I have a pond pump that is rated at something like 535gph. It lifts a fair amount of water about 3 feet, give or take, but the run is probably only 5 or 6 feet. Its the head, or height, that it has to lift the water that should matter more then the run, provided you use large enough tubing so as to not restrict the flow.

#5

Good point David! I’m looking at 3700 gph waterfall pump. The tube run is estimated to be about 10 - 15 long with rise of about 5 feet from pump to waterfall. I’m working with a pond outfit out of Oklahoma who seems to have it together. My biggest challenge is all the prep work and hooking up the two separate pools to get the look I’m after.

Early tomorrow morning the trenching of the upper pond begins…probably going to have to reinforce the interior walls because the dirt seems pretty soft. I’ll post more pictures as it starts to come together.

Richard

#6

Completed the heavy digging today and ordered the waterfall/pond pieces. Thanks to the CEO of the railroad (my wife) we were able get things dug out in just few hours. Still have a few roots to tend to but we’ll save that for tomorrow.

I don’t know why my photos are such small icons. I’d like them to be larger within the post. Haven’t figured out how to do that.

Richard

#7

Pictures open to a good size. Will be satisfying to have the scene come together after the work.

#8

Thanks Forrest…the most recent picture was edited to flip 90 degrees within the “manage” photos section but it didn’t take…I’ve created a post in the “website” forum with hopes someone explaining to me what I’m doing incorrectly.

Richard

#9

Thank you Rick Marty and John Caughey for the lesson in posting pictures…

#10

Woo hoo!! Pond materials have been ordered and are being shipped today!!

Richard

#11

Glad to help, stay hydrated my friend.

John

#12

Suffered a minor setback this morning. Lesson learned: Make sure you fix any sliced sprinkler lines before the next watering cycle. The positive in this I guess is that the pond layout will look really nice when finished…now to figure out how get that collapsed boulder back up in it’s place

Richard

#13

Richard Mynderup said:

…now to figure out how get that collapsed boulder back up in it’s place

Richard

Get Sisyphus to help you. Won’t take any time at all.

#14

Oh my, an Artery! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

At least you didn’t bury it! I’ve had gardeners do that for me… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)

I like the ‘lake’ as it is now, kinda reminds me of some of the places I took the house boat on Lake Powell.

Now about that rock, when you really need leverage I recommend the Wizard Bar, I own the largest, you are welcome to borrow it.

I got mine through a rock hound store …

John

#15

Great to see progress. I dig ragweed tomorrow!

#16

With the help of a retired teacher friend, my lovely better half, and the engineer friend down the street we were able the two boulders moved up and out of the way after our little water leak catastrophe that occurred the other day. I can now focus on shoring up the side walls with concrete blocks in certain areas and ready the entire pond for the liner which is arriving Monday. Making progress!!

Richard

#17

Progress is good! While sometimes one wonders about certain things claimed to be progress, progress here really is progress (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#18

Be sure to get a UV filter, helps a LOT to keep the water clear.

#19

I second that. I’ve tried using clarifier chemicals. They work for awhile, but the UV filter takes a lot of work off.

#20

UV filter? Chemicals? Huh…

I just use a marsh, and let nature do the work.