That’s a lot of Nuts! up here they are blaming the Squirrel population explosion on the heavy acorns production last year, but that is by far a ton. there have been road kill squirrels all over the place this year, to the point that they have been finding there hungry young’uns and taking them to animal shelters (bad move in my opinion)
Bruce Chandler said:
Based on photographs…it’s every ten years?
Here’s a shot from 2007…
I don’t remember how I handled THAT!
Holy Acorvalanche, Batman (Bruce Wayne Chandler) How Ginormous is the that tree???
Well…having a layout underneath the oak trees is nice for shade in the summer (although it doesn’t do much to reduce the humidity 
)
Unfortunately, between the acorns and the branches that fall - it is tough for my buildings and structures.
I had a branch fall on my turntable bridge so it’s time to take it in for repairs…
I will need to resolder the railing as well as replace a few of the boards. Not a big deal, but it will take some work.
and maybe install a storage shelf under that area to prevent this type damage when not in use
David Marconi,FOGCH said:
and maybe install a storage shelf under that area to prevent this type damage when not in use
Nah, that would just mean that I would have to remember to take it in each time. That’s probably not going to happen with my memory.
Hey, what were we talking about? 
Bruce;
Try looking for one of those plastic planters…the cheap ones…some are large enough in diameter to put over the turntable (Upside down), when you are not using the railroad. If it is on the light side, just put several bricks on it to keep it in place.
Remember the ones we used for keeping the bheer and soft drinks in, with ice and water ?
Fred Mills
Fred Mills. said:
Bruce;
Try looking for one of those plastic planters…the cheap ones…some are large enough in diameter to put over the turntable (Upside down), when you are not using the railroad. If it is on the light side, just put several bricks on it to keep it in place.
Remember the ones we used for keeping the bheer and soft drinks in, with ice and water ?
Fred Mills
I think I’ve been misunderstood. I am not trying to protect anything in between sessions -while I get a LOT of my enjoyment out of operating my railroad, it’s almost equal to the enjoyment I get just by looking at it while it’s not being operated. So, I’m not covering anything - ever. I will repair it when necessary, but it’s going to live in the elements. Crazy, right?
Bruce
I understand what you are saying about enjoying your RR just looking at it. It is one of the ways to enjoy it, that is always there for you. 
Ok, so a plexiglas cover for the turntable, ha ha!
Greg
Maintenance, maintenance, and yet more maintenance.
Today I went to work on this little spur that comes down from Green Springs.
It doesn’t look TOO bad in the picture, but what you can’t see is the Tufboard under there.
Well, there USED to be TufBoard under there, but it has completely rotted away. Well, to be fair: it IS a wood product. (To be UNFAIR: why call it TufBoard???)
Anyway, time to replace everything - this time with some PVC!
It comes VERY white, but I toned it down with some primer. I’ll let that dry…plus it is very muddy from last night’s rain - so I’ll wait until tomorrow to finish it up. (Gad, is it MUGGY out there today!)
Hopefully this will last a LOT longer.
Don’t feel bad Bruce, it’s muggy here too…
Ken Brunt said:
Don’t feel bad Bruce, it’s muggy here too…
I just wish I could figure it all out. It’s only May, but LAST week we had the heat on! Now, it’s like July…I’m so confused…
65° F, 15 Kts wind, 40% humidity, scattered clouds, here in beautiful Deer Park.
Steve Featherkile said:
65° F, 15 Kts wind, 40% humidity, scattered clouds, here in beautiful Deer Park.
Now, that’s some nice working weather…it’s 80 right now (at 930) and high humidity, although no breeze to speak of…
At least I had a breeze. Getting the irrigation back working again.
After replacing the track, I remembered that I had a serious drainage problem there and my original solution just clogged up way too easily. I decided to re-do it - this time, I used PVC to build a culvert.
The original “pipe” can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the picture below…
Does it work? Well, that’s a good question. These pictures were taken AFTER last night’s rainfall - 2.63" total!
I took this picture a few hours into the storm (it was getting late, plus it WAS raining, so it’s not the brightest!)
LOTS of water!
Did you post a flash flood warning for the area??? hehehe 
Bruce,
Did it work? 
I am in the initial early planning stage for my outdoor railroad layout. I intend to have just a periphery layout in the rear of a 1.25 acre plot of land I want to buy.
I am 73 and I do NOT want a ground level layout. I am thinking in terms of a raised layout about 16 inches tall so I can sit in a chair or a wheeled garden stool to work on it.
So, I will have a concreted angled back stone “wall” between the layout front & rear property block wall and will fill that raised area with dirt…creating a nice raised border
around the rear of my property. the dirt fill will come from the partial depth basement excavation, which is where my interior “Metropolis” city layout (& train shelves) will be located.
I am leaning toward making the front wall and fill “terraced” so it looks like it is a railroad built into a mountain face…(The property faces Superstition Mountain in Phoenix area).
I’d also like a recirculated flowing river at the bottom of the front rocky wall, so it adds interest to the view overall. At the East, South & North edges there will be three “islands”.
That will be wider sections of the periphery raised border. This should add “natural” flowing curves to the front rocky wall…as opposed to an “unnatural” straight wall 300 ft long.
Those three wider sections (or “islands”) will each have a unique short line railroad. the Main Line from Metropolis (in the basement) will run the periphery of the rear yard.
The home basement will only be partially in ground with windows sills at near ground level and an easy access for the trains to go from bench top level outside through a portal.
At each of the three islands there will be a train station…Main Line in front and Short Line on the opposite side of the station. (with freight sidings for both lines to interface).
Each island short line will serve the small city at the Main Line Station, (front middle of the island) and two small towns located at the opposite ends of the “Island”, by the block wall.
I was thinking of fastening wide strips of “plastic” synthetic outdoor deck planking material to the top of the concrete, so I can then screw the track down to that material.
Has anyone tried using plastic deck planking as a roadbed? For curves I’ll cut strips with my large table saw, band saw or hand power saw, so they can be bent to “X” radius.
The strips can be assembled using the ladder method…and if the strips are 1.75 wide by say 3" or 4" deep, they can be buried in the dirt for stability (in their short line routes).
So, those are my initial illusions, dreams and ideas… what do you think??
Don
Don Eyermann said:
I am in the initial early planning stage for my outdoor railroad layout. I intend to have just a periphery layout in the rear of a 1.25 acre plot of land I want to buy.
I am 73 and I do NOT want a ground level layout. I am thinking in terms of a raised layout about 16 inches tall so I can sit in a chair or a wheeled garden stool to work on it.
So, I will have a concreted angled back stone “wall” between the layout front & rear property block wall and will fill that raised area with dirt…creating a nice raised border
around the rear of my property. the dirt fill will come from the partial depth basement excavation, which is where my interior “Metropolis” city layout (& train shelves) will be located.
I am leaning toward making the front wall and fill “terraced” so it looks like it is a railroad built into a mountain face…(The property faces Superstition Mountain in Phoenix area).
I’d also like a recirculated flowing river at the bottom of the front rocky wall, so it adds interest to the view overall. At the East, South & North edges there will be three “islands”.
That will be wider sections of the periphery raised border. This should add “natural” flowing curves to the front rocky wall…as opposed to an “unnatural” straight wall 300 ft long.
Those three wider sections (or “islands”) will each have a unique short line railroad. the Main Line from Metropolis (in the basement) will run the periphery of the rear yard.
The home basement will only be partially in ground with windows sills at near ground level and an easy access for the trains to go from bench top level outside through a portal.
At each of the three islands there will be a train station…Main Line in front and Short Line on the opposite side of the station. (with freight sidings for both lines to interface).
Each island short line will serve the small city at the Main Line Station, (front middle of the island) and two small towns located at the opposite ends of the “Island”, by the block wall.
I was thinking of fastening wide strips of “plastic” synthetic outdoor deck planking material to the top of the concrete, so I can then screw the track down to that material.
Has anyone tried using plastic deck planking as a roadbed? For curves I’ll cut strips with my large table saw, band saw or hand power saw, so they can be bent to “X” radius.
The strips can be assembled using the ladder method…and if the strips are 1.75 wide by say 3" or 4" deep, they can be buried in the dirt for stability (in their short line routes).
So, those are my initial illusions, dreams and ideas… what do you think??
Don
I’d take a look at Ken’s build.