Large Scale Central

My new line started at last

General Discussion
#1

OK, here is an overall view of the first completed section, around SWMBO’s koi pond. This will become a reverse loop at one end of the line. Sorry about white ballast, LGB Debbie (SWMBO) insists as it is meant to be her pond, and apparently these things are aesthetically imporant…

from the ends of the track you can see here, the line will run on raised sections across the lawn then down to the shrub plot in front of the garage, which will have another reverse loop around it, making a dog-bone continuous run.

The gaps across the paths will be spanned with LGB big girder bridges (can’t see the path in that last shot, it’s behind the edge of the pond wall). This shot shows the climb back to the junction.

closer view

this one shows the other track leading into the loop on the far side of the pond.

Now I need to get back to work to recover, 3/4 ton of stone and 1/2 ton of whitespar went into that this weekend! Aaaagh! Ordered the rest of the track I need yesterday morning, and Roundhouse called yesterday afternoon to say my Fowler’s :wub: ready - whooppeee! :smiley: Neil H.

#2

Track with white ballast is an improvement over no track a’tall! Perhaps you can put an industry online that produces stone products appropriate for koi ponding, of course the line would prefer local product as opposed to something imported! Incidentally, no need to use HTML tabs over here, the software fills in the gaps for ya! Have you run the first train yet???

#3

Hi Bart, thanks for that, wondered why I could see the img tags!

Yes, my little Beck ‘Anna’ has had a run, and left her oily calling card along the ties!

I hope to progress further next week, track is ordered, need to get the lumber.

Neil.

#4

Great progress Neil.

Over here, years ago, a product called Ganister Rock was mined around Broad Top Mountain in Pennsylvania and hauled by the East Broad Top. While not quite as bright as your whitespar, it is white in color and can still be found along the roadbed of the EBT. I don’t know if it was ever used as ballast. The commercial use was in making Fire Brick for boilers.

In any case, there is always seems to be a prototype for anything we can dream up, so your white ballast can probably be explained with a real world story, and perhaps an industry to match the story.

JR

#5

…seems to me that you are getting fine co-operation from the young lady in your life. The colour of the ballast doesn’t keep the railroad from operating…!!!

#6

Congrats on the line around the pond,. I hope the rock did not go into the pond in large quantities. KOI and rock are not the best mix, or so says most pond shops out here. I see from the fence that you have some foraging critters that enjoy your fish too.

#7

There’s no rock at all in the pond! The fish live in filtered luxury, I get a cold draughty garage…

The fence is to keep herons and puddy tats off’f her fish - neighbor’s pond got cleaned out in a day last year! Lot of herons around here, being near the coast of an ickle island.

Young? Fr. Fred, she’d love to hear you say that!!! Young compared to some (and me!), but at 42 she considers she has just entered her middle age and is not too pleased!!

The whitespar does weather down in appearance after a while, the older stuff didn’t look too bad after a couple of years. What you see here is brank spanking new.

best regards

Neil H

#8

Beautiful.

#9

One Herron cleaned out hundreds of dollars of Koi in my pond last year in 2 days (didn’t see him the first time). I brought the 2 remaining Koi in the house for the winter and just replanted them a couple weeks ago. I put a grid of wires above the pond at a height above the track at 12". the ground animals (Squirls, Birds, Rats, ECT) can access the water from the ground but not from above. That ought to stop the herrons. OH and last weekend I restoked the house tank with 2" koi for next year in the pond. :slight_smile:

#10

One of ours had beak marks either side of his body - lucky escape!

My new live steamer is on it’s way, hope to have it tomorrow - yippee! Plus another load of track coming - progess!

Neil.