Large Scale Central

Rain . . .! We got rain in Northern New Mexico

Track and Trestles
#1

Yes, we do get rain on occasion, the problem is what we get generally comes down all at once. Friday, 30% chance of scattered showers, it was 92 degrees and it started to rain, sun shine and rain. More Rain. And even more rain. I was at my Photo Studio and wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to go out in this.

http://s1234.photobucket.com/user/dave2-8-0/media/Summerrain_zps7a8a0f61.mp4.html

This is what causes the normally dry arroyos to go from dry to 6 foot deep and 40 miles per hour in a couple of minutes.

Now after watching the video, are you ready for this… officially we got " A Trace of rain in Farmington ". If that was a trace… What would they call Hurricane Sandy?

The Pike took a beating. I got 3 wash overs with mud on the main line.

And one on the Mtn Div.

Not really to bad, but maybe time for some more cribbing. I spent this morning building some low panels to try and hold back the dirt. Install tomorrow.

#2

Now you know where to put your culverts. :slight_smile:

#3

Natural reballasting?

#4

Just do what the RR would do. Get out the flanger and clear the rail tops. The rest holds the track in place!

#5

Looks like you got some work to do.:stuck_out_tongue:

#6

Glad you got some of that wet stuff, Dave. The track crews are gonna have a late night getting the mainline cleared…

#7

Man, you got rain today too! How’s your railroad holding up?

#8

Much more ran today. I’ll get out and access the damage when it get light out, I think that the cribbing put out last week wasen’t enough, or just poor planning by the construction supper.

Rich, I’ll gladly send some across the state to your side…

Dave

#9

Three major sections of mud covering the track, again, also this time I have a couple of major water carved canyons and mud/sand run downs… I guess that I just under estimated the amount of rain that we would get.

#10

Looks like you could use some rock or wood walls at the base of them hills or some ground cover (sedums)

#11

About 10 tonight and it’s raining again… AARGGGEEE… Hard heavy rain. Locals are talking Ark. Wash down again.

(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/Track-33_zpsb94a6b75.jpg)

Notice that the cribbing on the right side worked perry well, Thats where the mud came from last rain. This time it was the left side of the mtn. Notice that all the rip rap along the river is washed away also. I do use the river as a natural drain on the pike, it couldn’t take the flow.

Shawn, I think you’r right on the rocks… Time to go out and start looking for some more, a lot more. Maybe by the time I’m done it will look like Rays Inkopah.

We’ve gotten more rain in the past 8 days then in the past year, no kidding, a whole year… we average about 6in of moisture a year. My neighbors expensive rain gage said 3.3 inches yesterday alone.

#12

'Way up here in Toronto your troubles made the news all day long. They told us that in Colorado - Boulder County to be specific, got a whole year’s worth of rain in 24 hours. Up here a year’s rain is 30 inches, but at least God spreads it out over time for us. Good luck with your recovery from all this. All I can say, Dave, is that those washouts look pretty prototypical to me! I know that in the mountains both the CN and the CP have to put up with that kind of stuff! I think you need some rocks to hold those hills back.
As for me, I’m in the process of putting the whole pike up on benchwork at a height of 39" - think kitchen countertop height. So far, I’m really liking the result, but the backyard doesn’t look as much like a garden as it used to…
It’s a tradeoff, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s really worth it.
Cheers!

#13

Be careful what you wish for John, I built my layout to 40" high and then discovered sometimes I needed a small stepladder to reach things.

Dave dont think of it as a washout, its “natural reballasting”

#14

I believe the 1:1 scale railroads had the same problems… After a heavy rain, or snow, they learned where to put the retaining walls, culvets, bridges, and snow sheds…

#15

Yeah, it’s pretty wet out here at the moment. Boulder County’s all but shut down. There’s a dam up in Commerce City that’s failed, but hasn’t yet fallen apart. The community in its shadows has been evacuated. Lots of towns up in the mountains are completely cut off due to road damage.

I’ve got about 10" of water in a bucket that–on Tuesday–was dry. I’ve been watching the local wildlife walk down the street 2 x 2 all week. (Yet my dogs won’t stick their noses outside…)

The railroad has held up well, though it’s quite saturated and I’ve got pockets of standing water here and there. I just finished putting in a bunch of rocks to hold my ballast in place on one of my loops, and this has certainly proven a good test of its efficacy.

Go figure; I’ve got an open house this weekend… Hopefully things will dry out by then. The rain’s supposed to stop later this afternoon, and Saturday’s supposed to be mostly sunny with only scattered thunderstorms. Sunday’s a wildcard. One forecast shows rain all day, one forecast shows much like Saturday. Even the weather guys I work with have changed the Sunday forecast seemingly for every newscast. At least I’ll be able to answer that tired question “what do you do when it rains?”

Later,

K

#16

Vic Smith said:

Be careful what you wish for John, I built my layout to 40" high and then discovered sometimes I needed a small stepladder to reach things.

Dave dont think of it as a washout, its “natural reballasting”

It’s ok Vic. first, I’m a longfellow, but all my visitors aren’t, so your point is well taken, and you’re not the only one to have expressed this concern. However, it’s an ‘around the wall’ pike with a maximum benchwork depth of 36", and the back 6" is reserved for structures/accessories, so folks only have to reach the near side of a track 30" away. I have platforms for youngsters to stand on, or even for grownups to sit on or even place a foot on for a change of posture.
It’s new, though, and I’ll report here on any difficulties. Undoubtedly there will be lessons learned. So far so good though.

#17

Before the rain headed to Dave’s house we got a sampling of it. I found one 8-foot section where I have to build cribbing but where I want to build a small bridge on the trolley line we had no run off. Go figure!