Large Scale Central

Yard work

Track and Trestles
#1

Well, I have managed to create some extra real estate for a couple of small yards; nothing Nelsonian about them. The outer boards will house a two-road engine shed with a lead off the outer curve; the 2x8s inside the curves will support a couple of goods (freight) sidings with a goods shed. I initially intended to cantilever the outer planks off the main structure, but quickly discovered that an extra leg would be a good idea; fortunately I had a spare deck block and a bit of 4x4. Yes, the leg is vertical in real life.

Actually, this photo is a little out of date; I spent a day off today trying out pieces of track to see how things might fit without having to buy anything :stuck_out_tongue: – well, I did have to buy a new Aristo x-wide switch to lead off the main, because the one I had on hand suffered catastrophic damage in a shelf collapse in the garden shed :frowning: . By dusk, I had found a workable layout (including – shock, horror – a couple of R1 sections on the outer shed road, but this railway is a backcountry quarry enterprise run with 0-4-0s, so R1s should be OK in sidings. Updated pix in due course :slight_smile: Oh yes, that green thing in the background is a hydro transformer and a pain in the ass. “No obstacle permitted within three metres” means that I cannot run a line down along the fence. Oh well …

#2
Chris Vernell said:
Oh yes, that green thing in the background is a hydro transformer and a pain in the ass. "No obstacle permitted within three metres" means that I cannot run a line down along the fence. Oh well ...
For that very reason the local power company here refuses to run their buried utilities through the back yard. Everything is out in front of the house inside the street and utility ROW and on the property line between 2 properties. Having had the misfortune of trying to replace a bad section of cable quite a few times through back yards and around sheds, garages, pools, porches, fences, dog houses, gardens, trees, etc, and the hassle of trying to get the equipment into some peoples back yard, I can see why they decided that everything will be out in front along the street. Most of the developers didn't like that idea, but then again, they didn't have to maintain the stuff. Besides that, trying to enforce that "No obstacle permitted within three metres" rule with a couple thousand customers is just pissing in the wind especially in a city or suburban environment with limited yard space. I feel for ya...........;)
#3

We had a hydro box in the back corner of our yard of our previous property. One cold, rainy, February night the transformer in it blew night leaving 22 houses around us without power. At 3 in the morning there were trucks with flashing lights and hydro workers all over the place.

Da boss decides she’s going to get up and nag them a bit. I tell her to get back to bed, mind her own business, and leave to do their job. She ignores my advice as usual and starts yapping at them. The foreman yells back that he is sending her the bill for the repair. Apparently the contractor that put new sod down after the pool was installed blocked the vents on the transformer box. Sure enough two weeks a letter arrives addressed to her asking for $43,000.00 for the repair.

I let her run around for about a week like Chicken Little, and then finally told her it was contractor’s responsibility. She calls the contractor. He comes over, has a look at the letter and realizes he knows the foreman. They have a man to man talk, probably over a bottle of scotch, and the foreman arrives the next day to supervise the contractor while he fixes the lawn to hydro standards and tears up the letter.

Da boss didn’t go outside this time, and I grinned for a week afterwards. Some people just have to learn the hard way.

#4
Ken Brunt said:
Chris Vernell said:
Oh yes, that green thing in the background is a hydro transformer and a pain in the ass. "No obstacle permitted within three metres" means that I cannot run a line down along the fence. Oh well ...
Besides that, trying to enforce that "No obstacle permitted within three metres" rule with a couple thousand customers is just pissing in the wind especially in a city or suburban environment with limited yard space. I feel for ya...........;)
When our development was built 30+ years ago, our row of houses backed onto a main road along which ran the overhead power lines (as they still do), so it made sense to place the power transformers at the back of the yard. The underground lines from the tranny run along the road allowance. Our original transformer was at ground level (on patio slabs, IIRC), and over the years started tilting and sinking (and rusting). One cold winter day, Ottawa Hydro shows up with a big crane which they park out on the road; a crew cuts the chain-link fence, clears the snow, lifts out the old transformer, digs a hole, packs down a solid gravel foundation with a couple of rectangular concrete rings on top, and drops a new transformer on top of the lot; the new tranny is about 18" off the ground, and so far hasn't sunk, tilted or rusted. We were given no advance notice that this was to happen, and we were out at work when the crew showed up; I imagine that if I had anything in the work zone, they would simply have slung it out of their way -- and probably charged me for their trouble. They certainly cut the TV cable, without apology; the cable repair guy wasn't too happy about a call out on a frigid day ;) Incidentally, the old restriction sticker read "No permanent structure within 10 feet" (this was pre-metric), which might have allowed me to get away with an easily removable trestle or suchlike, but "No obstacle" sounds a bit stricter. My layout is 10'2" :D from the transformer; yes, I measured it out in advance, with a non-metric tape. However, I am still considering a non-scale, movable trestle that will carry a line of track past the transformer to a point on the back fence three metres from the green beast, and thence along the fence to a "port" on the far side of the yard. This trestle would be stored out of the way when I'm not actually using it.
#5

Makes me happy I live in the open fields of the country. I dont have to deal with this stuff.

On another note, I would be extremely unhappy if a elec contractor or whatever, shows up on my property and just starts moving heavy equipment around and digging where they please. A property owner has rights. Its not like your going to ban them from working, but a courteous advanced notice from the company and explanation of what they are doing should be expected.

#6

ROW laws vary from state to state but landowners get in trouble with them all the time it seems? ROW exist for a variety of reasons. from access to a lake or stream, to railroads and highway access, to utility access. Some have need to more access than others More frequent too…

I arrived home earlier this year to a notice on the door from teh power company “relating to access and trees, please call 1-800-etc.” Crap, I think, they will be cutting down my tree out front. I call to find that the High tension lines that run behind our property by a 100 feet or so will be inspected this year by helicopter. It was notice that if you see a helicopter hovering around the wires adn towers to not be alarmed and call the state troppers of police just because a helicopter seems to be hovering near your house with a high powered camera. LOL! I thanked the gentleman for the notice.

Chas