# Archeology



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

I posted this on the british site a few days ago and no one replied. What do you think of the following? 
Those of us who lay track on a bed of crushed stone, just like the big guys do, may have noticed that over the years, the track moves ever closer to the sky. We may not think it does when we're reballasting or touching up the ballast in certain areas. But for myself, I have had to adjust some line side structures upward. Now my railway is over twenty years old, and I'll bet that most, if not all of the track is at least an inch or two higher than when I first laid it. In some places as much as six or seven inches of elevation has been gained. In areas where I have made major alterations even more. It's in these latter areas that archeological finds have been made. It's amazing how you can forget what you placed or used in these areas when you uncover them. So it is not suprising then that whole cities are lost to time until someone digs them up. Maybe when I finally croak, and no one takes an interest in my railway, it will be grown over with all sorts of fauna. Then someday in the future a gardener will want to plant a flower and make a discovery that will puzzle the scientific world. They'll make the hypothesis that tiny people once lived on Earth. Some of them have been perfectly preserved in some sort of material that would be foreign to the future generations, we hope. And you can finish this story cause I think I'm thinking too much. I better take a television break.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, our toy track is MUCH lighter than the ballast and will "Float" right to the surface! As more ballast is added to dress it, the track will just keep rising to the surface, just like a rubber ducky in the bathtub.

If future archeologists finding our garden railways are anything like past archeoligists, I am sure it will be determined that it was a part of a religious rite that involved human sacrifice.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Um: Two points... 

1. Your railroad would be overgrown with flora, not fauna. 

2. Undoubtedly some future archaeology student will get his PHD writing a thesis about the cultic significance of the site and the child sacrifices that were made there. 

I saw an article years ago by an archaeologist who gave his 3 year old grandson some plastic soda bottles to play with and watched what he did with them. When he got bored and ran off to do something else, he had left them all standng in a circle. He ended with a comment about the religious significance of the site.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Very good Torby. However, who knows? Maybe some little critters will take up a more permanent home in the garden.


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

Ok, that's it, everyone put the adult beverages down right now. You've all had too much.

Whose going to be the designated train driver?

Bob


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

I did start off with a serious topic in mind. But it tends to wander, even when I haven't had any adult beverages. My mind that is.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

What's Fauna?


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 02 May 2011 08:03 PM 
What's Fauna? 

Flora = plants

Fauna = animals


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Haven't you ever heard of "Flora







and Fauna







"? Has to be from Latin


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Of course you could just keep the track from rising in the first place. Whenever I do track work, I use a shop vacuum and screwdriver to remove the existing ballast under the track that I re-apply on top afterwards.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Posted By Torby on 01 May 2011 07:33 AM 
Um: Two points... 

1. Your railroad would be overgrown with flora, not fauna. 

2. Undoubtedly some future archaeology student will get his PHD writing a thesis about the cultic significance of the site and the child sacrifices that were made there. 

I saw an article years ago by an archaeologist who gave his 3 year old grandson some plastic soda bottles to play with and watched what he did with them. When he got bored and ran off to do something else, he had left them all standng in a circle. He ended with a comment about the religious significance of the site. 


Having raised a few 3yr olds I have to say that this scientist is a little short on his data and it was purely coincidence that the 3 yr old actually left the bottles in a circle. Most 3yr olds will leave a toy or toys in the state they were in when they got bored, which would mean not neccessarily a ciclre.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

But then I would not have had this topic to write about







But thank you for getting it back on track. Or would that be on topic.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

That's the configuration they were in when he decided to do something else. Course, I know some who would have knocked them down first.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

But Don; 

Don't we already have ferroequineology? 

Best, 
David Meashey


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Actually, Don makes an interesting observation! It is amazing how the remains of ancient civilzations always seem to be buried! Our hobby is a microcosm of reality in that (at least outside) nature acts in exactly the same fashion! How many times have you seen road construction in a downtown area where a section has been torn up and there are layers going down as much as two to three feet! I recently had to rebuild my north tunnel portal due to deterioration from time and weather. I noticed that the track was about 1½ inches above where I had originally laid it. This wasn't a major concern until I remembered that some of my rolling stock didn't clear the entrance by more than maybe a half an inch! I'm actually having to reduce the elevation of one section so that my Pagosa Springs coach (the one with the cupola) will clear the bridge on my layout! This issue of "creeping elevation" is definitely now on my radar!


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Not that it matters, but it's Dan, not Don. Believe me, I am not offended. I have been doing some digging around my pond in the last few days. I have already uncovered some wiring that I abandoned years ago. Most likely it may have developed a short or a break that I could not find at the time. We fully intend to stay where we are until we are dragged out. And that will be only if we are not sucking in air. Hopefully our children will find a way to keep our house as they all grew up here and thoroughly love it. In the unlikely event that some stranger takes ownership of it, and wants to do some gardening, they should be prepared to run into all sorts of wires, metal staples, pieces of broken masonry, and who knows what else I dropped and forgot about during my garden railway years. Not that they are at an end by any means.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Sometimes maintaining ancient software is a bit like Archaeology. Or maybe Spelunking.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

(Ooops...) Sorry about that Dan!


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