# Garden railroad tarps?



## drjohn (Feb 24, 2009)

October 2009 Garden Railways magazine, page 12, bottom right. A person or company listed an offering for fitted tarps to cover bridges/structures. Phone number doesn't appear to be correct when called. GR magazine doesn't have any other contact information. Interesting subject. Anybody have any information.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry no info on that specific company. 

But we did exactly the same thing. Found the thickest "clear" material offered at our local hardware store. Not exactly clear because it is thick. It comes thicker in black, but I didn't want to use black for fear of it absorbing heat from direct sunlight. I think the name for the tarp material we got was 10 mil...?


We had it cut it to length at the hardware store (about 14 feet long for our twin 6 foot bridges) and then I made special cuts in it to match our bridge piers. These cuts were reinforced with duct tape around the edges. Very easy to wrap around the bridges and it holds tight with four bungee cords. On two six foot long bridges, we can protect a full trainset and one extra locomotive from rain and direct sunlight. On the extra long ends, we sometimes put rocks to hold it down from flapping in the wind. Works great! Here's a photo showing it not fully secured/wrapped:












Here's a photo showing the area without the tarp cover for comparison:


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

In areas with more sunlight, the UV will destroy clear materials very fast. (this is because the UV can penetrate to all parts of the plastic, it is not blocked by anything opaque). 

Look for black plastic, it will last longer. 

Regards, Greg


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Greg is right about black lasting longer.

Since we only operate our layout from mid June to early August, and since the layout is in a shady area thanks to big pine trees, the clear material breaking down from the sun is not a real issue for us. And it takes a good 2-3 weeks to get the layout reopened where we are even storing trains on the bridges, so really only out for about 2 months total.


However if it was out year round, then we would go with black.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I used to keep my trains in clear storage tubs, that got the morning sun, stacked 6 high... there were a couple of near disasters where the plastic crumbled, brittle. 

Interesting fact, it's not the plastic composition, it's the fact that black usually has carbon particles in it, and they block the light to the rest of the plastic, the surface layer still dies off, but the UV cannot penetrate further. 

That's why there are black ty-raps... 

Regards, Greg


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

You might want to be careful wrapping a bridge with plastic. If you do, make sure the bridge is anchored and strong. Plastic on a bridge makes an excellent BOX KITE! A fellow member of our club destroyed his bridge that way.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Del Tapparo on 05 Oct 2009 06:19 PM 
You might want to be careful wrapping a bridge with plastic. If you do, make sure the bridge is anchored and strong. Plastic on a bridge makes an excellent BOX KITE! A fellow member of our club destroyed his bridge that way. 

Good advice, and a little funny to think of a flying bridge. 



Hard to imagine wind moving our heavy solid steel bridges. Takes two people just to move one of them. Thankfully our bridges have withstood up to 65mph winds so far. Haven't had anything stronger up here in the mountains. All the trees make great wind blocks. But deer, elk, and bears bumping into the bridges are always a constant worry.


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Matt, 

I remember seeing your railroad at the Garden Railroad Convention. If I recall correctly you are a little bit above sea level (at tleast it was when I was attending Ft. Lewis in the 60s). So there is a trifle more UV getting there as you do not have as much atmosphere to dissipate it. So even shady I would keep a real close eye on the plastic (GRIN).


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Seems to me a cover would increase the chances of damage or deterioration.


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

You would think that covering a wooden bridge would also trap moisture. Wood should be allowed to dry to prevent rotting. 
Regards, Dennis.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Ironton on 06 Oct 2009 06:51 AM 
Matt, 

I remember seeing your railroad at the Garden Railroad Convention. If I recall correctly you are a little bit above sea level (at tleast it was when I was attending Ft. Lewis in the 60s). So there is a trifle more UV getting there as you do not have as much atmosphere to dissipate it. So even shady I would keep a real close eye on the plastic (GRIN). 

A little bit above sea level! That got me laughing









At 8200 feet we're up there in elevation. I wonder how many other layouts around the country (and world) are at higher elevations? There are a few in the general Durango region that I know of. Can't really call em garden railroads up this high. Not too many garden plants work well in high, cold, and relatively dry conditions. 


But I'm not worried about UV against the tarp since it's only used 2 months out of the whole year. The rest of the year it is stored in the garage. I'd be more worried about the track and plastic ties which stay out year round (switches/turnouts come in for storage). But the ties are UV protected and have held up fine so far. 

Thanks for visiting our layout during the convention.


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

I tried using a tarp once to keep some of the leaf fall and debris off my layout [22 mature trees]. The damage done by the tarp not being adequately anchored when the wind came up to 25mph [fairly low by Wichita standards] caused much more damage and corrective effort than If I had just put up all the datail and vaccuumed the leaves. 

Jim Carter


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