# To Tree or Not To Tree



## msimpson (Jan 5, 2009)

After years of thinking about it, I finally ordered the track to put a permanent loops outside -- enough SVRR three rail to make a twenty foot diameter circle, to be elevated on posts, low enough that I can step over on the side where the ground is highest and high enough that trains will run near eye level in a lawn chair where the ground is lowest. 

Single track, no switches, no sidings. I am a man of simple needs, but many scales (0, G, 16 mil, 7/8). Live steam, clockwork, and battery.

So today's question is, do I run it around the five foot diameter oak tree or next to the five foot diameter oak tree? Either way I am in partial shade and with the likelihood of occasional limbs coming down. Around the tree puts my eyes closer to the track (more slope in the ground) and make its closer to the house (shorter hauling of trains) while next to the tree gives me a little better sunlight (if I can grow something the deer won't eat. Either way, the posts go into deck blocks, so roots aren't a problem, and the site is on a secluded cul de sac, shielded by 4 foot azaelas. 

The real question is whether it is better to be able to see the train all the way around the track, or to have it disappear and reappear, going behind the tree. With no turnouts, derailments should be minimized, but there will be some. (Curse you acorn!) Suggestions and advice from those who have tried it will be gratefully accepted. 

Best regards, Mike


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

View blocks add to the sense of distance. My simple start was on the ground, barren ground with no natural obstructions... I hauled in rocks and flat ones I planted on end so they rose above the trains. I found that even those short view blocks added to the sense of going somewhere. 
Later I added a tunnel that covers a 1/4 turn and it really adds to the effect...'cept when my canned sound blows the whistle inside it. I keep thinking the engine and crew should emerge covered in soot! 
Of course you will need to walk the track before running and during operations if it is windy or the season for falling acorns.... but, depending on eyesight you might do that anyway. 

John


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

I like shade as well, despite all the problems associated, not the least of which it's harder to clear leaves and grow pretty groundcover. 

7/8, huh? Visit us here too http://www.7-8ths.info/index.php?action=forum 

Dave V


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## msimpson (Jan 5, 2009)

Dave, I'm already there. 

Several 7/8 projects in the works, including a baldrig, a DJB coal conversion, a Super BAGRS, and some battery. BUT, everything else will go quicker if I can get a permanent track up. 

Mike (MikeinTallahassee2)


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By SE18 on 01 Feb 2011 11:26 AM 
I like shade as well, despite all the problems associated, not the least of which it's harder to clear leaves and grow pretty groundcover. 

7/8, huh? Visit us here too http://www.7-8ths.info/index.php?action=forum 

Dave V



That's an interesting forum. I joined as soon as I browsed it. Hooray for me. Although I don't model 7/8s scale, I have long been an admirer of it. To me it really represents what a garden railway should be. Sorry if I offended anyone.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Oh, by the way, stay away from Oak trees. They are the *most* difficult leaves to clean up, not to mention the acorns of *all* sizes that derail trains and get into switch points. My wife and I have not regretted having our tree removed last year.


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## msimpson (Jan 5, 2009)

Dear Mad, 

I can't stay away from oak trees, unless I leave home. Three acres on a hilltop, wooded on the back and my wife won't let me play on the front (in public). 

But, I've gradually cleared a roughly 30 x 80 foot oval area on one side, hedged in with azaeleas and, iron plants, and a few other deer-resistant varieties. Fortunately, with only about 63 feet of track, it's not too much too keep cleared and as mentioned above, no switches or sidings. 

While it is neither a perfect world nor a perfect setup, it's better than the 8 x 5 table layout I used to run on (two foot radius and a total of 19 1/2 feet of track), and both are way better than not being able to run trains at all. 

The strengths are that even the biggest trains will run on it (ten foot radius), that nearly any gauge or scale will run on it (three rail), that I don't have to squat or sit on the floor/ground (elevated 18-30 inches), that it has a wide loading gauge (one track, no sidings), and, especially, that it is 75 feet from my back door. Plus shady (Florida summers), breezy (hilltop), secluded (shrubbery and two house cul de sac), and the track should arrive on Friday! 

Now if it were pine trees -- I hate pine trees. ; ) 

All the best, Mike


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

Acorns are the revenge of the oak trees!

















But, I sure do enjoy the shade they provide when operating in the summer.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Bruce, you might consider importing a few squirrels







but then that brings a whole new set of headaches


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Mike, I hear you. Better to have played outdoors, then to have never played at all.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"Bruce, you might consider importing a few squirrels







but then that brings a whole new set of headaches "

Dan;

Yes it does.










When I still had my layout outdoors, I discovered one day that a squirrel had stuffed the portal to the Flossie Girl Mine full of acorns! Another squirrel decided to gnaw on the pack donkey. Since the donkey was lead, I guess that squirrel's cravings were it's own demise.

Yours,
David Meashey


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

Import squirrels? I don't need any more - there's a bunch I'd like to export. 

They tear around here causing all sorts of havoc. 


A few years ago, they decided to sample my ties...









Last week, they knocked over the Liquor Store.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Bruce, 

Sounds like you need a good dog. Mine keep the squirrels away.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"Sounds like you need a good dog. Mine keep the squirrels away." 

Jake; 

Used to have a part-Maine **** cat named Treki. He weighed 22 pounds and was equal on height and length to a Cocker Spaniel. While Treki was alive, there were no squirrels in our yard. 

Yours, 
David Meashey


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