# Can This be Fixed?



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

My railroad has been neglected for over six months now. I just got back from working in Arizona and took one look at it and got totally discouraged. I do not know where to begin.









Here is the track that goes around the upper pond. I love the ground cover but it has completely grown over the track. the track in this area has become misaligned and sunken below grade. The bottom track runs down to the lower section of my railroad. There are so many weeds I may have to pull it up and start over.










these Alberta Spruce were ony a foot tall when I first planted them. I made the mistake of planting them too close to the track. They now have grown so tall they are interfering with the track on this lower section of my railroad. Should I just dig them up and start over or should I trim the bottoms of the trees so trains can pass?










This my mine spur which is now totally overgrown by flowers and weeds. In the foreground is a tunnel with an access hatch. I am thinking of digging everything up in this area and replacing the tunnel.










This is another view of the mine and shaft. I cemented the shaft directly into the bank then positioned the mine so that it appears they are attached. The lower pond is a total mess. I am considering emptying it and replacing the rocks. A huge job but it may be the only way to salvage the pond.










Here is another view of the lower town. These buildings are about six years old and as you can see are in need of major repair. I think most of them can be saved with a little work.










This loop of track goes to the sawmill, which has never been completely assembled. Again, there is major work to be done getting the weeds out.










this shows how the trees have completely grown over the track. I have trimmed the lower branches in the past with some success. I really do not look forward to transplanting the trees. I think I will just do some more trimming on them.

The other problems I am faced with is that most of my switches do not operate very well. My track is uneven in many places which leads to derailments. I am contemplating removing the track and putting in Cement roadbed. That also should help with the continuing problem of ballast being washed away.

Anyway, if I am to salvage this mess of a railroad, I have major amount of work to be done this summer.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Just leave the trees and trim the lower branches so the right of way is clear. Older real world trees get a trunkier look anyway. They will not regrow from the woody bits like some plants do. 
If I was going to dig up or remove any it would be any troublesome ones way too close and some in the middle as they will all grow together in one big mass and lose lower growth that wont come back if you do it later. You will need a good size root ball if you dig them up. If your soil is very loose and readily falls off the roots and not cloddy they may move OK semi bare rooted. I have done this before with Thuja species not Picea but my soil was very friable and there was no damage to the roots at all. Easier just to buy a few more little ones to put in front of some of the bigger ones and create a nice forest effect. If you feel they grow too fast, you can get a large plastic pot and put lots of holes in it so water can convey then line it with some weed mat to restrict the plant's growth and remain even more dwarfed. I think they look great! Some miniature, non invasive ground covers would be nice too. 

Andrew


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Don't get discouraged. 

Do the repairs in stages. The track is fairly easy, pour ballast on the track and lift the track up through it. 

Spray a good weed killer like roundup, easy and quick, on the right of way. 

Get a small loop running so you can enjoy trains. 

Regards, Greg


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Like Greg said but careful not to get any roundup on the lower foliage of the spruces. They will not like it! I am always surprised as to how far my effective spray edge is later. Place a piece of ply or cardboard against the trees if spraying close and keep the same dry side against the trees. The train area does not look that bad to me. 4ft high thistles would be a problem! The maintenance has just got the better of you a little. 

Andrew


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't get discouraged. Think of it in steps, one at a time. You have a lovely looking railroad there. A few years back I had to abandon my railroad for a year, when I got back in the country it was also a mess. I spent most of the summer picking away at refurbishment. In hind sight it was all part of the fun of an outdoor railroad. Well it wasn’t all fun, but worth it.


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## s-4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I think a little fresh ballast will transform your railroad to something more recognizable. This has happened to my railroad many times over the last 16 years...there was even a year with only 1 or 2 runs. In resuming operation, it allowed me to reassess the railroad theme a bit, by altering some of the routes and upgrading the switches. I think there may be something to the old saying: distance makes the heart grow fonder!


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Don't get discouraged. I lost interest in mine and did not touch it for over a year. 

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/9/aft/127603/afv/topic/Default.aspx


Now I am working on it. I have a hedge trimmer that I use to trim the foliage near the track.

I am taking up a lot of my ballast. I used a old shop vac I bought at a garage sale.

I dumped it in a pile so that I can re use it. 

Right now I am adding switches for industrial sidings.

I am building car bars to store my rolling stock. 

Just get out there and work on it....It is better than sitting in the house and doing nothning 


JJ


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Well, every year mine is not that bad but I also have a problem knowing where to start.
I make a list "Honey Do List".......then I attack what I put down on the list, and if I get side tracked on something that is not o the list, I add it..when an item is completed I change the font from black to to "RED" meaning .."Done"!

Best thing to do so you can get motivated get a small loop going to get the trains moving while you work on the other parts.....that in itself is a motivating thing!

The WORST thing is getting wrapped around the axel, and not do anything, being so inindated with all that needs to be done....ATTACK it....get busy, and before you know it you will be back to just tweaking things.......

It usually takes about 1 weekend..COMPLETE to get mine where it starts to look good again, 2-3 to get it back to where it was.."Open House", ready.

Get busy!

Bubba


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I decided to start with the stream and ponds. We love to hear the running water when we sit outside but for the past year I have not been able to run my ponds because of the huge amount of water I was loosing. I would have to refill every day and my water bill was showing the effects. However, the ponds themselves do not loose water so I figured it had to be the stream or the waterfall so I chose the stream because it would be easier.

I removed all the rocks down to the liner. I will refill the pond and turn the pump back on. I have found no leaks in the stream. I repositioned the liner so water would not slop over the edges. So if I am still loosing water, the next thing to attack will be the waterfall. Good luck on that one! While in Arizona I collected some really nice flat sandstone slabs which I will use to upgrade the waterfall if needed.

Then I will start with the upper loop and see if I can get a train to run around it without derailing.

Like everyone said, just one step at a time.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Today I startedf the effort of reclaiming my railroad. I took all the rocks out of the streambed in order to check for leaks. tomorrow I will fill the pond with water and turn the pump on and hopefully there will be no leaks in the stream. If that is the case, then it is on to tearing the waterfall out and replacing it.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

No leaks so far!

Maybe I have finally solved the leak problem.

I will slowly add rocks to the stream bed and hope for the best.


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## VictorSpear (Oct 19, 2011)

It actually looks naturally realistic and interesting like a rural railway. Why would you synthesize it other than to reroute/relay some track and take advantage of the rustic look you have inherited?

Never fight Mother Nature, just work with her. Then both win.

Cheers,
Victor


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## astrayelmgod (Jan 2, 2008)

You should move at least some of the spruce trees because they are too close together. They need air circulation, or they get mites and may get needle blight (which is fatal). I don't know where you live, but here in Southern California, I waited until winter, then dug them up and moved them. They are doing fine. They have a serious root system, so be prepared to go deep. Yours are probably intertwined with each other. Just use a shovel to cut down vertically half way between each tree. 

As for the weeds, pull them up, then put two inches of yard waste compost (leaves and grass only, no wood, etc) down. You won't have any weeds. Just pull the weeds in the track. If you use Round Up, keep any pets away from the layout.


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## Don Howard (Jan 2, 2008)

astrayelmgod, 

I have lots of readily available wood chips that my wife uses as mulch in all of her border and flower gardens. 
Delivered in 4 or 6 yard trucks! 

We have almost NO weed free grass, and no leaves. 

What would the harm be in mulching my RR with wood chips? 

I do put soiid 2 x 6 or 8 underneath each switch or turnout to keep the ant mounds from clogging up the point movement.


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## markperr (Jan 7, 2008)

This is the time of year when many railroads are emerging from a fall/winter/early spring of neglect. My layout is chock full of weeds but that is not my immediate problem. Last year, I built a much better waterfall for my layout and was disappointed at how pitiful the waterflow over it had become. I was running a 3200 GPH pump and it just wasn't enough. This year, I bumped it up to 6000GPH, which was the largest I could do without completely replumbing 50ft of submerged pipe, much of it beneath my deck, and man oh man, what a difference in water volume. Of course, the difference also included an elevation of the water level throughout much of the two ponds and connecting stream, So the wife and I have been moving tons of rock, lifting and re-berming the liner, and putting all the rock back. We finally have all the water issues fixed and now have to move on to killing all of the weeds that have grown up among the plants. Of course, that means selective removal cause many of the weeds look like plants and vice versa. Plus, like yours, many seem to love growing between the ties. I have forsaken trying to mess with it and have just pulled up sections of track and will pull what I can and round-up the rest. I have to be very careful with the chemicals. The koi don't seem to like them much and the track runs very close to the pond in a number of places.

But it is what it is. The pond and river look a fine site better and now it's a matter of dressing up everything else and getting trains running.

Just keep smiling through it all. You'll get there soon enough

Mark


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Several days of hard work and most of the weeds have been removed from my railroad. I still need to to much work on the track. Ballast has washed away and the track is uneven. 

Anyway, this is the first step in trying to reclaim my railroad.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I guess I really screwed this post up.

I removed all the pictures from my web space earlier today and I just noticed that when I opened this topic to add a picture all the previous pictures are now gone.

Sorry - I will put an end to this post.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

John; 

Don't be too hard on yourself. A lot of us have "Did I do that?" moments with computers. Hope your photos can be recovered from an MLS archive or data backup. 

Best, 
David Meashey


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