# Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Man Oh Man have I made some progress.. what a difference a day makes. I'm suprised at how much I accomplished yesterday.. At 8:30 am I had nothing done, by 4:00 I had this. 










I am thrilled.. 
Just a few last things to do in the morning with the benchwork, then I can start putting down roadbed and track.. I'll be running by Monday!! Yeah. 

I can't thank Richard Smith enough. This raised benchwork is the cat's pajamas. 

Here's a few other peeks at the day's work. 





































Oh, please ignore the ratty looking yard, I'm planning on some major relandscaping once the train is up and running.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

So..does the benchwork connect to make a circle? What of the space in the middle?


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Yes, It will form a circle. The middle section is our vegetable garden. That big clump of green you see in the middle there a a huge basil plant. 

Tomorrows project will be to build out a short section of benchwork on the left, leaving about a three foot gap. Then I need to construct a lift out bridge section to 
A) add visiual intrest to the line 
and 
B) allow egress into the middle of the garden. 

Should be an challenging and interesting day.


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Your back and knees will thank you for years , nice looking benchwork , how tall did you make it ?


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dennis Paulson on 05/25/2008 12:04 PM

Your back and knees will thank you for years , nice looking benchwork . . . /div> 
Agreed. Nice start to a compact garden railway. Don't neglect to make provisions for the Lone Peak peak. It has to be out there _somewhere_.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Oh no worries there Ron. As the two photos below should illustrate, I have the real deal about 6 miles to my east, all 12,975 feet of it.. 



















I also marked in the photos the fully expanded line (red lines). The plan is to have the expansion completed by the end of June. It'll be workable, but not fully sceniced or planted, but runnable. I'll post some more "photoshopped" shots later to better illustrate the proposed route. 
But as far as Lone Peak is concerned.... I can't top the the real thing.


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## silverstatespecialties (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Nice work!! I wish I could make as good of progress in a day as you have, very nice!


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Today's update... 
Lots to report. I have completed the phase one loop structure! Yeah! This morning I built out the last little bit of the benchwork. In the afternoon I constructhed the lift out bridge. Another hour and I had the support and alignment cleats in place for the bridge. The completed loop structure look like this.. 










Yeah me! 
My bridge section is currently built for function. It roughly resembles a plate girder bridge, but it's there for functionality right now. I'll work on building another to really look good later this summer once the rest of the construction is complete. Here's the bridge. 



















Construction continues tomorrow, I'll keep everyone updated.


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Dave, 
That's looking good. 
What are you going to use for roadbed? 
Are you going to cover the benchwork with hardware cloth and ground cloth 
as per Richard Smith? 

Some real progress there, keep up the good work. 
Rick Marty


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Yes Rick, Richard is Da Man. I'll be using the hardware cloth/landscape fabric technique. 

Roadbed wise I'll have a few "anchor points" (the abutments to the bridge in particular) like under switches, but I'm leaning towarsd a "floating" track with ballast. I'll get the deck infilled with soil, get it compacted, then set the track on top asnd ballast. If that doesn't work. I'll move the dirt over and most likely use PT outdoor wood for roadbed.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dave F on 05/25/2008 3:17 PM

Oh no worries there Ron. As the two photos below should illustrate, I have the real deal about 6 miles to my east, all 12,975 feet of it.. 








.


That works! I have a similar situation. Can't possibly beat having a part of the Wrangell Range in view of the LS model RR!  I could not imagine you having that name "Lone Peak" in your RR without having the actual Lone Peak in view _somewhere_ !  
  
Mt. Wrangell at 14,000 ft-plus


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Ohhhh, very nice Ron.. I'll grab my skis, you book the helicopter.


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Dave, 
If your going to load that table work up with dirt and ballast you might want to 
consider adding a few, actually quite a few, more cross braces in both directions. 
Even an inch and a half of soil/gravel/ballast will cause the hardware cloth to sag 
a lot. 

Just a thought. 
Rick Marty


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Rain, rain, go away... 

I awoke at three this morning to the unmistakable sound of thunder and rain on the roof. I did manage to get about ten feet of hardware cloth/landscape fabric down between cloudbursts today, but right now it's pouring again and I'm shut down for the day. RATS! 



















Hopefully I'll catch a break in the weather this week and can complet this section.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

So, things are progressing nicely. Today I managed to complete a shoert section on the northwest corner, with soil and plants and TRACK! Yeah, now I can get a good idea of what the completed system will look and function like. Lemme tell ya... 

I'M LOVIN' IT !! 




























The greenery is a bit of Scotch Moss (Sagina subulata) and Pink Creeping Thyme (Thumus praecox). 
I'd love to hear your thoughts.. and comments.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

Would look good in my yard,Dave can we move things over i"ll help! 

manfred Diel


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

I can certainly help build your own.. this one is staying put....


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## Guest (May 30, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

hey! slow down! it's a hobby, not work... 

looking good to my eyes. 

you outdoor guys should reconsider. building indoortype layouts in the garden, there will be no difference anymore... ;-)


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## Dennis Paulson (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Looking really good , and Elevated also , you will appreciate that for years , way to go !


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Really nice!


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Hi Dave, 
It's looking pretty good to me. Better get the IC engine on there!! That raised bed will be nice. Keep up the progress. Is this going to be wired for track power? Have fun!


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Worry not Leon the ICG GP30 is idling on the fuel pad and ready to move coal... 
Yep, track power.. for now anyway.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Sorry I haven't posted much this week, been raining almost every day or I've been earning living.. My Son took this this morning, kind of sums up how I'm feeling about the new elevated line... 










If you surmised "happy", you'd be corect. I need to scoot over to Home Depot and get a couple more bags of garden soil to infill the last bit, then hook up the tracks and I'll be back in revenue service again.. Yeah!


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Dave F on 06/08/2008 12:32 PM

Sorry I haven't posted much this week, been raining almost every day or I've been earning living . . .kind of sums up how I'm feeling about the new elevated line...










The same words could have been used to describe my own ongoing project: _ Weather's been off and on; I've got many other things to do; but I am always excited when it comes to developing my own  elevated rail line . . . _


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Sorry for the lack of updated guys. It's been a very busy couple of weeks at work and the weather has been iffy... anyway.. Great news.. the first section is DONE! well, 99% anyway. I still need to do the permanant wiring, put the teeny screws in a couple of joints and ballast. Here's the final look. 




























I've planted the line with pink creeping thyme, wooly thyme, seedum and scotch moss. All but the scotch moss seems to be doing well. I don't think the scoth moss is going to make it, too dry here I think. 

The next step is to repair a few sections of my fence then begin construction on the remaining benchwork long the back fence line. A few lessons learned thus far will make the rest of the project go fairly quilcky.


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Dave, 

Is the "fenceline benchwork" to be a point to point section or are you planning an out and back loop? 

RR's looking great. For a neater more finished look you might want to see about facing the visible sides of the benchwork with some cedar fence boards, etc., to make it look more like a filled planter. The wives seem to like that better and you'll still have access beneath for wiring and clutter from the inside.  That's the eventual plan for the POC if I ever get it finished. 

Your carpentry looks great too!


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Thanks Richard. 

The fenceline route will be an out and back loop. The current section (above) will function as the "North turnaround loop" with the addition of two switches. 

I'm already planning on enclosing the outer "open frame" side. Still undecided as to weather to use vertical boards as you suggested or some lattice. With the lattice the beans would have something to grow on/in.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Looking really good Dave! What did you put under the landscape fabric?


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Lone Peak & Western benchwork update..*

Under the Landscape fabric is 1/2" grid galvanized hardware cloth that is tacked to the framework every 6". The fill material is only 1.5" deep and is a mixture of Miracle Grow garden soil and a generic soil prep material that is mostly cedar chip and ground bark. I tested a bit out and water saturated, a 12" x 12" x 1.5" square weighed 4.6 lbs. That works out to a bit less than one ounce per square inch. I'm seeing about 1/4" of sag in the middle of a section between supports. I am placing a PT 2x4 in place for roadbed to support the trackwork. 

So far it's doing great!!


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