RhB TAS

Looks ideal for operations, a dedicated freight only train each way would work. Perhaps Arosa to Right storage area. Perhaps at beginning of session Right to Arosa with those wagons gravitating around the line and others gravitating to Arosa for that goods at the end of the session. Wagon cards and waybills a must to move wagons about to logical destinations. Waybills having different colours to depict urgency or particular working. My line has 4 way waybills front to, revolve, turn over, revolve then remove at final destination for new waybill.
 
Paul M said:
About 15 years or so ago we walked through a Forestry Commission woods. Growing in the tracks were lots of stunted trees obviously growing from drooped seeds rather than planted. We still have one growing in a pot in the garden.
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Nice , I have collected dozens of seeds to use as bonsai's here and there around the railway , but the parent trees are 30 odd metres tall. The dwarf varieties here range from 1/2 to 1 metre which should be just about right planted on mass as a forest/ view break. Its spring here now so I will see soon enough if I have succeeded or failed with the cuttings .
 
dunnyrail said:
Looks ideal for operations, a dedicated freight only train each way would work. Perhaps Arosa to Right storage area. Perhaps at beginning of session Right to Arosa with those wagons gravitating around the line and others gravitating to Arosa for that goods at the end of the session. Wagon cards and waybills a must to move wagons about to logical destinations. Waybills having different colours to depict urgency or particular working. My line has 4 way waybills front to, revolve, turn over, revolve then remove at final destination for new waybill.
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Yeah I had read through your writings on how you work freight ,definitely will read through it again. I was going to copy and modify to fit. I think I would do what you do and spend the start of proceeding running a couple of trains round depositing wagons/coaches (locos too) where needed to start the day off. I can have the fun of adding in passenger coach's number changing too(tourists take priority on the Arosa line) , so maybe at passing loop max, so no freight moves on that train. All trains have to pass at least 1 other train getting from one end to the other. Then freight / empties would have to be picked up on a later train , or on midday dedicated freight train. I think there are a couple of express trains a day too , which given the winding short length of the line , only 6 possible stops on route. They maybe get priority in passing to make them faster ? There's quite a bit to work out and fun to be had I think, but that's a long way off. First stage is getting a round and round section going.
 
grizzmo said:
Thanks Alan , I have been planning a railway for many years, so I am keen to get into it. The part on the workshop wall cant be done till I make new doors , windows and put new cladding on the wall. So a bit to do there. The raised garden section thou can be hooked into and a continuous loop that is joined to the train shed finished . Just trying my hand at getting cuttings of dwarf conifers to work. I want a forest of them and I am not too keen on spending $15 -$25 per plant . Would rather put that cash into a nice shiny red loco :)
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Stewie, after Christmas head down to Bunnings or Woolies for that matter, they'll have their live potted Christmas trees on special, cheap as, but be quick to beat the Bonsai guys LOl.
 
Alan McLennan said:
Stewie, after Christmas head down to Bunnings or Woolies for that matter, they'll have their live potted Christmas trees on special, cheap as, but be quick to beat the Bonsai guys LOl.
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Great idea , hadn't thought of that . Thanks I will do , hope you don't have to wait too long for your track to turn up Alan.
 
grizzmo said:
Great idea , hadn't thought of that . Thanks I will do , hope you don't have to wait too long for your track to turn up Alan.
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It's been over a month now since I said what I wanted, hopefully I'll get it by the end of the week.... this one I mean ! LOL
 
grizzmo said:
but the parent trees are 30 odd metres tall. The dwarf varieties here range from 1/2 to 1 metres
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Try leaving them in a smallish pot, as per bonsai, and bury the pots where you want them. If you stunt the roots, the tree won't grow to its full potential, trim the roots every now and then to stop them getting pot bound
 
Paul M said:
Try leaving them in a smallish pot, as per bonsai, and bury the pots where you want them. If you stunt the roots, the tree won't grow to its full potential, trim the roots every now and then to stop them getting pot bound
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Yeah good idea , that will work well in a lot of places. The real hard to reach places can be the more expensive dwarf varieties.
 
Paul M said:
Try leaving them in a smallish pot, as per bonsai, and bury the pots where you want them. If you stunt the roots, the tree won't grow to its full potential, trim the roots every now and then to stop them getting pot bound
Click to expand...
I have a number of Bonsai, have grown them for 30 + years, and decided to plant a birch and sycamore on my railway:

tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com

Trees!

Last year I read an article about using Bonsai trees on a model railway, just for those that do not kn...
tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com

The roots burst through the pots in less than two years, and had gone more than 18" down, and as such were difficult to get out of the ground, so if you plant stunted trees, root prune annually.
 
JimmyB said:
I have a number of Bonsai, have grown them for 30 + years, and decided to plant a birch and sycamore on my railway:

tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com

Trees!

Last year I read an article about using Bonsai trees on a model railway, just for those that do not kn...
tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com tumble-down-falls.blogspot.com

The roots burst through the pots in less than two years, and had gone more than 18" down, and as such were difficult to get out of the ground, so if you plant stunted trees, root prune annually.
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Nah I don't want that happening . I think I will keep trying with propagating from cutting of dwarf plants for the main garden section. I started with bonsai last year, it is a lot of fun. Tons to learn thou . I thought they could look good on the baseboard section, with holes cut out for the pots to sit in level with the scenery.
 
grizzmo said:
Nah I don't want that happening . I think I will keep trying with propagating from cutting of dwarf plants for the main garden section. I started with bonsai last year, it is a lot of fun. Tons to learn thou . I thought they could look good on the baseboard section, with holes cut out for the pots to sit in level with the scenery.
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that is exactly what I plan on doing, this is a photo of my layout with a 10 year old Morten Bay Fig in a pot recessed into the deck, the flange on the pot is what holds it up.462542308_959054552934380_7055311926507703711_n.jpg
 
Hi all, this project got a bit side-lined. Due medical reasons and just plain getting stuck and losing motivation. It took a while to work out a way forward without having to undo too much work , which for me was pretty difficult work to do in the first place . Removing the medium rocks was a big help and it allowed me to look at things in a new light .
IMG_20241120_135227.jpg
I moved the lower section in the back wall to the left a few metres, easily done with the stacking blocks. Digging out a valley as a over flow from the pond to the wall drain . Not easily done , as someone had the clever idea to fill the lower sections with old concrete. Thankfully there was only really one large piece to break up , the rest were smaller pieces .I managed to shift the back of the pond forwards without having to remove the liner or large rocks already in it. this gave me room to put in even bigger rocks behind it and there is space for two tracks to go.
To my eyes this section looks terrible at the moment . I hope once the pond is filled and the water fall going. Some cement added to fill in some gaps and a heap of ground covers and small bushes added to fill gaps and break up the mass of rocks . That it will look ok .

IMG_20241121_105426.jpg
The large rock on the left sits over the bog filter for the pond. One track will go in front of it and the other behind it. Space to the right will be part of Arosa station , which in the future will extend up the driveway. Running parallel to the fence between where the besser blocks and trailer is now.
The cement works will be on a siding curving around to the left behind the dirt hill. Which will be covered in small bushes(1mhigh).
The main running tracks will have a radius around 900mm , but the approach into Arosa and the sidings will be 600mm radius, which I hope will be ok . The approach into Arosa will be in tunnel so the 600mm radius will be hidden.
Temporarily I will run round the big rock just to get a loop of track going this will have to be 600mm radius to fit.

IMG_20241121_174512.jpg
I picked up more blocks on sale , so I can take all the station areas up to what will be the finished track height. I had originally planned to build to this height, but after the blocks were ordered and delivered . I worked out a bit of a extension which used up a few blocks. I have used up all dirt and big rocks I brought home before. Thankfully I have a few more ute loads of each stored away and should be able to go grab them next week.

IMG_20241122_105233.jpg
Arosa station area is now up to track height. The gap in the top of the blocks will be a great space to run and join cables. I have put in flexible conduits to get around the solid end stop blocks . There are already two conduits in going to the workshop.

IMG_20241122_114109.jpg
Capstones finished. Just leaves the blocks for Langwies station to do on the weekend , its just too hot for me to continue today. Once the trailer is emptied I can bring home more dirt and rocks to continue on with.

IMG_20241122_120803.jpg

I only have really small rocks left, they didn't go as far as I thought they would. Guess I got a bit carried away around the pond and yes I did drive the tractor into that broken capstone at the front :) .
 
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grizzmo said:
Hi all, this project got a bit side-lined. Due medical reasons and just plain getting stuck and losing motivation. It took a while to work out a way forward without having to undo too much work , which for me was pretty difficult work to do in the first place . Removing the medium rocks was a big help and it allowed me to look at things in a new light .
View attachment 335149
I moved the lower section in the back wall to the left a few metres, easily done with the stacking blocks. Digging out a valley as a over flow from the pond to the wall drain . Not easily done , as someone had the clever idea to fill the lower sections with old concrete. Thankfully there was only really one large piece to break up , the rest were smaller pieces .I managed to shift the back of the pond forwards without having to remove the liner or large rocks already in it. this gave me room to put in even bigger rocks behind it and there is space for two tracks to go.
To my eyes this section looks terrible at the moment . I hope once the pond is filled and the water fall going. Some cement added to fill in some gaps and a heap of ground covers and small bushes added to fill gaps and break up the mass of rocks . That it will look ok .

View attachment 335150
The large rock on the left sits over the bog filter for the pond. One track will go in front of it and the other behind it. Space to the right will be part of Arosa station , which in the future will extend up the driveway. Running parallel to the fence between where the besser blocks and trailer is now.
The cement works will be on a siding curving around to the left behind the dirt hill. Which will be covered in small bushes(1mhigh).
The main running tracks will have a radius around 900mm , but the approach into Arosa and the sidings will be 600mm radius, which I hope will be ok . The approach into Arosa will be in tunnel so the 600mm radius will be hidden.
Temporarily I will run round the big rock just to get a loop of track going this will have to be 600mm radius to fit.

View attachment 335151
I picked up more blocks on sale , so I can take all the station areas up to what will be the finished track height. I had originally planned to build to this height, but after the blocks were ordered and delivered . I worked out a bit of a extension which used up a few blocks. I have used up all dirt and big rocks I brought home before. Thankfully I have a few more ute loads of each stored away and should be able to go grab them next week.

View attachment 335153
Arosa station area is now up to track height. The gap in the top of the blocks will be a great space to run and join cables. I have put in flexible conduits to get around the solid end stop blocks . There are already two conduits in going to the workshop.

View attachment 335158
Capstones finished. Just leaves the blocks for Langwies station to do on the weekend , its just too hot for me to continue today. Once the trailer is emptied I can bring home more dirt and rocks to continue on with.

View attachment 335157

I only have really small rocks left, they didn't go as far as I thought they would. Guess I got a bit carried away around the pond and yes I did drive the tractor into that broken capstone at the front :) .
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I hadn't noticed any chipped cap stones, or do you mean that stone faced one?, also if that's unmotivated, mate, I'd hate to see what you get done with your heart in it . Looks epic to me !
 
Alan McLennan said:
I hadn't noticed any chipped cap stones, or do you mean that stone faced one?, also if that's unmotivated, mate, I'd hate to see what you get done with your heart in it . Looks epic to me !
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Thanks Alan , the chipped capstone is second bullnose one on the right, front of the pond
 
Epic project, love the amount of rocks which will add realism once some planting done. Rockery plants that can survive in warm conditions will soften things. Think sedum, in rock shade you may be able to get away with some babies tears (mind your own business another common name).
 
dunnyrail said:
Epic project, love the amount of rocks which will add realism once some planting done. Rockery plants that can survive in warm conditions will soften things. Think sedum, in rock shade you may be able to get away with some babies tears (mind your own business another common name).
Click to expand...
Thankyou , yeah can't wait to get the plants in place . I have 4 pots of mind your business going up near the house in the shade, started with one (time to split it again). I have another half dozen pots of a nice spreading shade ground cover too .I plan to have 90% shade sails over the railway eventually , as we are heading into summer now I think it will be too sunny and hot for it now. I was thinking of maybe trying creeping lawn thyme which should go well here as , amazingly we are classed as having a Mediterranean climate . Although the thyme has a lot of flowers so not too sure on how good it would look.
 
grizzmo said:
Thankyou , yeah can't wait to get the plants in place . I have 4 pots of mind your business going up near the house in the shade, started with one (time to split it again). I have another half dozen pots of a nice spreading shade ground cover too .I plan to have 90% shade sails over the railway eventually , as we are heading into summer now I think it will be too sunny and hot for it now. I was thinking of maybe trying creeping lawn thyme which should go well here as , amazingly we are classed as having a Mediterranean climate . Although the thyme has a lot of flowers so not too sure on how good it would look.
Click to expand...
I would not worry too much about the thyme flowers, they are generally pretty insignificant and could look much like a heather cover when in flower.
 
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