The ravages of time

[Madman]

The bottom line about building outdoors is quality. Usually quality requires two things, money and/or effort. And as I mentioned earlier, in this thread, lack of frivolous detail is a big help in maintaining our garden railways for the long haul.

Pola structures are expensive, but mine have been outdoors for years. I found out early on that gutters, downspouts, awnings, spindly awning posts, etc., even on Pola buildings don't hold up well in a ground level layout. When I built the kits, I reinforced the structure with caulking along the inside corners of the walls and added extra struts to the roofs so that when removing them they would remain solidly intact.

So I may have spent more than I would have liked to in the beginning in $$$$$$ (#####s for you Brits) and labored more than was necessary in perfecting "Brick Sh-t Houses", but in the long run I believe it was worth it.

 

[Dtsteam]

I would agree with your comments about Pola buildings. The house in this picture is around thirty five years old - I bought it second hand 32 years ago ! The gutters and a lot of the external detail has got brittle and broken. If I knew then that they were going to last this long I might have invested in more than the two buildings I have, and certainly I would have painted the plasticy bits to protect them from the sun.

And heres one taken on the early eighties on my first layout. The little good shed survives as well, but its had a coat of paint.

 

[dragon]

In view of the adverse publicity I seem to have attracted the offer is withdrawn.

 

[KeithT]

In view of the adverse publicity I seem to have attracted the offer is withdrawn.

OK lads 'n lasses it is safe to come out now.

 

[whatlep]

In view of the adverse publicity I seem to have attracted the offer is withdrawn.

OK lads 'n lasses it is safe to come out now.

Well done everyone!
Fred - looks like you'll have to glue your own stuff back into working order.

 

[alec dawe]

In view of the adverse publicity I seem to have attracted the offer is withdrawn.

Thank goodness for that!
You might have started a fashion, then we'd have been shut down!

 

[Ian_S]

Just got chance to take this picture whilst working in the garden.........

What it used to look like.....

This year will mostly spent rebuilding my Garden Railway