beavercreek
Travel, Art, Theatre, Music, Photography, Trains
On my layout, where the main and local lines rub shoulders with the Quarry line, there is a 1.3m stretch of wall that becomes very noticeable. I wanted to disguise it but had very little clearance so making a rock face was not going to be practical.
I have wanted to get some wood (cribbling) retaining walls so the idea of a planked wall came to mind.
It would have to be very weather-proof and only a maximum of ½ inch thick at the narrow end due to the clearance for the locos and rolling stock as they come around the curve.
I use a supply of red cedar-wood strips in different thicknesses as it is incredibly weather resistant and anti-rot.
Using ½” x 1/16” strips for the planks and ½” x ½” uprights I laid put the uprights and then the planks so that overlaps could be staggered and joins situated on the uprights.
Once all planks had been placed to size I numbered them so that when I started gluing I would know which ones went where.
I measured the depth of the wood wall to be about 1" higher than the brick one so that it could be bedded down into the ballast and be about 1/2" proud at the top.
I used ‘Titetbond’ exterior glue and ½” tacks and worked from the bottom run upwards. I turned the whole thing over after each run to wipe any glue away before it dried in as it would cause problems when it came to staining later.
Once it was all built and tested for fit, I soaked it in Cuprinol 5 star (you can never be too careful with our wet weather) and then used a mixture of stains to bring out the grain of the wood and make it look more like the dark stains used in real life. I think that I will ‘grey’ it down at some time as the natural grey weathering process of the wood will be masked by the stains.
It was stuck to the brick wall with exterior mastic and then sealed along the top rear with exterior transparent mastic. Finally the ballast from the Quarry line was filled in behind to cover the sealing.
I have wanted to get some wood (cribbling) retaining walls so the idea of a planked wall came to mind.
It would have to be very weather-proof and only a maximum of ½ inch thick at the narrow end due to the clearance for the locos and rolling stock as they come around the curve.
I use a supply of red cedar-wood strips in different thicknesses as it is incredibly weather resistant and anti-rot.
Using ½” x 1/16” strips for the planks and ½” x ½” uprights I laid put the uprights and then the planks so that overlaps could be staggered and joins situated on the uprights.
Once all planks had been placed to size I numbered them so that when I started gluing I would know which ones went where.
I measured the depth of the wood wall to be about 1" higher than the brick one so that it could be bedded down into the ballast and be about 1/2" proud at the top.
I used ‘Titetbond’ exterior glue and ½” tacks and worked from the bottom run upwards. I turned the whole thing over after each run to wipe any glue away before it dried in as it would cause problems when it came to staining later.
Once it was all built and tested for fit, I soaked it in Cuprinol 5 star (you can never be too careful with our wet weather) and then used a mixture of stains to bring out the grain of the wood and make it look more like the dark stains used in real life. I think that I will ‘grey’ it down at some time as the natural grey weathering process of the wood will be masked by the stains.
It was stuck to the brick wall with exterior mastic and then sealed along the top rear with exterior transparent mastic. Finally the ballast from the Quarry line was filled in behind to cover the sealing.
