Ideas for using railway sleepers.

http://www.railwaysleeper.com/Customers ideas, photos and projects.htm

Here's one awesome design. http://www.railwaysleeper.com/Simon Cunliffe's garden project with used railway sleepers.htm

Plenty of ideas to keep you occupied! :gnthb:

 

Didn't notice "Buy a train."

 

A good find Kindredspirit, thanks for posting that.

I had a quick look at some of the finished projects. What I did not see mentioned is that used railway sleepers are very heavy. Despite my health problems I am still above average strength for a bloke my size. When you come to move the sleepers,ideally you need two strong blokes, one at each end.

I chose NOT to cut any of the sleepers I used in my project. Instead, where I wanted to change direction I have just done so by placing the two ends of the sleepers at angles and then used the gap in the ends to plant something. I have used Cyclamen, violas and spring bulbs for now.

If you do decide to cut a sleeper, my advice is to carefully check the wood, looking for any nails or support metal that is sometimes hammered into the sleeper. If your chainsaw hits any of these things it can be quite nasty. It can also destroy the chain. Not to mention having the saw kick back at you.

The really good thing with sleepers is that they last a hell of a long time. Compared to using bricks or new timber for raised beds and edging they are very cheap. Loads for sale on ebay.

Chopper.

 

Four arches? made out of very old railway sleepers and boy! were they heavy (and I had to lift and install them on my own.) Spread around my front pavement garden. Ran out of sleepers to make a fifth one.















Don't look at the plants. Most of them have been burnt or killed by the continuing frosts. Minus 7.5° this morning again.

 

Old railway sleepers always seem to wash up in the tees estuary, not far from me. I've often thought about collecting them when I see them, sometimes I even try, and then I quickly remember why I never bother. Usually at the moment I feel my insides about to explode under the strain of just getting them out of the sand. They are extremely heavy, but then I guess in the case of washed up ones, I guess if they've been in the sea for a while they've probably absorbed a lot of water.

 

Techniques used.

To move the uprights into the area where they're going, lay them across a wheelbarrow. If the space is too narrow, just tip them over, end on end or "walk" them along.

To lift the crossmembers (which have a little bit cut off of them so that they "look right"), put two tallish posts leaning against the uprights, then two smaller posts next to them. Put your cross member on the wheelbarrow and lift 2 or 3 feet onto the first set of posts. Then standing on something, lift from the first pair of posts onto the second pair of posts. The final move is to lift from the tallest pair of posts right onto the top. Get something very, very sturdy to stand on. (I fell off once, but managed to get clear of the falling sleeper.)

 

I don't know for certain, but I have my suspicions. Over the years that has been (and still is to a lesser extent) a lot of industry built on the banks of the Tees. Railway sleepers are not the only thing that wash up relatively frequently. Oil drums and various odd things wash up there too. My suspicion is that whenever some work is going on, things just get dumped in the river, and then wash up at the estuary. Another possibility is that the estuary is a natural hoover. I know the prevailing current is quite strong and sweeps from north to south past our coast. Perhaps all the flotsom and jetsom in the area gets drawn up the river as the tide comes in. This theory seems as plausible as the illegal dumping theory, seeing as it is not unusual to see the carcass of the occassional tree washed up, along with busted fishing nets, and just about anything else you can think of. I once spotted a car's petrol tank down there.

 

I'd get the giants who wanted to play croquet....to lift 'em...

Steve...