Tixeno Short Line


magnaes

New Member
I have built a starter layout using all of my available track to create a single line mainline. Next comes ballast to give it a more finished look and I need to construct an 8 foot long bridge which can be removed to get a tractor/backhoe in in case we need to pump the septic tank.

I tried to build the layout in my front yard but it would have required changing the appearance of same too drastically so I opted for the flatter area over the septic tank.

Tixeno Short Line is a working name but not the final one I hope...it is based on the fact that there is 'no exit' until I can get appropriately sized turnouts for my Bachman 4-6-0 steam engines.

I get a real kick out of the novel names that folks come up with for their layouts and have been hardpressed to be as creative. I live in the Central Sierra above Sonora, CA and the well modeled West Side and Cherry Valley remnants is only a couple of ridges south of me...Sierra RR runs into Sonora. I have Ponderosa and Sugar Pine next to where I'm building my layout as well as Manzanita, Black Oak, White Oak and a couple of Digger Pines so there is lots of local stuff to work into a layout name but it just won't come to me. For industries I have logging, mining, apples, and tourism and, from what I read in the local paper, marijauna.

In other words, I'm open to suggestions.:)
 
magnaes,

Great start you have there. Wish we could do that, but our two dogs are like bulls in a china shop. Are your engines going to run off batteries or track power?

Greg
 
Sure looks interesting, any chance one could get a snow plow or blower for the scale :D would be necessary here in a couple of months. ( I'm thinking it's "G")

You got quite a start on, but where is the removable bridge going to be located? At 8' long, its going to have to be foldable ( Hinges), or mounted on an 8' plank.

Cheers Willis
 
The bridge will be on the righthand side of the layout where I currently have a 1x4 board..it will have to be a lift out

I also have two dogs plus two neighbor dogs who have already disrupted the track...gonna have to do something about that<G>.

A snowplow may well come in handy if we ever get a normal winter here...last winter we had at most 2 inches and it melted off quickly, 15 years ago there was a 2 foot storm but that was an unusual amount since we're only at 3500 feet.

I have two older radio controlled Bachmanns so I will be staying with battery power for now at least.
 
8 foot long bridge which can be removed to get a tractor/backhoe in in case we need to pump the septic tank.
:confused:
This is kind of bugging me and I'm wondering why you need a bridge at all. Although I'm in town I have a septic system also. The depth of the earth over the tank is no more than 10 inches. To check it last fall I just dug two holes just over the tank lids. I guess I'm wondering why you need a backhoe. As for pumping my tank is at least 60 ft. from the driveway and they pumped from there without a problem. Lastly it's been 17 years since I had this tank installed and it doesn't have to be pumped yet. That's why I checked it last fall. There is an enzime I purchase and the the system gets a feed of that every month, cheaper and less messy than pumping. :D

Cheers Willis
 
Which septic tank treatment are you using?

I found one online that guarantees that the septic tank will never need pumping which I plan to start using...the house is new but we weren't around when it was built and no one seems to know who installed the septic system but the neighbors watched the progress on it and are convinced that the tank is quite deep, perhaps 10 feet down, the first contractor went broke installing the tank and leach field since he spent two weeks digging thru nearly solid granite to place the tank and then put the leach lines in wrong so the county inspector couldn't pass it.

Beyond that I have enjoyed looking at bridges that other garden railroaders have built and want to try my hand at one and this a great location for it so I can get by with less fill to maintain a better grade.
 
Try this on for size as a RR name.
"Digger Flatt & Leachfield" RR.
 
I'll look up the brand I use, in fact I have to order some more. 10 feet down somehow I would doubt that statement. Anyway it not hard to figure out. From the top edge of your cement foundation measure down to where the sewage pipe leaves the basement. Measure the height of the above ground foundation outside and subtract that from the first measurement. this should give you an indication of the depth of the earth to the top of the tank. All regulations I've come across state only a small decline from the house to the tank is allowed. Now unless your tank is a great distance from the house it can't be all that deep. Also the dept of the pipe in the disposal field won't be all that deep either, and there are regulations governing gradient of that piping. The distance the tank is from the house can be found quite easy but it's a little more messy. One thing definate though, you are going to have to locate that tank before build your railroad :D

Cheers Willis
 
What....interesting problems garden railroaders have that us HO types don't.... <grin>

Honestly, I'd have to simply hope that I'd remember to think of such a thing if I went into G scale outside. And had a septic tank (I tend to appreciate my city water/sewer connections).
 
I like the "Digger Flatt & Leachfield" RR. name Tiny, not bad at all.
Ah! gentelmen, one only worries about a septic tank if it's not working, NOW! the railroad, that's entirely another, and a serious matter. To put things in their proper perspective, magnaes is not concerned with his tank, but is worried what will happen to his railroad, and has concerns about his RR should the tank go on strike. He certainly has reason to worry should the strike breakers enter his premisies with little regard for the commerce being carried out by the railroad even though it has a right of way over the property. :D
Well now to the serious side of things, I use " Septal " and they do have a website in the USA http://www.septal.com/ but seriously you should get all the data you can on the tank and leachfield and have a plan should things go wrong. "Murphys Law"

Cheers Willis
 
JeffShultz said:
What....interesting problems garden railroaders have that us HO types don't.... <grin>

Honestly, I'd have to simply hope that I'd remember to think of such a thing if I went into G scale outside. And had a septic tank (I tend to appreciate my city water/sewer connections).
Ah we have our own problems. Gotta have access to the sewer clean out, breaker box, water lines, washer dryer... :D
 
Thanks for the name suggestion NVTiny...not sure that is quite it but it may be.

I checked with my neighbor and he doesn't think the tank is as deep as I thought he had told me previously so I guess I will have to probe around where it is supposed to be to see for sure.... a few more rains should make the ground soft enough to do that.

Erick
 
Hi Erick what kind of soil do you have there? Just an idea, but when you find the covers, why not dig them clear, put a box like form around them, and cover it with a senic building or other removable surface cover for use as an access hatch. ( No more digging)

Cheers Willis
 
Good idea Willis.

The ground is mostly rock and decomposed granite in a sort of clay-like consistency but it has gotten a lot easier to dig with our record setting rains of late. I just dug a short section of ditch to place a plastic pipe to carry off water from newly installed gutters and found that a shovel was adequate for most of its length...a little pick work was necessary where there was compaction from foot traffic.

Big hassle is locating the septic tank tho I'm hoping my dowsing rods will help with that.

Erick
 
Hi Erick, gee don't know about dowsing rods for that, a lot cleaner than what I had to do, but one never knows. I have back fill around my place hard clay, rock and debris.What I had to do was get some 1x2 strapping, remove the threaded plug where the pipe left the basement, and feed the 1x2 into the pipe till it touched an end. Note the length of 1x2 used, and the angles of the 1x2 in respect to the basement wall ( both vertical and horizontal ) the rest is geometry and the location of the tank and its depth from the surface. Rubber gloves and ventilation of the basement area is a must.
Hope the rods work! :D
Cheers Willis
 
The rods worked well and I discovered that it took very little digging to remove the TWO INCHES of cover over the tank...LOL

I don't have a basement, just a crawlspace that has no entrances...one of those things on my to-do list.

Anyway, now that that issue is resolved I can get on with construction.
 
Glad the rods worked, Just thinking, since the tank isn't deep, rather than a movable or swing bridge for the RR, why not a kind of foot bridge or platform to protect the track should something ever happen. PS I'm ordering another box of Septal tomorow and if I live another 20 years I'll be 90 and probably let someone else worry about it :D
Cheers Willis
 
Looks my previous post didn't make the transition.

Good idea Willis, but I was explaning my planned for bridge to a neighbor and he reminded me that he had an arc welder and that we could build a really great bridge out of steel...I think he is thinking about something resembling the Golden Gate Bridge...I will have to lower his expectations but I will have a strong bridge that's for sure.

Erick
 
Ah! bridges look great, I added another one to my layout a few days ago. What I'm wondering is, if the tank can be dug by hand, you won't need a backhoe. A septic tank pumper can use a hose up to 50 ft. or more to clean the tank. Other than ornamental purposes why do you need a bridge at all? just curious, not nit picking. :D
Cheers Willis
 



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