securing outdoor structures

[Anonymous]

Greetings all,
I was wondering how everyone secures their structures (eg. depots, water towers, buildings, etc.). Or do you leave them loosely placed? My railroad,I guess ( a basic loop of track, 24'x24') is placed around my children's massive wooden play structure that my wife had me to build for them. I would like to leave some structures out (I only have a water tower at this time) but am unsure as how to secure it / them. I want to prevent tip overs and theft from neighbor kids. I would like to secure these rather take them in and out all the time as I do the trains themselves. Any ideas for me? Thanks - Greg

[Anonymous]

iaviksfan
[#welcome] to the forum
i have a water tower to, i took two old heavey wire coat hangers and cut long pieces from them made a hook on one end , on the cross menbers i pushed the wire in the ground,
and put the hooks on the cross member one on each side of water tower , as for the buildings i just set them around. ben--of --penna. [2c]

[Big_Boy_4005]

I can't honestly say that I have any experience when it comes to this, but I have some thoughts and ideas that you might find helpful. Since you only have a small layout, and it is in an area where the children are playing, my suggeston would be to treat the structures as you do the trains, i.e. when not in active use bring them inside.

It would be better if you had an area where it was dedicated to the railroad, away from the play area then it might be OK to secure the structures and leave them out.

If you really think that they won't get broken when the kids are playing, perhaps mounting the structures to a pressure treated base would work. Then drive some stakes into the ground, and screw the base to the tops of the stakes. I would still bring them in for the winter.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

My Plans are to eventually, read that when the kids are older, to take over this
24'x24' area with trains, pond and plants. so This is my way to slowly start to
take this area over. And get my train running sooner.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Sorry, I missed your ulterior motive there. This is intened as slow and gentle take over. You are trying to establish roots, in order to make your claim in this land. So, how imminent is the demise of the play structure?

If the kids are almost ready to stop using the play structure, then go for it. If they are still pretty young it might be better to wait. You could start in one corner out of the high traffic area and test the anchoring methods suggested.

[Anonymous]

When it comes to mass (weight), this structure really started out as a flyweight. I made it from corrugated plastic board (available at sign shops and craft stores) and realized that it could easily blow away, especially since I live in South Jersey where the weather ranges from blizzards to hurricanes.

To give it mass to hold it down I glued one-inch square pieces of treated lumber to the interior corners utilizing LocTite's Stik n Seal (available at Wal-Mart in the hardware department) to do the job. Then I put it over a piece of broken brick to stop in from moving sideways.

Another way to deal with this building would have been to stick heavy wire (such as from an old coat hanger, but galvanized would be better) into the ground and run it up through the corrugations. This leaves the interior free.

Still another method to add mass is caulking the inside corners of a structure with silicone, and don't skimp on it.

Experiment with different methods and see what works for you.

[Anonymous]

Iaviksfan, since water tower were originally built on a piling of some sort for stability you could take some electrical conduit( It's already gray like concrete) a bury say 1ft lengths in the ground ( below or even with grade) and add to the bottom of the water tower to slide into the conduit. You could use metal rod to add bottom weight. This would make it easy to install and remove.
For buildings I thionk I would secure with rebar a piece of pressure treeated wood to the ground and inconspicously run brass or galvinized screws on two sides into the anchored wood. I would however underssize the wood to allow for changes in moisture content, maybe a 1/2 inch for side to side and front to back.

Hope this helps[?]

[Anonymous]

Since my kids are still little, This will be a slow take over. But I do have one end that I can put structures and stuff. My wife already has flowers on that end. That is going to be my station/town end. So, I feel pretty comfortable placing a few things out on that end without being disturbed. A lot of good suggestions so far thanks.[:)]

[Anonymous]

chesnut 226
how do you post a picture on here??? i am not sure how to do it. i do like your building.
ben

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bennysrr

chesnut 226
how do you post a picture on here??? i am not sure how to do it. i do like your building.
ben

Ben
When placing a photo you need a web spot or some where you can attach a url to then do this: *note no spaces

Should look like this
This is how that one was done: * note close brackets

[dandylines]

Good Morning Cedar Rapids,
I drive a treated wood post, at least a 2x2, solidly into the ground where the back wall of the structure will be. After placing the structure in place, I drive a #2 square head deck screw through the back wall. This will certainly prevent any movement by weather or animals but if a theif is determined, at least they will only end up with a broken structure and know for sure you didn't leave it out there for them to conveniently help themselves.
By the way Greg, I grew up in Cedar Rapids in the early 60's and was a very active member of the Cedar Valley Central Railroad's HO layout. I moved away in '65 and not sure what ever happen to it. Paul (Dandylines)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the idea Paul, I like that one. I'm not sure if there is still a club or not.