Creating the feeling of a Southern railroad.

[bobgrosh]

[ttrigg]

Very interesting photo essay.  Thanks for sharing.

[kstrong]

Bob,

Next, for that "true" southern look, you can plant creeping thyme, and just let it grow over everything! Nothing says "south" like Kudzu.

Seriously, that's cool. Keep us posted.

Later,

K

[Coogler Rail Line]

Where is the kudzu?  I have some plants in my back yard that I will be happy to mail to you!

 

 

Seriously, great layout!

[bobgrosh]

Where is the kudzu? 

Look at the bottom picture, left of the track, between the nearest line of trees and the camera.

See the three big rocks?

No?

Only the top of one of them?

They are covered by Kudzu.

 

I'm not sure what this plant really is. I call all the plants by the 1:1 scale names of the plants they represent. This scale "Kudzu" grows rapidly, but spreads via it's roots slowly, so it is easy to control with shears.

Here is another shot:

"Kudzu" on th right.

And two more:

In the left picture, the "Kudzu" is on either side of the tracks at mid train.

The right picture closely mimics a photo of real right of way I took near Dothan Alabama that was over run by elephant ears and bamboo.

Oh! While the caboose is lettered for "SOUTHERN" the loco is new and I haven't gotten around to re-painting it yet.

[Coogler Rail Line]

Very clever!  If you can find the name of the plant I would be very grateful.  I am trying to build a southern railroad as well and we are in the very early stages.  Right now the landscape looks like of the surface of Mars since we are deep in a drought and I am holding out until fall or spring to plant anything new.

[bobgrosh]

Very clever!  If you can find the name of the plant I would be very grateful.  I am trying to build a southern railroad as well and we are in the very early stages.  Right now the landscape looks like of the surface of Mars since we are deep in a drought and I am holding out until fall or spring to plant anything new.

 

Wait till fall? No way. You are missing the best growing season.

None of the stuff I planted would survive more than a couple days without water. Big problem since my business keeps me away for a week at a time. I suspect you are going to need a GOOD watering system.

Here is how I did it:

The ALLY was constructed by laying down plastic weed stop. Edging was staked in place. Garden staples were used to secure the drip system main water lines.

 

I attached 1/4 inch drip feeders, regulators and 1/4" soaker lines. [See below]

Next I used gravel, sand and garden soil to raise the surface and shape it to form roadbed, roads and foundations for buildings

 Once the foundation was leveled, contoured, and packed hard, it was covered with another layer of plastic weed stop barrier, (seen in the upper right of the next photo.)

Here is a diagram of the construction:

On top of the second layer of plastic is the potting soil, sand, gravel, stones, clay, ballast, track, mulch, peat moss, and whatever else I want to use to simulate the Alabama soil conditions. Notice in the following photos that this top (decorative) layer is only 1/2 to 1" thick. The top layer, because it is decorative, does not contain some of the additives used in potting soil to maintain moisture. These often look like white or yellow beads and would look like ostrich eggs scattered everywhere.

 

For larger plants, like this tree, I cut away the top layer of weed stop, but not the bottom layer. The thyme, herbs, Irish moss and etc. are  just placed in the top layer of potting soil.

The ballast goes on last.

The end result is that ground covers like this Irish moss ("grass" for the dark green variety, or "pasture" for the light green kind) are forced to spread out quickly.

After a few months, this 2" square has spread, I can lift it with a spatula. You can see the top layer of weed stop under it.

Then I can cut it into smaller squares, add more potting soil, and replant it in a larger area. All of the "grass" on the ALLY came from a SINGLE 4" pot I got from the garden center.

Compare the above picture, taken in the spring to the to the picture in my first post with the three cows (taken two weeks ago) and you can see how fast this spreads. ( And how much growing time you would miss if you wait till fall.)

As to what the Kudzu is, sorry, I'm terrible about plant names. I'll ask my sister next time she visits. Would a close up of the plant help? I do remember her saying it is a herb. It smells like Pizza

You might try what I did. I went to all the nurseries, bought one or two of each thing I liked, and planted them. I put one in a full sun area, and another in a shady area. About 4 out of five things I bought died. Of the ones that lasted, I decided what 1:1 scale thing they looked most like. Then I transplanted them into the areas where the real plants were in my reference photos and trimmed or pruned them until they looked right. The whole process is a lot like selecting wood, plastic or brass when building a model. You have to select the material that best replicates the real thing, but make allowances for durability and the nature of the material.

The secret is in the soaker hose. It does not spray water that evaporates or can "sunburn" the plants. This way, it can supply water in the hot part of the day. I set an automatic timer to water a 2 PM daily. Don't drown the plants, just keep the soil moist. Since the "planter" is so shallow, the roots can't go down deep for water. The benefits of this "shallow planter" method is that weeds can't grow up through the barrier, and any weeds from air born seeds are easily lifted out, since they can't send down deep roots. It is also easy to move plants arround to change a scene or divide them to make them spread faster.

Also, Be sure you use a weed stop material that will allow water through, not a plastic sheet that blocks water.

 

[Coogler Rail Line]

Wow. Thanks for all the tips! We are having to build our layout in baby steps. We are getting some ballast tomorrow.  I may have to email you when we hit some snags on the way.

 

Regards,

Chuck