Sleepers

Hadn't thought of split rail fencing. Sadly the stuff I have is mostly pretty warped, so it would be hard to stack on top of itself.

Way over complicated. Just get some bat strap (galvanised steel strap will holes all along it) from a builders merchant, cut it into say 12" lengths, and then nail or screw it across the joins on the inside of the raised beds. Say four bits per sleeper - that will stop them moving. Bend a bit a 90 degrees to make some inside corner brackets.

shallow trench, compact the base well (large hammer and a plank), a couple of inches of postfix dry concrete mix can be used to set the level you want. No need to add water, it will hydrate and set by itself.

Doesn't matter. The soil still stays in even with fairly large gaps.

Or you can line with poly sheet tacked on..

I select bits that just about fit: The final result is 'rustic' (rough and ready :-)) but She likes it that way.

The guys that made a smallish retainer for the very steep slope in our back garden, concreted the sleepers in palisade style, end on. They haven't moved in some 8years so far...

The sleeper on the ground should be fully treated. By that I mean pressure treated or the usual oozing black tar concoction. Those sleepers on top can be hand treated if you have bought non- pressure treated, you would need to leave standing in an preservative all weekend to get into the end grain and many surface applications over the years. From the price it sounds like new oak pressure treated, but it needs clarifying.

Engineering brick with capping stones can look prettier for planters, kept low, sort of architectural with cordylines scattered about.

Wife does seem very short from the description though :-)

In message , Spamlet writes

Are you sure they're not british rail employees ?

pressure treated oak?

Jim K

Sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for the replies already posted.

The sleepers, I think, are a new type and quite light in weight. I am going to put them 8" flat to the ground and build up like that I think. Thanks again for the help

Oops, "From the price it sounds like new oak or pressure treated". Actually I suspect plain softwood pressure treated re delivery cost.

Reclaimed creosote treated oak sleepers are commonly available, I suspect you can get new pressure treated oak from one of the large "oak beam" online suppliers. Delivery tends to get quite ugly as the tonnage mounts :-)

I've never known railway sleepers being made of oak.

Pedantically speaking, do they still make wooden sleepers? They're all concrete nowadays surely.

-- Halmyre

Halmyre wibbled on Monday 05 July 2010 10:27

Yes. Points sleepers in particular as it's easier to place several randomly positioned bolts whereas the concrete sleepers have preformed mounting points which are fine for normal rail but not so flexible.

I suspect you can't - let us know if you find any.

Jim K

I've recently seen stacks of new wooden sleepers.

Not oak though :-)

Seem to remember they used to be a heavy pine of some sort.

Several types of wood are used.