OT: supplier of used railway sleepers

On or around Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:18:25 GMT, SpamTrapSeeSig enlightened us thusly:

concrete or wood? I thought they weren't supposed to be selling the wooden ones any more on account of the creosote or something?

Bleeding typical isn't it, that these used to be _given_ away? I kept a house warm all winter once on chopped-up sleepers - some of them impregnated with all sorts of oils and the like, made for an interesting floorshow at times.

Probably won't help you (as it'll kill you in transport costs) but there's a place near Derby called summat like Architectural and Maritime Salvage - couldn't find them on Google though, so they may not be there now.

Another good bet is to try dock management companies (the people who look after the now somewhat defunct railway sidings at large ports).

SpamTrapSeeSig wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@tigger.muircom.demon.co.uk:

Try The Farmers Guardian. All sorts of stuff in there.

Derry

That is about the going rate but I wouldn't want to use them even for this. The oil, tar, shit etc will oze from 'em making the surface slippery and get all over your footwear and into any vehicle or building nearby. You'll still need a reasonable base to put 'em on to stop them becoming uneven and starting to rock over time.

I can't think of any real, practical, use for used sleepers, they are filthy, heavy and hard to work. Using sleepers is a "fashion" thing from garden makeover programmes.

They stopped briefly, but now they are available again.

There's a place just outside Shepton Mallet that advertises railway sleepers and telegraph poles - no more details than that, sorry!

Cheers

Peter

There used to b e a place in Frome, I think it was Weavers, next to the station.

Richard

But they do burn well...

Hey Tim! You're a fashion victim at last!

Yep. Still got the used ones on the driveway having learnt the hard way that there is no way to stop them oozing. The new ones are much nicer. They do serve a minor purpose - mainly keeping my two year old the right side of a 4 foot drop...

There is a project in the offing to reduce the size of the fireplace and refloor the living room. That may provide a cover story for the proper log fire I've always wanted, which would in turn allow me to get rid of the sleepers...

'course, I'd need a bigger axe.

In article , Tim Hobbs writes

In this case it's to have a safe hard-standing, which can be ride-on-mown without risk to the cutters, etc. It's quite a big area, and has odd ground conditions. Old sleepers, especially dieseled or creosoted, would be ideal, but paving blocks wouldn't. Needless-to-say, they'll be gone over with a metal detector prior to use!

I agree, but they're very much more expensive, and won't be as easily discounted in the quantities we need.

They bounce at that age. Both my older two descended the stairs unexpectedly at various times. We did put a big floor-cushion against the opposite wall though in the end (the floor was thickly carpeted and deemed suitably soft). One of them won the school maths competition this year (from yr.7!), and overall apart from a certain geekiness (prolly inherited), we can't discern any other ill-effects!

Regards,

Simonm.

Should have said ... the right side of a 4 foot drop onto a patio...

Then again, she's bounced off worse. Right now she has a 1cm wide, 2 inch tall bruise in the middle of her forehead earned whilst learning that the door should be fully open before walking through it.

There's also the hole in her left leg she earned whilst learning that you should wear socks with wellies otherwise the tops rub.

Oh yes, and the missing fingernail earned when learning not to put your finger in door jambs.

Your call but don't come here looking for sympathy when you start getting an ear bending about oily/tarry foot marks or almost impossible to remove stains on clothing (trouser bottoms in particular)...

How about that plastic grid stuff that allows grass to grow through but spreads the weight so things don't sink in or create ruts? I think you can get interlocking concrete grids as well. Still needs a stable(ish) base though.

In article , Tim Hobbs writes

Nobel scientist in the making, evidently!

Regards,

Simonm.

I think the plan is roughly: order lots (at the right price!), use the good ones, burn the really bad ones.

That's the challenge, where sleepers win. Very high water table, needing wide load distribution, and a large area that will revert to grass in the end (this is a 5-year-temporary type of thing). It won't be taking big weights (by road standards), and we don't want to put lots of hardcore down as it'd all have to go somewhere else later.

Still looking for a good bulk supplier...

Regards,

Simonm.

Aren't they called grasscrete?

On or around Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:32:27 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

they make good bridges over ditches. If they surface is specially scungy, you just nail some thin planks onto it.

She should be a bloody genius when she grows up, at the rate she's learning things!!

Axle stands.

Ask any truck mechanic, or recovery operator how useful sleepers are!

Derry Argue muttered summat about:

Or the farmers weekly, there are usually several companies in there.

Dave Liquorice muttered summat about:

Have bought them for £8 but more usually 10. Have bought new ones for £14.

Use them all the time on the farm. They make good fence posts, rails for cattle pens, walls for building up ground, blocks to stand machinery on etc etc. Have used hundreds and hundreds over the years.