"La Puce" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 23 Feb, 19:01, tina wrote:
Hi all,

Hullo Tina.

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

Where did you get them in the end? And I wouldn't do anything to them
really and let the rain, wind and sun clean them naturally if there's
no chemicals on them.

Indeed. If you do want to get some of the gunk off them easiest way is with
a water blaster.

rob

Hi all,

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

They are very very heavy and about 8ft 6 long. Took 2 men to lift them
1 at a time!!

Is there anyway I can clean them up before using them to make my
raised beds?

Please can anyone advise me ?

Would you line the beds with some sort of material so as to protect
the soil coming into contact with the wooden sleepers or is that
overkill?

Thanks very much for all your help.

"tina" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

They are very very heavy and about 8ft 6 long. Took 2 men to lift them
1 at a time!!

You wanna try moving 200 or so for landscaping a golf course ;-)

Is there anyway I can clean them up before using them to make my
raised beds?

Please can anyone advise me ?

If you want to retain their appearance but improve the finish have them
lightly sandblasted. Although it's probably better to leave them "as is".


Would you line the beds with some sort of material so as to protect
the soil coming into contact with the wooden sleepers or is that
overkill?

I have a couple of raised sleeper beds and suffer no ill effects or plant
issues from the sleepers, which have plenty of creosote, oil, railway
remnants and "stuff" very ingrained into them.
If you are planning a veg plot you might cover the sides with regular
builders waterproof floor membrane thickness polythene, but it might be
overkill.

On 23/2/07 19:01, in article ,
"tina" wrote:

Hi all,

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

They are very very heavy and about 8ft 6 long. Took 2 men to lift them
1 at a time!!

Is there anyway I can clean them up before using them to make my
raised beds?

Only a guess but maybe a power washer?

Please can anyone advise me ?

Would you line the beds with some sort of material so as to protect
the soil coming into contact with the wooden sleepers or is that
overkill?

A friend of ours has just done something similar and we got yards of Mypex
for her to line her beds with - stops the soil seeping out of the cracks
etc.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

On 23 Feb, 19:01, tina wrote:
Hi all,

Hullo Tina.

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

Where did you get them in the end? And I wouldn't do anything to them
really and let the rain, wind and sun clean them naturally if there's
no chemicals on them.

"tina" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

Raised beds are looking like a possibility as I have just acquired 15
old used railway sleepers, no creasote but they look old & deffo look
to have been used on a real railway.

They are very very heavy and about 8ft 6 long. Took 2 men to lift them
1 at a time!!

Is there anyway I can clean them up before using them to make my
raised beds?

Please can anyone advise me ?

Would you line the beds with some sort of material so as to protect
the soil coming into contact with the wooden sleepers or is that
overkill?

Thanks very much for all your help.



Go to B&Q and get some tins of stuff called 'Aquaseal". It was about £5.00 a
tin (5 Litres I think). It's like a tar and you paint it on with a big
brush. Used for waterproofing felt roofs. Easy to apply, dries quite quickly
and will fill the cracks and make it waterproof, which means that the
nasties in there won't come out :-))

I have a flat roof on part of my house and I gave it a coat about 10 years
ago and it is still good.

Not toxic so no probs with the veggies :-))

Easiest way out. :-))

Mike


--
.................................................. .........
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com

On 23 Feb 2007 11:27:13 -0800, "La Puce" wrote:

My local timber yard ordered them in for me.

Where did you get them in the end? And I wouldn't do anything to them
really and let the rain, wind and sun clean them naturally if there's
no chemicals on them.

There looks to tar (i think) on a couple of them.

On 24/2/07 17:22, in article ,
"tina" wrote:

On 23 Feb 2007 11:27:13 -0800, "La Puce" wrote:

My local timber yard ordered them in for me.

Where did you get them in the end? And I wouldn't do anything to them
really and let the rain, wind and sun clean them naturally if there's
no chemicals on them.

There looks to tar (i think) on a couple of them.

Are you going to line the beds with something like e.g. Mypex - that black
plastic weed membrane?
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

On 24 Feb, 17:22, tina wrote:
My local timber yard ordered them in for me.

Great stuff. The article below would make you cry ... 150,000 railways
sleepers need good home!

There looks to tar (i think) on a couple of them.

Sorry about this but I came across this and thought perhaps it could
put your mind at rest. Also I cannot see the amount of tar on them,
maybe those you are worried about you ought to protect the soil with a
membrane around it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening...gsl eep13.xml

On 24 Feb, 21:08, "La Puce" wrote:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening...gardening%2F20...

I'd like to point out that I don't read that paper ... though this
article wasn't bad dd&tc