Concrete railway sleepers. Good for anything?

[cardiffrob]

Whilst the BR people were trying to erect a fence on our boundary they kept finding burried 380kg concrete railway sleepers. Some were dug up. Are they useful for anything other than a bench or pad for a garden shed???

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

 

[Bullet2012]

shoring up earth banks
laid upside down they make good slipways

 

[8ob]

Installed upside down they make a good solid kerb/trackside edge.

Bob

 

[Blobber]

If I could get any locally I'd have a pile, really useful

 

[brightspark]

probably all came from the dow mack concrete works next to where i live they had there own sidings on to the main line to ship em out

 

[Cobbler]

probably all came from the dow mack concrete works next to where i live they had there own sidings on to the main line to ship em out

There was a Dow Mac works in Gloucester as well, all gone now though.

 

[jimbo84]

Place near us has used them as fencing, steel column for the upright, concrete sleepers slid in horizontally.

 

[RWD3M]

Give them to @GRW ?

Post in thread 'Poverty / Ghetto Car Ramp ideas?'

Apr 26, 2025

It's certainly a thought I had, yes.... though when I started thinking about the silage pit, the thought started to percolate about how that might be used as its halfway there.
I need to go up there with a tape measure and look at it a bit more - do some of that thinking stuff.

RSJ's I suspect would be eyewateringly pricey - but could railway sleepers be used I wonder?
Anyone knowhow much weight a Sleeper can carry if it was elevated, with supports either end (or indeed in the middle as well - I imagine even a 4x4" post in the centre would increase strength & safety by a large...

• Gareth J

• 

 

[Gareth J]

Rough and ready gate posts.
"Foundations" that are technically still a temporary structure.
Water permeable tracks (if you have enough)

 

[Mikey D]

Delivered a good few flat trailer artic loads tofarms for cow tracks , either stackedwith bearers in-between or tumbled I think it was called , on with a grab on a machine with steel bolsters or pins on the trailer sides ,, similar to timber trucks .
Ie random sort of thing was from the rail recycling yard at march Cambridge shire . ... Or seconds from Birmingham where they made them , near star. City side of the M6 , Taroni scrap metals old yard nearby iirc
Possibly HS2 SITE now ?

 

[Mikey D]

One farm built a causeway because there farm drive used to flood with 18" of water a few times a year , we collected there milk thru 12" of water but there is only so deep you can drive thru especially with a Scania air intake only step height , no
We did have one daf with intake up side of cab tho couldn't do it theses days we got took over by a blue chip company , everything is compliant / box ticking now

 

[frank horton]

use as a shed base if they r free.......u always need another shed....

 

[GRW]

Give them to @GRW ?

Post in thread 'Poverty / Ghetto Car Ramp ideas?'

Apr 26, 2025

It's certainly a thought I had, yes.... though when I started thinking about the silage pit, the thought started to percolate about how that might be used as its halfway there.
I need to go up there with a tape measure and look at it a bit more - do some of that thinking stuff.

RSJ's I suspect would be eyewateringly pricey - but could railway sleepers be used I wonder?
Anyone knowhow much weight a Sleeper can carry if it was elevated, with supports either end (or indeed in the middle as well - I imagine even a 4x4" post in the centre would increase strength & safety by a large...

• Gareth J

• 

There is a yard about 15-miles from me that has sold Wooden Sleepers for donkeys years.... I'm passing it today - I'll have to try looking through the gates to see what these concrete ones are like.

 

[8ob]

These concrete sleepers weigh about a quarter of a ton, not the sort of thing you want to be lumping about without a machine. Just saying.

Bob

 

[GRW]

These concrete sleepers weigh about a quarter of a ton, not the sort of thing you want to be lumping about without a machine. Just saying.

Bob

This indeed a concern. I can though figure something out (ratchet straps and timbers, block & tackle,... might be hiring a mini digger in for some groundwork & use that... etc etc.
I can get creative, & generally manage without doing anything dumb & dangerous.

 

[Porkypine]

I'd think they'd be very useful for loads of stuff, especially if free..as above the issue is moving and wrangling the bugga's. I'd prob use them to completely 'pave' over my back garden that resembles the Somme usually.

 

[cardiffrob]

Mine are free...I just have to dig down about 2 feet through dirt to find them. I guess there must be 10 - 20 down there at the bottom of the embankment.

Needed an engine hoist to get the first one up but it has made a great bench to sit on when upside down on some big flat boulders.

Are they sturdy enough internally to be used as ramps? I can see some steel within them.

 

[Porkypine]

Mine are free...I just have to dig down about 2 feet through dirt to find them. I guess there must be 10 - 20 down there at the bottom of the embankment.

Needed an engine hoist to get the first one up but it has made a great bench to sit on when upside down on some big flat boulders.

Are they sturdy enough internally to be used as ramps? I can see some steel within them.

you'd think they'd have some sort of re-bar inside considering the original highly stressed usage

 

[8ob]

you'd think they'd have some sort of re-bar inside considering the original highly stressed usage

They are full of it, never seen as much reo in anything, I also think they must be cast in a different grade of concrete because they are granite hard.

Bob

 

[Porkypine]

They are full of it, never seen as much reo in anything, I also think they must be cast in a different grade of concrete because they are granite hard.

Bob

Makes sense when you think of the hammering they'd take over many years of trains going over 'em !