The new line replaces my old West Kent Light Railway, a Colonel Stephens inspired line that was demolished to make way for a house extension in 2010. As the name suggests the new railway draws inspiration from the Welsh Highland, encouraged by the rebuilding of that line. That said, it's not the shiny modern era with Garratts and the like that I'll be modelling, but the 1920s, when Russell and "his" shedmates struggled to maintain a viable service in the face of recession and road competition.
Since the old line closed I've been saving for WHR locos, scratchbuilding rolling stock and gradually constructing my new line. It's much closer to ground-level than my old line for increased realism (I hope!) and will feature steep gradients (1 in 50-ish) both to better represent the real thing and also to match the sloping profile of the garden.
The plan is that the line will represent a fictitious branch off the "main line", originally built by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways and then extended during the WHR construction in the early 20s. That will allow me to feature the solid stone and brick architecture of the NWNGR and the WHR's corrugated iron. I'm currently planning an end to end line but should be able to reconfigure it as a circuit if I find I'm getting bored.
The first section I've built will eventually become the passing station in the middle of the line and a short length of track beginning the descent to the lower terminus:
Here's my old Friog diesel on a test train, standing in what will be the platform road - obviously there's till a great deal to do! Just as First Great Western are forever making tannoy announcements about the "heightened security situation" at Bristol Temple Meads (presumably to justify the occasional presence of armed police) these dangerous times have necessitated that the Thompson Twins are on duty to ensure nothing untoward takes place.
Initial tests have shown that I need to do more work to increase the distance between the loop's clearance points before I finally fix down and ballast the track. Even then my trains may need to be shorter than I'd originally intended.
The test train ventured down as far as the current "head of steel" - hopefully that will be extended around the edge of the patio over the winter, followed by some scenic work on the existing section in the spring.