The Candleford Green Light Railway

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Paul_G
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The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:17 am

As I mentioned in my introduction thread I'm in the process of creating The Candleford Green Light Railway. After a years worth of false starts, distractions & failure of friends to come good with offers of help ground has been broken & construction is proceeding in a way I can do on my own & can adapt, develop, extend or demolish fairly easily.

Construction is deck boards raised off the ground on fence posts set into the cheapest met post copies I could find. An unavoidable factor of this build is that the budget is non existent. When I initially purchased my Lady Anne there weren't any plans beyond running on a 16mm society layout. However it didn't take long before thoughts turned to a test track in the garden & from there the CGLR was born even though the piggy bank is distinctly empty.

So this is where we were a few days ago, the basic structure is in place for phase I, a simple distorted dog bone loop with a straight run up the fence line which will be a run through a corridor of greenery before heading back towards the house on a more sinuous route hopefully planted & landscaped to give a reason for the curves.
Immediate concern are whether the battens under the long spans will prevent sagging & whether the unsupported joins on the curves will hold up. They are glued a screwed & have already survived two 11 year olds running round the track, :evil: , when my back was turned so I guess only time will tell.
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Gralyn
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Gralyn » Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:26 am

Great start. Don't know how you resisted putting some track down. :D :) :o
Regards Graham.

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:38 am

With the right planting you will be surprised how good you can make that simple design look, keep going.

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Peter Butler
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Peter Butler » Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:00 am

Welcome Paul and congratulations on the start of your railway, the setting looks great and your plans will make it look good once established.
Your concerns about construction may be justified as the decking timber is treated so as not to absorb moisture, including adhesive, so the bond will not be permanent leaving only the screws. At this stage, before track is laid, it would be advisable to add more strength between the unsupported sections as it will be much more difficult later.
I hope this is useful and something is possible within your budget.
Edit.... If you have any off-cuts of the decking longer than the ones you have already used it would be a good idea to replace them and use coach-bolts instead of screws, these have rounded heads so will not stick out too much, or can be countersunk. Also, large washers on the underside will spread the load. These should be placed a distance away from the joins to give maximum strength.
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:54 am

Thanks for the comments & particularly the advice from Peter.

The jury is currently out on how the landscape will develop & it is quite possible that certain areas will be built up under and around the trackbed which will hopefully give more support to the decking. I'll certainly consider adding more posts but I could do with finding an alternative to met posts as even the B&Q cheap ones soon tot up cost wise :cry:

I wasn't aware of the glue not penetrating decking Peter & so will give thought to other ways of strengthening the joins & being honest I had already experimented with coach bolts & longer plates as a way forward if/when required.

Being honest I know I've already made some mistakes because I got fed up waiting for assistance & charged off down this route doing most of the work late in the evening to fit in around work, family life with & hospital visits. Because of that I know it isn't the final solution but hopefully won't be a totally disastrous start.

The earlier pictures were from a few days ago & this is where we are now after some twilight track laying & painting to get rid of the god awful galvanised colour of the posts.
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philipy
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by philipy » Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:23 pm

Paul_G wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:54 am I could do with finding an alternative to met posts as even the B&Q cheap ones soon tot up cost wise :cry:
Hi Paul,
There is a simple and reasonably cheap way of adding extra posts under the existing track bed.

1) Get a length of 100mm sq plastic downpipe (brown or black).
2) Cut a piece the height that that you need PLUS about 9".
3) Screw a timber cross bar to one end, the width of your track base.
4) Dig a hole about 12" deep by about 12" diameter.
5) Get a bag of "Postcrete" and fill the hole about 9" deep with the dry mix.
6) Push the post into the dry postcrete and wiggle it, so that some goes up the inside.
7) Fix the crossbar to the track bed.
8 ) Pour water into the hole to soak the postcrete.
9) Wait 20 minutes and back fill, job done!

Note: the Postcrete instructions say put water in the hole and then pour in dry Poscrete but it works the other way round as well, because we aren't putting tremendous strain on it in this application, its just to stop it sinking.
Philip

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tom_tom_go
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:50 pm

Paul I think you may be worrying too much if your kids have jumped about all over it then it should be fine.

Trains in this scale are not heavy after all...

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by BorisSpencer » Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:17 pm

Hi Paul,
That's pretty much the construction I've used for a lot of my track-bed. I used ash poles rather than fence posts because I happened to have a lot available.

You've obviously found that it's all plenty stable enough laterally, you just want to add some additional support under the longer spans.

I have my posts around 2'6" - 3' apart, but only every second or third is fixed into the ground. The intermediate posts just have a dowel peg in the bottom to locate them. I 'pounded the ground where they sit and then they are secured with three screws through the decking.


The longest span I have is a 5' lift out section which is braced underneath with some Dexion (other big boys meccano is available).

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Just Julie » Tue Apr 16, 2019 2:24 pm

Hi Paul, Looking forward to seeing your railway progress :thumbright:

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by IanC » Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:25 pm

It's a good start. I was thinking of using blocks for the permanent way, but by using similar method to you I may get something running much quicker.
Ian

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Paul_G
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:04 pm

Thanks for the comments & advice. It is great to now have some options for improving/strengthening the trackbed that don't involve ripping everything up & starting again :D

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:14 pm

IanC wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:25 pm It's a good start. I was thinking of using blocks for the permanent way, but by using similar method to you I may get something running much quicker.
My original plan was also using blocks but as time went by I realised that there was a good chance of me never actually getting the groundworks started let alone completing anything which is why I changed tack & went down this route.

The border was cleared of well established but somewhat bedraggled bushes & small trees last year with the intention then of getting going on a block track bed straight away. 10 months on all that had happened was that the weeds had taken over.....

3 weeks ago I got going on this version, working only really evenings & a few spare hours on Saturday mornings & this evening the first test run was completed by Lady Anne with a fair degree of success. A couple of lumps to iron out but generally not too bad & she then took a breather on the woodland curve. She is in steam, honest :D
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:15 pm

Paul, just to give you some confidence in your work my loops were built in a similar way and I never had any issues:

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:23 pm

Tom,

It was reading through all your thread & seeing how you had built your trackbed that gave me the impetus 3 weeks ago to get off my backside & get building :thumbup:

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:25 pm

Glad it inspired you.

I don't come from a practical family so I appreciate where you are coming from.

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:41 pm

A quick update but nothing much to report except that the weeds are now history & my back aches!

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Paul_G » Mon May 27, 2019 7:24 pm

There hadn't been any progress at all on the CGLR this month as my father passed away at the beginning of the month. It was expected but still knocked the wind out of my sails.
I decided though that sitting around the house wasn't achieving anything & as I'm in limbo between the funeral & being able to move forward on the tasks that need doing on sorting his house etc out I'd keep myself busy to take my mind off recent events.

So a bit of a blitz saw log roll fitted to tidy up the appearance of the track bed & a weed control membrane & slate chippings put down to hopefully keep the weeds at bay.

Everything is now ready for planting which will hopefully be a more pleasant task than moving the slate a bucket at a time from the drive to the back garden as my wheelbarrow collapsed on the first journey!

A slight silver lining to the current situation is that when I showed my father a video of the current layout he said that it needed a siding and an engine shed so the accounts dept is now in no position to withhold funds for phase 2 ;)
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon May 27, 2019 7:34 pm

My condolences Paul, I do understand how you are feeling at the moment.

Any chance of a video of your line when you feel up to it?

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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by steamer68 » Mon May 27, 2019 7:36 pm

Paul what a transformation, you have produced a splendid garden layout. I like how you have used the half logs to finish the edging of the layout.
I was thinking about using a course of breeze blocks but then I saw how you have built your layout. I look forward to seeing your garden layout progress. :thumbup:
Regards
Kevin

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Andrew
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Re: The Candleford Green Light Railway

Post by Andrew » Mon May 27, 2019 7:46 pm

That's looking great - it looks like it will be excellent for smooth reliable running, and is the perfect blank canvas for whatever else you want to do

I'm very sorry about your father, but glad you've found your railway a positive way to take your mind off things a little.

With very best wishes,

Andrew.

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