RWLR - Robin Wood Light Railway

[laurence703]

Very nice! it looks good! Will there be others of this type on your railway?

[tom_tom_go]

Thanks Laurence. I have decided this buffer stop will go at the other end of the siding as this will be the coaling/water filling area where I intend to build a basic platform. I can't fit a loco shed

I want to make another style of buffer stop for the other end of the siding. Maybe out of brick or using Peco track as I had a go at this a while back, however, the nuts and bolts look too big. Using smaller ones I have found to be fiddly:

[Annie]

You're putting together a good looking railway there Tom Tom. When I make a start on my own railway I'm going to have to use the self bracket method along a fence line as well so it's been interesting to see how you approached the method.
By the way I like your rail built buffer stops and I don't really think the bolts you've used are oversized. Clipping the extra length off the bolts would make a difference to their appearance and make them more realistic.

[tom_tom_go]

Making good progress at the moment:




This curve fits in nicely in between the red robin bush and is just over 5ft radius so should get some good running from it

[tom_tom_go]

Completed the final stage of track base construction today!



I now have a complete 'dog bone' to lay the remaining roofing felt on and then for track and ballast to go on top of that. I may even get to hold my first steam up in the Spring

Thanks to everyone's comments on this thread - it really helps to spur me on with the RWLR...

Cheers,

Tom

[tom_tom_go]

All of the roofing felt is now laid and today I did some more track laying:





The long curve under the red robin bush will be a good spot for taking photos

[dougrail]

Looks really good Tomtom, every little bit done now is a step further forward

[tom_tom_go]

Thanks Doug!

I ordered some larger bags of the ballast I tried out a while ago and laid some today:



I would be interested in what people think of it as I feel it is too light (maybe in time the weather will tone it down?) and wondered if there was a way to make it darker using some sort of dye or maybe just dirty engine oil?

[Steven.T]

I think it looks alright! Give it a while and nature will do its thing anyway!

[tegfan railway]

I did a test section of about 2 foot using similar looking ballast, 6 weeks later it has mellowed well blending in nicely with the surrounding larger chunks of slate, I even have some moss and micro weeds, as mentioned earlier let nature take its course.

[tom_tom_go]

Thanks for the comments chaps.

I will see how it weathers although I think reducing the amount of ballast on each side of the track has reduced the viewing impact of it:

[tom_tom_go]

My buffer idea from a while back came to a complete stop (get it, ho ho ho) because I could not bend enough pieces identically and that was driving me nuts!

So, I had a hunt around on the net and found a picture of a buffer stop at the milk dock on the Bluebell railway that I thought would look good up against the lamp hut that I am building:



I can't produce the picture of the buffer stop here as it is copyrighted by the author, however, if you have a look on Google images you should find it by searching 'bluebell railway milk dock buffer stop'.

[tom_tom_go]

The weather has finally beaten me doing anymore building work in the garden for a while so time to get on with buildings and rolling stock.

The lamp hut is nearly finished:

[Annie]

The good old corrugated iron school of architecture.

I like that buffer stop design, - no tricky bends which has to be a plus

[tom_tom_go]

I am doing my bit for the environment by recycling tin cans

I forgot I had pics of the roof finished:






Now I just have to wait for it to rust

[tom_tom_go]

I think this buffer stop is finished for now (let's see what the weather does to it)




I found some left over paving slabs from when we had our patio done which I can cut for concrete bases for future buildings or even platforms:

[tom_tom_go]

Very nice! It reminds me of the fishing lines at Dungeness on the RHDR  

And I think I have found RHDR ballast, yay!





I am going to see how it fairs with the weather for a little while, however, I prefer it to the darker ballast I was going to use. I am not building a Welsh slate railway so the lighter stones gives a more coastal feel to the line which is fitting given I live near the south Kent coast

[Annie]

I see your lamphut is starting to weather nicely and lose its brand new look. That ballast looks good too and is a much better choice for a coastal location.

May I ask you a question Tom, - why are you using steel billets as a buffer stop?

[tom_tom_go]

May I ask you a question Tom, - why are you using steel billets as a buffer stop?

Er, well they look good rusted up and I have not been bothered to build a proper buffer stop yet

I reckon if I cut them down I might even get away with using them permanently?

[tom_tom_go]

The weather has put any major track work on hold for the moment, however, with Christmas approaching my folks offered to buy something for the RWLR that would be 'useful'

So, as I have a Riverdale coal fired boiler on order with the eventual outcome of two trains running I managed to sneak in a passing loop using the new Peco tighter radius points without having to rebuild any of the line:



The red arrows show the 'start' direction of each train with the blue indicating the 'home' journey. I have built a prototype self-resetting point mechanism that fits under the required points that should allow two trains to run on my line without hitting each other!