The Gables Garden Railway (7 1/4")

[Nomis]

Thanks tom_tom_go, but while I have definatley burnt a few calories in the garden it hasn't turned me into a muscle bound hulk yet!

I will try and get some better video of Jynn at some point, but I am usually too engrossed in running it to film much (i have run a few steam powered ballast trains, but it is hopelessley inefficient trying to be both labourer and engine driver!).

Train services were recently disrupted by a heavily pregnant wild rabbit:

DSC_0201 by simon mace, on Flickr

Although the offspring seem pretty happy in the garden, and do their bit to help with the mowing:

DSC_0205 by simon mace, on Flickr

[tom_tom_go]

Was your Wren built for you as a new loco?

[Nomis]

The story of the wren is slightly convoluted (I might start a dedicated thread for it).

Basically it was begun as one of a pair (alongside the green one pictured previously), but never progressed beyond a bolier / frames / rough machined castings.

It then sat unfinished for some years, until the green one needed some fairly heavy rebuilding. By then the original builder was getting older, and used the part-built engine as payment to have the green loco professionally repaired.

I then bought the collection of bits, and had south west steam finish it for me.

This meant I could make certain choices on the details (it has two injectors and a welded tank for example). It also has quite a bit of cnc machined stainless steel in it - very modern!

I did all of the painting work, but cannot take any credit for the build itself.

[Nomis]

Getting up to date now, the recent Covid restrictions, and working from home full time has freed up a lot of hours in the evenings and weekends to get on with railway building.

The following pictures show the trackbed developing through the front garden:

DSC_0190 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0189 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0199_1589748829934 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0201_1589748829455 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0210 by simon mace, on Flickr

_20200523_164504 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0211 by simon mace, on Flickr

[Nomis]

The last section before crossing the drive is in a curved cutting, so I decided to emphasise that using landscape sleepers concreted in on end.

This also helps to screen any view of the track from the nearby road:

DSC_0207 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0204 by simon mace, on Flickr

[Nomis]

Another lockdown project was building a couple of small wagons, designed to use up bits and pieces that I already had as well as being light enough to lift and carry quite easily. They should be ideal to take with me when I take Jynn visiting other railways (i much prefer to have a train to pull, rather than parading around light engine);

DSC_0192 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0188_1585995685241 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0198 by simon mace, on Flickr

[tom_tom_go]

I would be interested in a new thread regarding your Wren build even if you did not build it yourself.

Particularly interested in how you went about painting her as that is the stage I am at with my Sweet Pea and I hate nothing more than spending hours preparing and painting parts to then have them chip with the slightest knock!

[Nomis]

I will try and get on it once I have finished updating this one...

As for paint, I am a big fan of rustoleum products. Jynn is brush painted with multiple coats of RAL3004 gloss. The trick seems to be allowing plenty of time to dry between coats - i was giving each one a full week in a warm spare room.

Also, thinning the paint really helps it go on well. I used white spirit (in approx 75% paint to 25% thinners ratio).

[Nomis]

DSC_0080 by simon mace, on Flickr

DSC_0079 by simon mace, on Flickr

[ge_rik]

Wow! I feel exhausted just reading about it. The railway seems to be progressing at a phenomenal pace - and there's so much of it, too! Really enjoying following its development.

Rik

[tom_tom_go]

I will wait until you start a thread about the Wren before asking anymore questions about it

[Nomis]

Thanks for all the positive comments, I hope that this thread might encourage a few more people into the larger scales (you never know how many non-members of the forum might stumble across it).

The railway really isn't that big. I walked around this morning and counted rail lengths - the main loop is almost exactly 400' around; that's only 1/4 of a mile in scale.

Hopefully it should be small enough for maintenance to be quite manageable.

[Nomis]

Just occurred to me that replicating a run from caernarfon to blaenau would mean 160 laps of the garden!

[Nomis]

The last major piece of engineering to join up the loop was the level crossing over the drive.

This was a bit technical as it (obviously) has to withstand the weight of cars / vans, both driving straight over and manouvering, is on a falling gradient, and includes two curves.

Overall length of the crossing is around 25', so it would also have to incorporate at least one rail joint.

Fortunatley i found that the gravel of the drive was only shallow, and there was a firm (tarmac & concrete) surface underneath. This gave an ideal structure to build onto.

For strength, the track on this section is made entirely from 20x10mm steel bar, with welded sleepers of the same material every 12". Gauge is slightly widened to allow for the curves, and give a little extra clearance for the debris that will inevitable get in between the rails.

I ordered fresh steel via a local supplier, and had it delivered. While not the cheapest way, this allowed me to keep it in the 20' lengths that it is supplied and reduce the number of track joints needed.

[Nomis]

The way ahead is cleared:

DSC_0203 by simon mace, on Flickr

Welding up a track panel inside the garage:

DSC_0173 by simon mace, on Flickr

I found that the most practical way to get an even curve was to fully pre-weld the sleepers on the straight section along with one rail only on the curve. I then placed the track in position (both curve and level), then tack welded the other ends of the "free" sleepers to the other rail.

This gives a rigid structure that can then be taken back inside the garage for final welding (its hard to make a good mig weld outside, especially when I have to use an extension lead which significantly reduces the output of the welding machine).

[Nomis]

First panel in place, and initial concreting has begun:

DSC_0183 by simon mace, on Flickr

I had to wait for suitable weather, and a week where we could keep the car "outside" the track to do the next part as the concrete takes about a week to cure enough to drive over safely.

Concreting permanently into place;
DSC_0185_1593025687654 by simon mace, on Flickr

I pressed chippings into the wet concrete either side of the rails to try and make the whole thing as invisible as possible. The level in the "7 inch" is about 10mm lower than the rail tops - this should allow plenty of flange clearance, but also support the tyres of cars passing over.

As you can see, there was quite a bit of rail cleaning needed once the concrete had cured, but it is all ok now.

[Nomis]

Which means I can finally ride all the way around non-stop!



The above video is a little high-speed. The blue o&k diesel is geared a lot slower and can be driven entirely "hands off".

Unfortunately the weather in the south west has turned very wet in the last week, so I haven't yet taken Jynn around the whole track (it's much easier to do a quick run of a battery loco between showers).

Also, the railway now has a human-powered loco:

DSC_0189 by simon mace, on Flickr

This is quite possibly the silliest thing dad has ever built - but it does work, and well!

[ge_rik]

Must be satisfying to have the track finished. Presumably, now the fun really starts

Rik

[Nomis]

A better video:



This one is at a more scale speed, and scale point of view.

Apologies for the noise, this was shot with my phone placed on a flat wagon immediatley in front of the loco...

P.S.
My youtube videos don't seem to resize in the thread - am I missing something?

[tom_tom_go]

P.S.
My youtube videos don't seem to resize in the thread - am I missing something?

Is this when you view the forum on mobile?

It has always been like that from memory, I haven't put anything in to resize it.