Garden Railway Forum

Pendo Pilot wrote:Putting more weight over the front axle, the powered one. I found it span a lot even with a light load (which is all it's expected to haul). I have yet to blend it in a bit better. Have also added a brass lower bufferbeam for the same purpose.

Interesting, Ive added lots of bits of led to the underside of mine and allthough its improved tis still not great... the biggest problem i have with mine is trying to grab the switch without deraling the loco and stock as it zippps past!

Well, rest day off today, mowed the lawn(field), strimmed the edges, hung the washing out in this sunny & hot staffordshire afternoon & as the wife & daughter are out I've actually made a start on the line!!! Will post pics later if the wife does not kill me when she see's what I've done to the lawn!!!


Actually havent done much but I've started, the first sod has definitely been cut.

Yay.

Well still alive, wife asked a few questions even though I have been telling her for ages my plans. Seems ok with it though.

So here's the start of the CVLR....

All I have done today is dig out the ground & below ground area's. Nothing is level yet or final. I plan to pick one area of the dig, concrete it to the thickness I decide on & then use that point as the level & base the rest of that.

Here's how far I got today.


Track just dropped in to judge spacing etc.


This area at the furthest point will probably become the first concrete section to base the rest of. Need to get rid of the dogleg a bit.


Left hand side will become a tunnel, through the cutting which will have a main station & then off down the garden on the right.



Early shot's of the station area in the cutting. Plan is to have two through platform roads & for starters one siding.


Lenny sat where the cutting will go into a tunnel.


Trialing old roof tiles as an embankment wall in the station.

Finally some arty type navie shots...

Yay!  - Congratulations, I hope that first sod was cut with a suitably silver hued spade?!

Always nice to get that first bit done

Fantastic, looking promising Shane! The "navie shots" are good!

Looking good!

I'm sure you will have some finished track to play with before long.
Nice idea with the slates, cheap and effective!

ahh good garden railways always start off as trenches!

looking great shane!
look forward to progress

Brilliant, I thought you'd be building up rather than down for some reason. Looks great though, what is next for the trench?

Looking good, one end of the station area reminds me of Beddgelert a bit, with the tunnel at the end.

Mr. Bond of the DVLR wrote: I thought you'd be building up rather than down for some reason. Looks great though, what is next for the trench?

It will be a bit of both mate, started with the low end first (High end of the garden). As you can see the garden slopes down from the fence at the top towards the house. The pic has zoomed it all in a bit & exagerated the slope but still should end up with about 3ft high towards the house end.. (Current bit is at the top by the fence. Can't actually see it due to the cutting.



Just waiting on time now to get some cement & sand & maybe some ree bar. BTW how thick do people reckon to make the concrete??

5 inch minimum. this will stop it cracking with settling and ground movement. and if your drilling your concrete to screw your track to it, it will stop it splitting!

Which is why it might be cheaper to build a 1 course brick wall and lay the track on top of the bricks. you can drill into the bricks and screw the track down that way. If you just use cement, not only will it cost you a lot in the price of cement, but to get a decent amount done each time you will need a cement mixer, especially if you are working on your own and not with some one to help make the next mix while you use up the last one.

Just some thoughts for you to consider.

Thanks for the advice there. I was planning on around 5" deep as thats what I used on my 00 layout years ago & most of that still survives 20 years later. As for bricks, well the plan is to go onto sintered blocks on the above ground section. I will try doing a bit in concrete in the part that is started & see how it goes. Have already been looking at hiring a cement mixer as they are dirt cheap. Will give the datum point section (about 3ft long) a go in cement by hand & then decide from there. At least as it's all trench based I will only have to use one end piece per casting. It's actually not that much I suppose & I would like to try, also something I can cast one section before or after work. No worries about frost damage whilst it sets at the moment either.

made-in-england wrote: Interesting, I've added lots of bits of lead to the underside of mine and although its improved tis still not great... the biggest problem I have with mine is trying to grab the switch without derailing the loco and stock as it zippps past!

The solution is to add an external switch, like this:


At least you can get hold of this or just catch it as it goes by.

A 2 axle drive kit also helps enormously!

Or do what John Rogers did and attach flexible "outriggers" to the switches so that by placing a block at a certain point on the line it reverses or switches off...

Well after a shortish shift at work today I managed to get out in the garden armed with some cheap lintels, a bag of cement, two bags of sand, shovel & a spirit level.

Finally I have my start point for levels, plus a few yards of level & hopefully firm trackbed...

Done from here...

To here...


Mostly laid on 4" deep reinforced lintels that I aqquired for the right price. The end bits (last pic) is actually just 5 1/2" of concrete to form the station throat. (Setrack curve simulating point exit although sharper than the SM32 Peco point will be.


Happy to be started & after settling the lintels in & surrounding them in concrete I hope it will be stable. If not should be easy to pull up & fettle.

Took some shots that show that with the track level you can see how the garden goes from above to below trackbed height.






Finally, I just liked this shot!

Looks very smart indeed.
Interesting how you can clearly see the ground sloping when you have the level reference of the track.

Fantastic, great to see you've got your line under construction so soon after moving in

Can actually thank the mother in law for the quick start on the line. Only because she has paid for us to have the house decorated as a moving in present. Which of course means no DIY to do around the place for me!!

Got a 03:40am start tomorrow but hopefully should be done by midday so maybe I can crack on with a bit more then.