NEW WEBSITE for The Crowfoot Light Railway

[andymctractor]

Thought I'd try this and see if it becomes a drag on my time. It seems too good to be true so I'll see what it is really about.

http://crowfootlightrailway.webs.com/

I have previously built a model railway related website but using Microsoft Frontpage. This got too much hassle in the end and I fell out with my web host.
This new one is using WEBS with a website builder. There aren't so many options but the simplicity is encouraging. Also, if it all vanishes into the ether I've only lost 2 days work.

[kandnwlr]

Thought I'd try this and see if it becomes a drag on my time.  It seems too good to be true so I'll see what it is really about.

http://crowfootlightrailway.webs.com/

I have previously built a model railway related website but using Microsoft Frontpage.  This got too much hassle in the end and I fell out with my web host.
This new one is using WEBS with a website builder.  There aren't so many options but the simplicity is encouraging.  Also, if it all vanishes into the ether I've only lost 2 days work.

The new website´s looking good and is easy to use. Looking forward to more pics as things progress.

[andymctractor]

The new website´s looking good and is easy to use. Looking forward to more pics as things progress.

Thanks for your comments.
While I have the website I will be taking and storing some photos with the website in mind.
I have lots of photos stored on an external hard drive but I'm not very disciplined at putting a descriptive name on the files to replace the number created by my camera. As the space on the drive is cheap I'm also not very disciplined at getting rid of less useful photos. So, when I'm looking for a good photo for a specific purpose it takes me ages. This is why some of the photos on the website are a bit dated.

[andymctractor]

I have now added a sketch plan of the railway to the website

http://crowfootlightrailway.webs.com/

My drawing skills aren't up to much but I think this will do the job for the time being.

[andymctractor]

I've altered the page looking at trains on the CLR as much of the previous information was of little use to visitors to the website.
I've also created an additional page looking at how I constructed the railway.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andy,

It's a great site, your construction description is very good - I like the diagram of the concrete and brick construction.

I'm very interested to know your opinion on the difference between
the concrete construction and Filcris construction.

I intend to get stuck into some terraforming once the growing season comes to an end. In the meantime planning and acquiring materials will be the order of the day - knowing what the method of construction I'll be using will be an important first step!

Cheers,

Andrew

[andymctractor]

I'm very interested to know your opinion on the difference between
the concrete construction and Filcris construction.

As I found myself with a garden that has a moderate clay bound soil I looked to set my main running lines in as firm a situation as was practicable. Frost heave is not too much of a problem in this area as in some parts of the world so I went for a substantial hard core and concrete foundation topped with mortared bricks. The bricks were free from the guy who was hard scaping my front garden and had been tasked previously with removing a badly built brick laid driveway. He would have had to pay to dispose of them rather than give them all to me. The first phase of this work cost me 32p per brick the second phase cost me 3 hours work barrowing free bricks into my back garden.
To be truthful i didn't plan the work on the goods yard at Crowfoot and the train storage sidings at the time I planned the main running lines but I did know there were options I could use.
The concrete/brick track bed was b****y hard work and could have been expensive though I'm going to be able to properly ballast the trackwork on it.
The Filcris track bed was much less heavy work and was a very practical solution for me to add a goods yard and storage sidings to a main track bed of concrete and bricks though I'm going to have to depend on nature to replace full blown ballasting.
In conclusion I would say if you don't want hard ballasting on your trackwork Filcris would be a solution and would be much less hard work.
If I were to have to build another garden railway in a less than perfect situation I would probably used Filcris for the whole railway, though it would be expensive of course.
There is also the warning that Filcris will expand more in very hot weather and contract more in very cold weather than the track that is attached to it. I've concerned myself less about this as all my Filcris is in the ground or below the surface.
I hope this helps but if you would like more specific info please let me know.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Andy,

That's very interesting and useful, thanks. You've obviously had relatively little problem with expansion of Filcris in a buried location. That's the first time I've heard that. It's a very important consideration when planning to shell out that sort of cash.

The hard work of the concrete formation isn't to be underestimated but in situations where there is a risk of movement needs to be seriously considered, although I suspect a well buried Filcris system could also be equally stable, provided it can be sufficiently protected to achieve effectively zero heat movement.

More food for thought. With all the options suggested on here I may never actually make up my mind on the right method for me!

Andrew