Garden Railway Forum

Your pictures a few posts back are wonderful. Very atmospheric. Real plants look so good. Somehow scale doesn't matter and the views look just right

What an excellent location! I really like your engineering. Shame the first version collapsed but I think it is all for the better as your new version looks first class. The bridge looks really good. Again some proper engineering. I like it when things aren't so much a model as a small version of th...

Joe, think through the all the costs before you decide that 5 inch is too expensive. There are some costs for track earlier in this thread, it is cheaper than 32mm if you cut wooden sleepers yourself. Alice cost about the same as 3 mid range Accucraft steamers and there are plenty of people on this ...

Well, it has been a while since I posted an update here. The construction was close to complete at the time of my previous post. Just some packing and alignment to get the gradients as smooth as I could and get the cross levels right. Now it is time to reveal why I have been doing all this in the fi...

Thanks for the encouraging comments! Andrew, the cant was determined by the complex and sophisticated engineering practice of squinting along the track and packing things until it looked about right. Actually I think your comments about difficulties in smaller gauges do apply right down to 5 inch. I...

I never cease to be amazed by your railway. The length of run and constantly changing scene are outstanding. For some parts of the video I can easily forget it is a model. I particularly love the bridges.

I can wholeheartedly identify with how you are feeling! However I can also agree that you are doing exactly the right thing too. As has been shown on my MQR thread, plenty of preparation, digging and the like is all time well spent and really makes things much easier later. Also a great idea to run ...

It did go quicker than I was expecting. Each panel of track is 3m long and rigid. I have in effect made my own set-track, so it fitted together quite easily and 3m per section means you move forward quite fast. Each panel also weighs several kilos and stays pretty much where you put it, unlike tryin...

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments. It's good to know that you are enjoying watching the line develop. Here is the summit straight. The high point of the line is just in the foreground of this picture, where it enters the cutting alongside the path. The gradient is quite small where the ch...

Looks like a great start. Already looking natural in places. You have steam working really quickly, which is always encouraging. I hope you will continue to tell the story here as your line develops.

Yes there has been an HPV trial. Fortunately because the camera was in my pocket it was not recorded! Gravity trains are successful too, coming to rest as expected at the low point just past the level crossing over the drive. At this stage the track is a bit uneven. Anyone got a 5 inch gauge tamper/...

Remember this? The 10 ton heap of ballast. It is where the story began at the top of this thread and its time has come. http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah63/RichMQR/tn_DSCN4053_zps9178666d.jpg Here is the trackbed with about 40mm of ballast laid. This is the amount that should be under the sleep...

Yes, it is measured in tons now, and there is still a 10 ton heap of ballast on the drive. It is surprising how heavy everything is. On the plus side, it does feel as if I am building something permanent. This isn't going to get damaged by a passing cat (though I do have some concern about moles, of...

Your line looks wonderful with the plants growing and the realistic ballasting. Although the flowers are hardly in scale with the railway, they still look much more natural than bits of green felt stuck to plywood on a regular indoor model. I guess this is why we (almost) all risk wind and rain to m...

Now that both the fixed points on the circuit are in place, it is time to test the other panels for fit. Starting to look like a railway, except at this stage the weed barrier fabric and ballast are missing. http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah63/RichMQR/tn_DSCN3975_zpsb0a0dfba.jpg The panel in th...

Trains just as soon as I get some track, and that is getting closer. If you turn around 180 degrees from the drive crossing, there is another obstacle to be crossed. The path from the drive to the house. This is laid with slabs which look quite thick. It was laid by the previous owner, so I don't kn...

First layer of concrete. You can see the ends of the slab in this view where the plain track will start again http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah63/RichMQR/tn_DSCN3965_zpsa6f50e51.jpg Now, filled up to the level where the track will be. You can just see the double (6m) length of track ready to be...

Probably I only take pictures in the sun. Herefordshire, not known for tropical conditions! Actually, as I said way back at the start of this thread, I am telling this story as I get the time to write it up. We haven't caught up to the present yet so you are looking at some autumn sun here. I want t...

Having dug a trench to trap any unwary visitors, or me if I forget about it coming home one evening, the next step is to install some shuttering to form the sides of the crossing. I'm not trying to get a geometrically perfect result here, as the sides will be up against the loose gravel of the drive...

The amount of new flowerbeds created was a significant factor. Really though she is very supportive. She appears in some of the construction pictures helping.