Time to build a railway...but where?

[merlin2]

Excellent; that's what I enjoy about this type of NG modelling, you can let your imagination come up with all sorts of vehicles that probably would never have existed in the prototypical standard gauge world. After all its your railway and the directors can have whatever they want running on it, even Dragon Wagons!

[Peter Butler]

the directors can have whatever they want, even Dragon Wagons! :

and so they do......

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[daan]

This however is something odd. A tamed whelsh dragon, it must be the first and only one in the world..
I guess it's a young one, since they can grow a lot bigger and their firespitting would ruin the wooden car in minutes..

[Peter Butler]

Thanks Daan, I am delighted to hear your observations on the way Welsh Dragons can grow much larger and start fires at a certain age. This is something I wasn't aware of previously so, when the parents of said Dragon return to find their errant offspring I must take the necessary precautions of laying a trap and having a fire extinguisher at the ready! What bait do you think would be suitable?

[daan]

The bait is already in the car.. They will come and free their offspring, but like any other wild animal, they keep away from people. The few dragons who did burn some peasants as a revenge, where hunted down and they had to leave their nests, often leaving their eggs ungarded. Probably your dragon is a captured youngster hatched form one of those eggs, it is known that eggs and newly hatched dragons where sold on the black market.

So the parents will wait their chance. When you are asleep, they sneak onto the railwayline and follow the scent the car left behind during transport. When the car is found, they tear off the roof, free their young and burn the remains of the cagecar. You will only notice that something happened, when you find the smoking remains somewhere along the banks of the tracks..

The little dragons keep small untill they decide to be big, then they grow rapidly within a few days to fullsize, about 4 to 5 metres high. As long as the little one is in the cage, it will be in his "feeling sorry for himself" mood and therefore stays small, but as soon as he is freed and he gets his selfesteem, you better hide..

[Peter Butler]

Daan.... all of a sudden a sense of guilt and responsibility has come over me due to the fact that two of my Dragon's brothers (or sisters) have been sent on to new, and clearly unsuspecting, owners who might also wake up to this terrifying ordeal of having massive fire breathing creatures knocking at their door.
Are 'Dragon Slayers' still listed on the Internet?

[daan]

You could do a google search on them, but because of the todays health and safety regulations I guess you'll have to look towards Russia or China to find one. Actually dragon slaying is a very oldfashioned profession and research has shown other ways.
A prooven way to keep the huge, fire spitting creatures out of your backyard is not to lock the little dragon away and keep it comfortable and happy. That way the parents won't feel the need to come and free their young and the little dragon will not feel the need to "grow up" (litterally).

Eventually you'll end up with one happy little dragon without the fear of any attack of it's adults.

[Peter Butler]

For the past few weeks I have been busy building a retaining wall and wooden platform to install another two sidings, preparation work was shown a couple of pages back.
Two points and a quantity of track have been purchased (used) and are now laid, one to the engine shed and one alongside which can be used as a steam up bay etc.
The weather here has been unsettled recently so preventing me laying ballast which I stick down with SBR. It must be kept dry to set firmly so today, after a long walk in the forest with the dogs in glorious sunshine, I decided to get stuck-in, (sorry!) and have managed to do most of the track up to the yard where a covering of grot and slime will be added later.

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These next pictures show how the SBR turns everything blue... pretty alarming when you see it for the first time, but when it dries and has weathered for a few days
it goes back to its original colour. These shots also show how much neat SBR I use as it needs to completely soak right through to the baseboard to make a permanent bond.

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Finally, the protective tarpaulin which I will leave in place for at least three days, possibly longer if the weather is still cool and wet.

[ge_rik]

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Rik

[Soar Valley Light]

Great work again Peter. I think your tracklaying gives one of the most realistic results I've seen on any railway. Neat, tidy and looking like it's been engineered. Thanks for the latest dose of inspiration.

[Peter Butler]

Wow!... praise indeed, particularly from you Andrew, thank you, I just wish I knew what I was doing!

[daan]

Nice addition, and a very good spot to raise steam next to the shed, easily accesible and on a good height..

[Peter Butler]

It has been ten whole days since I added to my post, purely because the weather has been so wet and windy I was unable to check out my ballast work. It has been under wraps all that time with no opportunity to even check it was still there!
The good news is that it has set nicely and fits in well with the existing trackwork alongside.....

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Finally I can put the last section of hose underground with little water jets attached to irrigate the plants. It will be so nice to turn on the pump and see the whole railway being watered automatically....

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[tom_tom_go]

That looks brilliant Peter, is the bit in the middle of the loop going to be full of water?

[jim@NAL]

looking good peter very nice

[ge_rik]

Looks very good, Peter. The engine shed looks like it's been there for years.

Rik

[Soar Valley Light]

It's a great piece of work Peter.

I love the idea of laying an irrigation system in to water the plants - there's something for me to consider!

Andrew

[Peter Butler]

That looks brilliant Peter, is the bit in the middle of the loop going to be full of water?

The 'bit in the middle' is the village site which is temporarily cleared due to the very high winds we have experienced lately. Eventually the shops etc. will be permanently sited but I thought it safest to move them as the plastic sheet was held down with rocks and planks which could easily destroy my work in seconds if the wind caught it.
It is covered with weed control fabric which allows water to seep through but prevents those nasty green things from springing up where they are not wanted!

[RylstonLight]

Peter
The modelling is exquisite, as everyone else has commented on. I normally dip in and out of the forum to break the monotony of daily (working) life, especially when |I haven't time to model, and have followed the course of your railway throughout the months/years.

However I had some spare time to look through the whole thread from the green-field at the start and it's not just your modelling that is impressive. When read from the start through this is an real Magnum Opus - a wonderful how-to-do it of garden railfaring. Bravo

I look forward to future developments; it helps keep the dream alive

Andy S.

[Peter Butler]

Andy, you deserve an award for ploughing through the entire thread but I'm grateful for your interest and comments, thank you!
As you have found, I had no previous experience of garden railways but wanted to translate my exhibition modelling into something similar outdoors, so everything you see is adapted using suitable materials and techniques which sometimes work, but can also fail. I relate my findings fairly so that others might not have to experiment for themselves.
I have learned so much on this Forum from others who have greater expertise than me and thank each and every one for showing me things I might never have thought of myself.
It is good to see new members joining the Forum and pictures of their own railways suited to such diverse locations showing there is no limit to the potential in building whatever satisfies the individual.
I haven't shown my latest work (yet) but there are still several more projects on the go.......