Garden Railway Forum

mightymax:117141 wrote: ......about two ton of top soil and I am there.....

I have topsoil and a shovel,do you have a trailer or van?

(located in N Norfolk)

Max
Very impressive, Nothing wrong with doing things on the cheap. I am a great fan of the noble art of scrounging and skip diving should be an Olympic sport.

Brian
I too used to see 5' 6'' high pink rabbits, but after I changed from drinking Brasso to drinking Domestos it all stopped, I just went clean round the bend.

Big Jim:117162 wrote:I too used to see 5' 6'' high pink rabbits, but after I changed from drinking Brasso to drinking Domestos it all stopped, I just went clean round the bend.

stoker:117148 wrote:

mightymax:117141 wrote: ......about two ton of top soil and I am there.....

I have topsoil and a shovel,do you have a trailer or van?

(located in N Norfolk)

I am good for top soil , I am lucky enough to work in the waste and aggregate industry , I've a good surply of it! Thank you for the offer though.🙂

This is really impressive.

I have a new garden layout myself which I will be developing more this year.

Can I ask what spacing you use between parallel runs of track?

I am going to introduce sidings and run-around loop type arrangement to mine and am wondering what a good track spacing is.

Noel.

That's looking really good, keep the photos coming!

Andrew.

Hi Noel,

I've done a bit of research into this (but only a bit). Standard gauge railways are nominally 6' between back edges of the nearest rails of adjacent roads. Narrow gauge trains are not scaled down version of their standard gauge cousin. They are smaller, yes, but their loading gauge is larger in relation to the gauge. As a result of this the overhang of rolling stock beyond the rail is not much different to standard gauge, this means that the 'six foot' seems to remain about six feet! The L&B certainly seemed to conform to this. In some cases though the space was much greater, the smaller gauge meant more land was available I image.

In our gardens we have much more space than would be the case on an indoor model railway but space is still at a premium as we continue to try and squeeze the proverbial quart into a pint pot. As such the six feet space seems a sensible choice. Scaling this up means that if you are working in 16mm to the foot and space your roads with a dimension of 96mm between the outside edge of the rails you should have reasonable clearance.

The bottom line to all this though is that everything depends on the scale you are working in and the size of the stock used on your railway. The most important this is to have a trial run. Set up a couple of parallel pieces of track with an item of you widest stock sitting on each road, move the track out until you are happy with the clearance between the vehicles. Make sure you allow room for dynamic movement, our trains can 'rock and roll' alarmingly sometimes! Once happy remove the rolling stock and measure the distance between the tow adjacent rails - Bob's your uncle!

Happy modelling,

Andrew

NoelR:117206 wrote:This is really impressive.

I have a new garden layout myself which I will be developing more this year.

Can I ask what spacing you use between parallel runs of track?

I am going to introduce sidings and run-around loop type arrangement to mine and am wondering what a good track spacing is.

Noel.

hi Noel , to be honest I am a complete and total amateur and first time builder at garden railways . The spacing in between is about one and half inch, approximately. Everything was kind of unplanned and just laid down onto blocks.when I put a coach on the track there is more than enough room for a loco to pass. Thanks.

Thanks for the info. Very interesting.

guess I am trying to second guess the widest stock I might ever run!

Bit of work done, little tunnel built, and a attempt at a waterfall.

The tunnel

The area hopefully for a siding and a small station . Still lots to do , but getting there.

Looking good. I like the way you are landscaping and planting as you go. Shouldn't take long before it becomes well established.

Rik

I agree with Rik, this is looking really good. I love the approach of finishing as you go with the earthworks and civil engineering. It give you the garden back an awful lot sooner.

Lovely! Your line is coming on a treat. I love the stone edges to the cutting, not too long before the puff of trains is heard!

Keep the pictures coming!

Cheers

Jim

Thanks for supportive messages chaps.😀

Very nice.

In my neck of planet Terra those planting would be toast by the end of summer no matter how much H2O gets doused on them... one of the reasons I located my layout beneath a big ol' maple tree where the plants have a fighting chance of surviving.

That looks really lovely already!

Great to see some track down, you must be very happy!

That photo just needs a steamer puffing in it now, looks great with all the planting.