The Apple Valley Railway (7 1/4" gauge)

Sammmm · Post by **Sammmm** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:30 am

That cutting looks like its going to take some elbow grease to dig!!! Unless your using a JCB

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:49 am

No jcb unfortunately

I have estmated that I have removed about 1 tn of spoil already - with another 2 still to go!

If the garden wasn't terraced, a mini digger rented for a weekend would have been a real lifesaver.

TheChestnutLine · Post by **TheChestnutLine** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:35 am

I really like this, it's looking great! Do you have a track plan that we would be able to see?

mhlr · Post by **mhlr** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:14 pm

Nomis:50754 wrote:If the garden wasn't terraced, a mini digger rented for a weekend would have been a real lifesaver.

It would be, and this one was just for 16mm... was a squeeze getting it down there though but still.

Can get these through a doorway, sure there's no way in?

Sammmm · Post by **Sammmm** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:11 pm

Since you 5" gauge now

..... Got 5k to spare ? ... hehe http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-inch-gauge-live ... 500wt_1156

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:44 am

Very nice, and just down the road too!
Only the small matter of finding £5k then.....

Getting a mini digger in would be just about possible, but very tricky.
It would first have to be craned up onto a 4' high terrace, then would have to drive up another 4' high grass bank (at 45 degrees). I think I will be sticking with pick & shovel for now.

I could really do with a rake of 5" gauge skips, and a simplex to pull them....

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:07 pm

Another productive weekend!

I had help navvying from a friend for the weekend, having two people digging really speeds up the dirt shifting

This slowed us down though:

A telegraph pole buried right in the line of the trackbed!

I ended up splitting it down into matchsticks with a hatchet and club hammer

Digging:

More digging:

Got some temporary track down:

It's a pretty sharp curve, but i have since widened the cut a little to make things easier:

The spoil dug out has been used to build up the other side of the loop:

With the heavy work out of the way, progress should pick up now

And more excitingly - WE HAD TRAINS RUNNING!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLvzYhj7euA

Powered by a single (knackered) 12v battery, the loco was able to haul an adult up the slopes without too much drama. Should be good when I step up to 24v

Next job - build a driving truck, with brakes!

LMS-Jools · Post by **LMS-Jools** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:12 pm

Great Stuff

Sir Clothem Cap · Post by **Sir Clothem Cap** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:16 pm

The driving seat looks a tad uncomfortable but thats great progress you've made there.

mhlr · Post by **mhlr** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:59 pm

Super, cutting through all those roots etc looks hard graft!

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:53 pm

Sorry for the break in updates - i have been away in sunny Los Angeles!

To make up for it, I have few pics of how they do things in California:

DISNEYLAND:

The Disneyland railroad is a 1 mile loop of 3' gauge track. The railroad operates 5 steam locos (one of which is currently away for heavy rebuild). A 5 minute interval, with 4 trains running most of the day makes this one of the most heavily use narrow gauge railways in the world!

A little tip here...

...if you ask a "cast member" at main street station, it is possible to have a ride on the footplate of 2 of the loco's (free of charge):

You can also ride in the "Lilly Belle" parlour car, which includes a talk from a member of railroad staff on the history of the coach:

A replica of Walt Disney's own 7 1/2" gauge locomotive (built from the parts of an unfinished mogul) is on display in main street station:

As you would expect from Disney, everything is immaculate. Some areas even look more like models than a full size working railroad:

In the "California Adventure" park next door is this F series (?) loco, with a couple of carriages, in use as an ice cream shop! (That's me hanging off the cab steps by the way

):

There is a strong railway presence at most of the disney theme parks. Almost all have a system of some sort, with those in california, florida, paris, & hong kong running steam daily. Other parks have steam outline locos, or electric tramways.

Interestingly, the Californian engines burn bio-diesel in their boilers, recovered from the many fast food outlets across the park

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:04 pm

We also spent a day at the Los Angeles Live Steamers, a club based in Griffith park (home of the famous Hollywood sign):

The club has fantastic facilities, with 3 1/2", 4 3/4", & 7 1/2" gauge tracks. The mainline is a mile of 7 1/2" gauge. There is about 7 miles of track in total if you count all of the various loops / sidings etc:

Lots of inspiration here, I particularly liked the effort that had been put in adding scale scenes along the track, like this mining setup:

I was also intrigued by this battery electric (steam outline) porter loco:

There was also much scale rolling stock about to go with the locos. Some of it could be ridden (like the carriages above), but much was just to add to the effect.

I might just have to make myself one of these:

Right next door is the travel town museum, an open air collection of standard gauge equipment, with a 16" gauge railway running around the outside:

For those of you who were suggesting a large scale / small scale crossing - here is the simple answer:

16" crossing 4' 8 1/2" using a temporary track panel

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:18 pm

So fired up with enthusiasm work has restarted in the Apple Valley:

The last inches of the telegraph pole were defeated with a "controlled burn":

Worksite at the railhead - note essential items including digital radio (providing planet rock as background to the navvying) and a cold bottle of Corona

I have started piling up the rocks that I dig out.
I'm thinking of making a trackside monument out of them to remind me of just how much work railway building is next time I start thinking about extensions:

The trackbed progresses:

The next section involved passing very close to an apple tree that was NOT to be damaged (by order of the management). I was keen not to have to chop into any roots, so have experimented with an alternative trackbed style.

First the turf is removed:

Then a double layer of weedproof membrane added:

Then suitable ballast poured in:

This has produced a "low impact" track base that will hopefully be flexible if the roots ever push close to the surface. It's not cheap though - the 6' section has already eaten 5 bags of slate chippings. Back to concrete blocks for the rest of the circuit

The decking area has also been coming along:

I am now out of rail, If i can get some sent out this week - i could have the circuit finished very soon!

Next jobs (other than track laying) are to add a second battery & more detailing to the loco, build a proper riding car, detail the flat car, and come up with some kind of braking system!

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Sun May 01, 2011 9:00 pm

Woo Hoo!

The apple valley railway is (for now) complete!

Thanks are due to William & Kate for providing the necessary extra working day to crack on with some heavy duty railway building

Past the apple tree:

Down the back straight:

And around the curve back to the points:

The extra long / wide sleepers are for where a level crossing will be built. I am planning on adding a retaining wall of some sort here, with steps up to the railway level. There will be another crossing at the top end of the loop, by the apple tree.

A view up the garden showing the whole of the loop:

And looking down the garden towards the decking (also now complete):

We are having some friends over for a barbecue tomorrow, so the new track should get a workout. I have already ridden around it several times, scooting myself along on the flat truck

I decided to reinforce the bogie wagon, ready for visitors.
A quick scaffold plank addition:

The wagon now sits about 40mm higher, and I think it looks a bit more "right", rides a lot more solidly too:

More pics tomorrow (and maybe even another video

).

Pendo Pilot · Post by **Pendo Pilot** » Sun May 01, 2011 9:30 pm

Wow that is looking great now. A lot of hardwork but it certainly looks worth it. Very nice work & looking forward to the video..

mhlr · Post by **mhlr** » Sun May 01, 2011 11:44 pm

Super job! When can I come and run Bluebell?

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon May 02, 2011 5:13 pm

Keith&Joanna;

There is a bit of a gradient up towards the points at the moment (not as bad as it looks though). Hopefully it should ease as i improve the track alignment.

MHLR:

You are more than welcome to come and try your loco on my track - you might want to wait until I have everything adjusted a bit better first though!

Is your polly an 0-4-0? I really don't think a six coupled loco could cope with the curves.

P.S. There is a 5" gauge line in St Teath having an open day on the 15th of this month - should be worth a look http://www.stteath.co.uk/organisations/ ... ineers.htm

So as promised, here is a short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec0Z8EmYA1M

(sorry about the quality - the camera has been a bit difficult since being used to film kite buggying at the beach

)

And a few pics:

Coming through the cutting / canyon:

Posed by the apple tree:

Waiting for passengers:

I have started to board in the track by the decking.
The idea is that a low slung passenger trolley will be stopped from tipping too far as people climb on / off:

Entering the curve by the (future) lawn - still got quite a bit of adjustment to do on cross levels:

Nomis · Post by **Nomis** » Mon May 02, 2011 9:52 pm

ANOTHER VIDEO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNvwCTsn1UY

This one is a bit better as it shows a full run from the station & twice around the loop. Filmed on my 'phone though so picture quality isn't great :roll:

P.S.

Am I missing something, or is it not possible to embed youtube videos on this forum?

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Mon May 02, 2011 10:06 pm

Am I missing something, or is it not possible to embed youtube videos on this forum?

YouTube defaults to a "new" style of embed code that's not compatable with the Forum - you can use an option "Use Old Embed Code" on one of the "share" drop down menu's

mhlr · Post by **mhlr** » Mon May 02, 2011 11:26 pm

Nomis, cheers

would be a while yet anyway as she is still knackered and needing attention. And yeah its an 0-4-0 tender loco. Might go up St. Teath, been meaning to for a little while now.

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The Apple Valley Railway (7 1/4" gauge)

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