Garden Railway Forum

Thanks chaps, much appreciated!

Andrew, I look forward to hearing what you get up to with your concrete blocks... I reclaimed a fair few myself over the weekend whilst preparing the space for the garden room to go into. Many of them have already spent nearly 20 years as trackbed under the previous two incarnations of my garden line, and some have spent that time underground so, by the time I'd bashed 'em out and stacked 'em up, they'd become quite an odd-shaped assortment...

Pondering what to do with those, and all the track I've lifted, is one half of the (WH)WHR's Permanent Way gang. Given that the other half has never been observed in a standing position, preferring to "supervise" from the PW trolley, I fear that heroic pose he's striking may be mere bravado...

He's going to need a bigger pry-bar, than that, to move that block!

Phil.P

Andrew wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2025 1:23 pm , but I'll start with my news. It's not all good, I'm afraid - the current incarnation of the (WH)WHR has seen its last trains!

Looking at the wood in the demolition pile, I think some of it was reaching it's use by date anyway. You dodged that bullet.....

I can recommend a raised track bed. Old age and arthritic joints come to all of us eventually, I can't bend low enough now to use a ground level track. Cement blocks sound like a good idea, as they'll outlast you if used as a foundation in your climate.

Congrats on the studio, every bloke needs a shed, or equivalent thereof......

Remember though that nature abhors a vacuum. Fill your allocated part of it quickly, or your resident ceramicist will fill it for you....

Graeme

GTB wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 2:51 am Congrats on the studio, every bloke needs a shed, or equivalent thereof......

Hear hear to that !!!

GTB wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 2:51 am Remember though that nature abhors a vacuum. Fill your allocated part of it quickly, or your resident ceramicist will fill it for you....

You have been warned .......

Rik

Good to hear that the line will arise again, and also that my favourite bit up the bank to Penlan survives!

Do I remember reading that the wooden section was recycled from your previous line anyway..?

StuartJ wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 1:58 pm Good to hear that the line will arise again, and also that my favourite bit up the bank to Penlan survives!

Yes and no! I think I'm going to try to squeeze a balloon loop at the bottom of the bank, incorporating a triangular junction to allow a (very short!) continuous run. That'll entail a point going in halfway up the bank, which will change the "feel" of it somewhat. It'll evolve over time though - the pattern seems to be that everything looks very raw for a while, goes through a brief period of looking carefully planned and maintained, then becomes somewhat wild and unkempt!

StuartJ wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 1:58 pm Do I remember reading that the wooden section was recycled from your previous line anyway..?

A lot of it, yes, making it around 20 years old! The most recent parts were 10-15 years old, and some had done remarkably well. As you'd expect, most of the posts had rotted (those parts of the line have been supported on old bricks in recent years!), so I think I'll use a similar technique but with square section plastic drainpipes instead of wooden posts. I'd rather do something more solid (and realistic), but even the new incarnation of the railway probably won't last more than a couple of years (a house move still beckons, the studio will probably come with us!), so I'll probably keep things light-ish...

Andrew.

Andrew wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 2:36 pm - the pattern seems to be that everything looks very raw for a while, goes through a brief period of looking carefully planned and maintained, then becomes somewhat wild and unkempt!

I used to have hair like that!

Plastic uprights, I like the idea of that..

You could use 'basket tray' for the trackbed. It can be tie-wrapped at the corners, and with roofing felt dropped in the tray will hold ballast, if you feel the urge.

Reasonably light. Robust. Free-draining, and infinitely re-configurable.

Just another idea to throw into the mix.

Phil.P

Andrew wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 2:36 pm even the new incarnation of the railway probably won't last more than a couple of years (a house move still beckons, the studio will probably come with us!), so I'll probably keep things light-ish...

If you may be moving at some point, have a look at the track design documented here.

https://www.mylargescale.com/threads/ne ... one.94944/

Russell lives on the other side of Melbourne from me and some of the materials he uses probably aren't available in the UK. There may be some useful ideas though, as he designed his last track so it could be relocated and that has now happened.

Graeme

Hello all!

Apologies for the further prolonged absence - life's been busy. It's also been good - the garden room, the coming of which brought about the end of the (WH)WHR's previous incarnation is now in place, decorated and fully kitted-out, and is proving transformative. With lots of shelves and a dedicated workbench, I (more or less!) know where tools and materials are and can leave work out between sessions, making everything more efficient, effective AND enjoyable.

The first 16mm project undertaken was to get Lilla lined, with the whole thing, from making the templates for the yellow line, to adding the black edging, only taking about three days - lightening fast work for me! Not perfect, of course, but I'm pleased with the result - especially the buffer beams!


With the dust beginning to settle in the garden, thoughts have turned to rebuilding the line. Plans there have changed a little, and I think I'll now end up with a continuous run round what remains of the lawn, with sidings (supposedly serving a quarry) on the site formally occupied by my lower terminus. As per the picture, I've started assessing how that might work - the deciding factor will be whether the sidings are long enough to make them worthwhile.



The first step will be to construct a step to the new room which will incorporate a level crossing for the railway - that's the crucial bit to get right, everything else flows from that...

Anyway, it's nice to be back - now to look around to see what the rest of you have been up to!

Cheers,

Andrew.

Welcome back Andrew. Great to know the planning has started.
Now, the first thing I want from you is a blow-by-blow account of your lining technique!

My F & B 0-4-2 has nightmare lining and how to do it is driving me insane.

Lovely job with the lining Andrew, and welcome back, you have been missed!
I look forward to learning your lining technique too.

Welcome back Andrew. Good to see plans are being made. Love the lining. Looks pretty good to me.

Rik

Very professional lining job on Lilla Andrew, and welcome back.
Grant.

Your lining looks superb, Andrew. I'm with Philipy - spill the beans on how you did it!

Everybody's already said it. ^^^

Hi all,

Thanks for the warm welcome back - and I'm glad you like Lilla!

My lining's done with an Easi-liner pen, which comes with four nibs, from 0.25 to 1mm.

I've read quite a bit, and tried various ways of doing it, but I think I've arrived at my preferred technique.

Although for simple jobs, straight lines made by following a ruler would be OK, for Lilla I started by making a template for each shape of panel:

The templates are blutacked on, which means there's a little gap between template and loco, to stop the paint bleeding underneath.

Then it was onto the yellow line - I used the 0.5 nib. Once stirred, the yellow paint was fine straight out of the tin, running smoothly through the nib. I always use gloss, having read somewhere that I should - but I've since read elsewhere about someone using matt, partly to bring down the overall glossiness of your average steam loco.

I do as much as possible with one "stroke", but bits get in the way, so it's often not possible. Where lines overlap you can often tell, but mistakes can either be wiped away for another try, or small blemishes scratched off with a cocktail stick. I found that more difficult on the Regner, where I'd painted the base colour myself with a rattle can, not nearly as hardwearing as, say, RH's hardy finish.

As you can see the yellow's far from perfect BUT, because of the edging, any mistakes on the outside of the yellow line will be covered up.


I didn't take a photo of the next bit, but I used a ruler to run a 0.75mm black line along the outside of the straight bits of the yellow lining. For curved edges and corners, I painted freehand with a fine brush, which was surprisingly OK. Again, mistakes can be rectified by wiping and starting over - I'd left it 24 hours to make sure the yellow was fully dry and so wouldn't be lifted. The black was a little thick, so I thinned it with lighter fluid, seemed Ok after that, but I found it's best to do it a panel at a time, rather than draw all the black lines then go back and infill the rest of the edging - that way you're always working with a wet edge.

On this test go, you can see both where the black was a little thick, and where I let bits dry too much before revisiting - visible brush marks/lines:



I think that's about it... I've got the house to myself tomorrow, so might stick it in the oven on the lowest heat to "bake" the lines on - I'm guessing the servos etc are designed to take heat to should be OK???

Hope that's helpful,

Andrew.


PS I 'm trying to learn the to find a balance between trying again when I know I can do better, and accepting imperfection when I can't. Actually, that could apply to life generally, not just lining little steam engines!

Fantastic work and interesting to see the process. The end result is most impressive.
A recent 'discovery' I've made is Museum sticky gel tabs https://amzn.eu/d/1ml1iyr. The clear ones are obviously almost invisible, great for example, for holding figures in place, either temporarily or permanently but also they would evenly space your templates. They are easily removed and don't leave any residue, which can't always be said for Blu tack, especially when used for a lengthy period.
As for baking your loco complete - not sure what temps servos will tolerate. Presumably they would be okay at around 50°C?

Clever stuff, Andrew. With obstacles such as pipework already fitted it must be more difficult maintaining a consistent angle, but a little touching-up soon solves that. Overall a great success.

Andrew wrote: Tue May 06, 2025 1:39 pm I've got the house to myself tomorrow, so might stick it in the oven on the lowest heat to "bake" the lines on - I'm guessing the servos etc are designed to take heat to should be OK???

That's the problem, r/c servos etc. are designed for model aircraft use with plenty of cold air rushing past, not for steam heated garden dragons.....

Metal servo gears are heat resistant, but I'd be very wary of heating electronics and batteries are definitely heat sensitive. Consumer electronic devices seem to be rated for a max temp in the low 40 degC range, where the manual has anything listed.

Just sit the loco on a shelf for a week or so and admire the results of your handy work.

Regards,
Graeme

ps. Largely because I'm impatient, I cure enamel paint in an oven at <80 deg C, but I dismantle the model to paint it and only the metal parts go in the oven.

Have you tried the pinstripe tape for curves that the car scene uses for their styling. They achieve some amazing results with it. I used it myself for my 3D tender model I made for my R/H “Billy”.