The Whitegrove Light Railway
Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:45 am
In 2015, I set about making a garden railway with a large bundle of LGB track that my parents bought for me one Christmas in 2011. The track used to belong to a friend of mine who had a garden railway in his back garden, but had to move house. My dad bought the whole of the track as well as the locos and stock which rounded off to be one of the most surprising Christmases ever.
However, my attempts to get started in making the railway didn't go as well as they would have. The location where I'd built the line was on a small slope and the track didn't sit well on the concrete blocks we had embedded in the built up mound that we also created in attempts to level the ground. There was also some issues with the power and trains constantly stopped in areas where power was not able to gain access. This resulted in all the rail joiners to be replaced with new ones which fixed the problem. My niece and nephew also find the trains fun to play with but they can be a bit rough with them and several derailments happen along the route. Not to mention the sabotaging of placing stone blocks on the tracks, which ended up damaging a bit of track. The final straw happened a few days ago when the trains stopped running all together after work was spent on getting all the new rail joiners fitted. By this point, after more than 5 years of bother, I decided to lift up the track and start again. The final train run took the evening before with a Newqida R/C, the only engine that could run on the railway, only for it to crash at the points. What a send off, eh?
The new railway, which I will call the Whitegrove Light Railway, will be built in a smaller size to the previous one. The track plan is loosely based off one that I drew many years ago should I ever want to make a garden railway. I call it 'The Periscope', because of it's appearance. A single track loop line with the additional of a few sidings. A passing loop is being thought of for the main station but I haven't finalised on it. One of the loops will enter the shed as well as a siding to allow trains to be replaced or stored. The maximum radius would be of the 15000 curves from LGB. Unfortunately I don't have any of those curves to make up these loops and so I'm looking to see about getting some ordered in.
The idea is to have the railway laid on top of a walled garden, built of cut slate. We have one of these walls made for grandmother and height wise is perfect for lighting up live steam engines. The main question before work can start is the cost of it all and how much wall is needed to be built. I had thought about building two walls which the first can be used as a garden bed while the other to be used for where the main track set ups will happen. A gap in the middle can lead to the build of a viaduct or other bridge structure where some larger bedding plants can be integrated.
It will be some time before this project can properly start, which is all the more better to properly plan out the railway and also gather some of the needed track to make it possible. If anyone has any advice that they are happy to share, please I am more than happy to hear your views.
However, my attempts to get started in making the railway didn't go as well as they would have. The location where I'd built the line was on a small slope and the track didn't sit well on the concrete blocks we had embedded in the built up mound that we also created in attempts to level the ground. There was also some issues with the power and trains constantly stopped in areas where power was not able to gain access. This resulted in all the rail joiners to be replaced with new ones which fixed the problem. My niece and nephew also find the trains fun to play with but they can be a bit rough with them and several derailments happen along the route. Not to mention the sabotaging of placing stone blocks on the tracks, which ended up damaging a bit of track. The final straw happened a few days ago when the trains stopped running all together after work was spent on getting all the new rail joiners fitted. By this point, after more than 5 years of bother, I decided to lift up the track and start again. The final train run took the evening before with a Newqida R/C, the only engine that could run on the railway, only for it to crash at the points. What a send off, eh?
The new railway, which I will call the Whitegrove Light Railway, will be built in a smaller size to the previous one. The track plan is loosely based off one that I drew many years ago should I ever want to make a garden railway. I call it 'The Periscope', because of it's appearance. A single track loop line with the additional of a few sidings. A passing loop is being thought of for the main station but I haven't finalised on it. One of the loops will enter the shed as well as a siding to allow trains to be replaced or stored. The maximum radius would be of the 15000 curves from LGB. Unfortunately I don't have any of those curves to make up these loops and so I'm looking to see about getting some ordered in.
The idea is to have the railway laid on top of a walled garden, built of cut slate. We have one of these walls made for grandmother and height wise is perfect for lighting up live steam engines. The main question before work can start is the cost of it all and how much wall is needed to be built. I had thought about building two walls which the first can be used as a garden bed while the other to be used for where the main track set ups will happen. A gap in the middle can lead to the build of a viaduct or other bridge structure where some larger bedding plants can be integrated.
It will be some time before this project can properly start, which is all the more better to properly plan out the railway and also gather some of the needed track to make it possible. If anyone has any advice that they are happy to share, please I am more than happy to hear your views.