New Garden Railway

[doublecee]

Looks like that's shaping up to be a nice summer layout. My thoughts on video quality: disable the stabilisation on your camera. It actually detracts from the enjoyment. Locked of shots, edited together will better show off your layout. That stabilisation is just a horrid gimmick that has no real world application

CC

[IanR]

Someone has been very busy! Great work there Nick.

It is all going very nicely now stop playing trains and get it finished!

Are you happy with the 'stockboard'?

Ian R

[44725]

Dear All,

This Easter just a few days over 2 years since the idea was first mooted we were able to create a single track loop all the way round the garden. A temporary timber bridge was erected across the entrance to the garden. Over a short section track was placed directly on the brickwork top surface. This circuit was leveled as best as possible.

So we have taken a few pictures and some videos of test trains. I hope you find them interesting.

The clockwise circuit includes a fierce hill so we decided to test locos on this for pulling power. The best locos were: Class 91 with 9 Mark 4 plus DVT - we also used the Class 43 (HST) power car on this set;

Thunderbird 57301; Class 87022; and B17/4 61664 Liverpool (with tender drive) - these last three could all manage to pull 10 coaches without too much slowing. The Hornby Dublo 8F 48073 took a 25 wagon freight comprising original HD wagons and some Jouef bogie wagons without any difficulty. We did not try this on a passenger train but it would probably be a good performer.

A2 60163 Tornado was happy with 8 coaches but struggled with 10 up the grade - see the end of the video.

The diesel units Class 101; Class 108; Class 142; Class 156 all performed well but on lowest power settings seemed to be running at speeds of 70mph+.

The two Jubilees ; three Black 5's; Class 31 31410 and Class 37 418 were OK with 6 but stalled with 10 coaches.

We also ran the Intercity 225 set with the 87 on a 10 coach Blue/Grey Intercity set; B17/4 with the same Blue/Grey InterCity set and the Black 5 45156 with 6 Blue/Grey Mk2A/D set. The B17/4 with the heavier load was faster than the Black 5!

The two Jubilees with the Blue/Grey InterCity set were balanced with the pair of Class 108's.

Then we used the Regional Railways liveried Class 142 and Class 156 - again scale speeds were nearer 70/75mph rather than 60.

The final test was undertaken with the B17/4 and Black 5 45156 doubleheading a 16 coach test train. This was run in both directions round the circuit. The train struggled up the grade on the clockwise circuit but did not stall - see the video.

The upper portion of the layout is to be exhibited at an "art" exhibition on 18 April. This will be a static display supported by pictures and the videos. In preparation for this exhibition, the track laying has started. The track has been glued using Evo stick impact adhesive to the roofing felt. It is too early to see the effectiveness of this. Maybe the transportation will test the durability!

The next few weeks will see the "board" for the remaining trackbed finally cut out and the roofing felt laid on. Then the bricklaying will be undertaken. The objective is to make sure the track is level and not undulating as at present.

Best wishes to you all, Nick

[ba14eagle]

WOW ! what quick work.. Very impressive and I look forward to seeing some more.

[mick]

This is coming along very nicely. Excellent photos and videos. The baseboards look very interesting as opposed to my timber based ones and should stand up to the elements much better, certainly at close to ground level where I find timber to be most susceptible.

Interested to hear of your plans for the 'art' exhibition. What does that involve? Is your garden to be opened for public viewing or are you transporting a section of your layout to the exhibition?

[44725]

The Art Exhibition is being held in our office in Manchester. It is held occasionally for staff to display their talents. My exhibit is entitled "Work in progress". There has been some interest in my project amongst colleagues so I decided to display. This week will be busy getting ready. Cheers Nick

[44725]

Hi Folks, Its Nick here with an update on progress.

Since Easter the main focus has been to repair the wall which forms the majority of the track bed. This has now been completely re-built by a professional bricklayer and is level around the garden. We found that the patio at the far end of the garden had a 75mm level difference - so this was lifted and re-laid (by me) and pointed up by bricklayer. This meant that all the board and track panels were lifted and stored on the hedges. Work was only finished on 2 July - just in time for a major 60th birthday party on 6 July.

In the meantime, the corner panel adjacent to the Scots Pine tree was taken to my Manchester Office for an Art Exhibition as a static display entitled "Work in Progress". The exhibition opened on 18 April and considerable effort was put into ensuring the display looked professional, especially as some colleagues are track designers; signalling designers and electrification designers, whilst the rest of my office colleagues are primarily design engineers. The track has been glued to the roofing felt and ballast applied using the tried and trusted PVA glue/water mix with granite chippings. I propose to coat all this with matt varnish to seal in the glue to prevent it going white when wet.

For the opening night I brought a selection of trains to help create an impression of what can be achieved when the work is completed. A laptop video was provided to allow the videos already posted on YouTube to be viewed. This facility provided some "movement" when the display trains were taken home. I have posted some pictures in my gallery, but my two favourites and a general view of the exhibit are included below.

Now we jump to 6 July, we had a party layout operational on one side of the garden, This was basically a single track loop around the flower bed near the house and round the Scots Pine tree at the opposite end. Since I had been unable to retrieve the art exhibit I had a timber "lash-up" to carry a track onto and off one small section of the patio. The rest of the garden layout was not installed. I have filmed a new A4 Class Locomotive 60010 Dominion of Canada on running-in and on a 10 coach test train on the "Party Layout" - follow the links to YouTube.

Running-in:

Pulling Test Train:

I am having a week's holiday in Italy soon and thereafter I plan to install cabling with weatherproof junction boxes screwed to the wall. Then I will lay the track to the boards and screw the boards permanently to the wall. I am hoping that this will be carried out when the weather is warm so to avoid future problems with buckling caused by board expansion. The plan is to have the boards in tension when the ambient temperature is reduced - this is a bit like CWR track stressing but in reverse! So watch this space - have a good summer. Best wishes Nick (44725)

[traingeekboy]

It looks very good. It took care of my train watching for today, thanks!