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Howey Garden Railway


kenbrunt
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Hi to you all and before I start I would like to thank you all for all the stories, comments and how to's that I have been following.

Once all our children had reached an age, my youngest son and I turned a bedroom into a full on N gauge railway room. Unfortunately a couple of house moves and age I had to let it all go. (fingers not as pliable)

Our last house move a year ago into Wales and a new neighbour who has just built his first ever layout even in his 70's, a 7’ X 4’ shed layout. Which set my longing for trains again. Trouble is, our very small bungalow has nowhere to place an OO railway, other than a small L shape patch of garden about 20’ by 8’ Which will be much smaller than all of your wonderful layouts.

Armed with the information picked up on your garden railway forum, and limited cash have decided to give it a go. It will not suit all as I enjoy all eras, regions and styles. I just want to have the pleasure again of seeing full length trains moving. Hopefully two long ovals. Nothing too high tec.

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Hi to you all and thank you for your kind remarks and support. I am hoping to make a start on the narrow end baseboard latter this week, as I have been gathering decking boards, wood, brackets and ideas. What are the best to things to pin the track down with and weather resistant. Pins or small screws?

here's a glance of the my space.

Outdoor space for MR  20.03.2022.jpg

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brass pins are ideal. steel pins rot away however much you protect them and screws are probably too fiddly, although you could give them a go and that area of garden looks great for a railway, its definitely not to small.

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Hi Ken and welcome to the forum.

You'll discover all kinds of ideas and advice throughout the forum and as you've probably found already, we all seem to go about things in our own particular way. It all comes down to what's best for your particular needs but the absolute priority should be to get everything flat and level.  The majority of problems with derailments can be put down to our track laying so it will save you no end of frustrations if you get it right from the outset. A small spirit level is great for ensuring the rails are level across - I wish I'd heeded that advice myself!!

As for pins Archie would be spot on with brass but I've always used the standard steel pins because I like the rusted appearance they quickly take on. I've never had a problem with them coming out or working loose. Rust and decay suit a garden railway quite well in my opionion.

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Thanks for your kind welcome and advice. I will try both steel and brass pins and see how I get on. Weather today around here very mixed from sunshine to snow and very cool winds. So not a great deal done, other than thinking about baseboards and such.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for no posts or movement at Howey. I was supposed to under construction of Howey by now but due to chief director of finance having a fall and the problems it caused as put everything back, so frustrating with all this beautiful weather we have had. At least I have been able to get a power supply into shed and two outdoor power sockets installed, allowing me to read a lot of the members accounts of their garden railways which has inspired me more than ever.

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On 18/04/2022 at 17:04, kenbrunt said:

Sorry for no posts or movement at Howey. I was supposed to under construction of Howey by now but due to chief director of finance having a fall and the problems it caused as put everything back...

Not a problem Ken, health must always come first.

One thing you'll quickly realise about garden railway construction is that it's nearly always a slow and steady process, at least that's the way it's been for many of us. Some of us have been at it for several years, others have simply been thinking about it for many years and have yet to make a start but we're all in it together.

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  • 1 month later...

Well at last I have started on the baseboards. I have completed the two straight boards, just have to cover with roofing felt. I am fortunate that a neighbour is going to give me a hand as far as raising them off the ground, about 2 feet high. I just got the two loops at each end to sort out. So still a lot to do before anything runs.

First 2 A2  basboards  22.05.2022.jpg

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Great to see you've been able to make a start Ken and the boards look nice and solid. Getting started is enough to spur you on to making further progress.

On 23/03/2022 at 22:08, kenbrunt said:

....It will not suit all as I enjoy all eras, regions and styles. I just want to have the pleasure again of seeing full length trains moving. Hopefully two long ovals. Nothing too high tec.

I didn't respond to the above from your initial post but there's certainly nothing wrong with running exactly what you want to run - it's what I do too.  My attic layout is simply 2 ovals, all very low-tech, but allows full length trains which was my main objective. Garden layout is one loop with no real limitation on train length but exactly what I set out to achieve. There's no need for anything too techical in order to enjoy it.

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Thanks guys for all your nice comments. With the weather here been a bit off and me working on the two boards. I took the manger director to a local garden centre for a few plants and a meal. Keeps the peace as well as finds me more work to plant the plants.  Hopefully will do more outside tomorrow. Will keep you all posted.

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Hi guys, at last all the boards are up and painted. All I have to do now is apply the felt to cover boards. I was very tempted to put a circle of track out and run a train. The sun went in and I could feel it getting cooler. I am glad I have finish the paining of the undersides of the boards. Trying to move about under the boards and paint. I have never know so may joints and limbs give me cramps all at the same time. One of the joys of getting senile. I need another good day weather wise so I can cover all in felt. As the weather our way looks very mixed for next few days. Then it will be hammer up finger end pinning the track down. I will be keeping it very simple this year tosort out what its like running outdoors.

First 3 boards up  28.05.2022.jpg

All boards up and painted A1  28.05.2022.jpg

All boards up and painted A2  28.05.2022.jpg

All boards up and painted A3  28.05.2022.jpg

All boards up and painted A4  28.05.2022.jpg

All boards up and painted A5  28.05.2022.jpg

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Before you lay the felt, have a read of this thread.

Buy yourself a staple gun and some stainless steel stapes. Seriously, don't try and do this will a hammer and nails.

Hard to see form the photos how much bracing you have under those boards. The big loop boards at each end will droop if you haven't got a good support structure under them.

 

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Hi Chris, thanks for the advice re staple gun. Luckily I have one and have access to an electric one as well. The comments re felting were very useful. All the brackets are heavy duty ones on the posts with metal strengthening between joints. Boards are all covered over while all the rains about. Hoping the weekend will allow us to move on further.

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All boards covered with felt. I was not 100% had a bad night food wise. My neighbour is a god send. I just help by being a goffer. Eevern placed an oval of track on and ran a small tank engine. Needless to say It help with my feelings. 

Now I need dry warm weather to start the first loop.

Felt on pic 1  03.06.2022.jpg

Felt on pic 2  03.06.2022.jpg

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