Danes Wood, a 00 railway in the garden.

[IanR]

Looks like it's going to be a beauty!

[Rossi]

Ian,

Getting the shakes just looking at your "building Bricks." Takes me back a few months when my viaduct was in IKEA mode !!!

At the end of the day it will be worth it. Trust me!

[fungus]

Manufactured some more viaduct components today. Yesterday's 8-mile bicycle trip to Homebase was well worthwhile, as I am now the proud owner of a set of viaduct-maker's rasps (though they called them cabinet-maker's rasps), which clean out the arches like a hot knife in butter.

[traingeekboy]

Those new bridge pieces look quite nice. Are you planning to coat them with some cement once assembled?

[fungus]

I haven't decided how to finish it yet. One thought was to scratch the surface to represent stonework, then seal and finish with masonry paint. Any other suggestions, preferably based on experience, would be appreciated.

[mick]

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about finishing them with anything other than a water seal type protection. I would fill in the joints as smoothly as I can and then try to get them naturally weathered (yoghurt?). If you remember my wooden viaduct back in Selby, I coated that with exterior grade Polyfilla which would be something you might want to consider but believe me, it takes some doing to get a nice finish, especially round all those arches. As I think I've mentioned previously, I lightly sanded the face of the Celcon blocks to try remove some of that swirly external pattern but you can't go too deep otherwise you'll be through to the honeycomb patterning beneath. Scribing them in stone shaped blocks might look good but again would be quite laborious depending on how many arches you'll be doing.

Do you find it easier doing the arches this way instead of the way I did mine? It looks like you'll have more cutting to do and certainly more fastening together. Are you planning on the viaduct being taller further down the line?

[fungus]

Thanks, Mick.

Quote

Do you find it easier doing the arches this way instead of the way I did mine? It looks like you'll have more cutting to do and certainly more fastening together. Are you planning on the viaduct being taller further down the line?

Your method is certainly best for a straight viaduct on level ground. In retrospect, it would probably have been better too for my gently curving viaduct on gently undulating ground. As you say, there are more joints, which is bad news for an incompetent bricky like me, though I don't think there is more cutting and filing. I had sort of assumed I could get hold of one of the thin-joint epoxy-based mortars designed specially for lightweight blocks, which I believe would have made it easier. However none of the builders' merchants seem to have heard of it, and the manufacturer I tried to contact seems to have gone out of business.

The only other potential advantage of my method is that each individual arch is parallel-sided as is a real one. However this would probably only be noticeable on a sharply-curved viaduct.

[fungus]

I've made some good progress over the past week, and am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or in this case, the viaduct). It's starting to look like a viaduct! The main section is made from lightweight building blocks. I decided 100mm wide was marginally too narrow for double track (and at the moment, difficult to get hold of as demand is exceeding supply), I couldn't get 140mm, so they are 150mm wide. This is a bit wider than necessary, but I'll just have to say that it was originally built by the GWR for broad gauge. The section of viaduct closest to the camera is fabricated in 6mm plywood, and is designed to be easily removable for access to the "upper garden".

[IanR]

It's all looking very impressive.

[mick]

I agree with Ian - that's looking extremely impressive and it's going to be a real focal point when completed. It's going to look amazing with some trains passing over. Using blocks was the right choice even if it might be laborious work at times - the blockwork arches look really good and perfectly natural. I'm looking forward to seeing how the wider spaced arches compare to the narrow ones. How much have you completed so far?

[fungus]

This picture was taken about 10 days ago, and it hasn't advanced any further. I decided that it was more important to get the main viaduct weatherproof, so I have concentrated on doing that.

[Andrew]

That viaduct is looking superb, Ian. I hope the good progress continues, and that you can get the circuit joined up before winter sets in. Keep up the good work - and the photos.

[IanR]

Yes I agree, the viaduct is looking great. And that gentle curve really enhances it.

Ian R

[traingeekboy]

Now that is a viaduct. Looks great.

[fungus]

Another major step forward: the railway shed has arrived and been assembled. The track will run in one side and out of the other, crossing a table on which trains can be turned, replaced, marshalled, or put away for the night, using simple cassettes.

The picture shows how close the current end of the line is to the shed. The other side of the shed, there's about 15ft to be built, then some track to lay.

[Andrew]

Excellent progress Ian. Don't let the rain put you off!

A great photo too. I'm fascinated by that four-wheeler brake/parcels van which looks as if it might have an interesting provenance - from the eastern side of the country perhaps?

[fungus]

The van is an LNER 4-wheeled passenger brake van built in the 1930s. The model is built from a Chivers Finelines kit (RC416) obtainable from Parkside Dundas. It appears when I want a loco with only "realistic" hook couplings to pull coaches with tension-lock couplings, as I have equipped it with a suitable different coupling at each end.

[mick]

Good to see the shed in place. I assume it's located in that little clearing that can be seen ahead of the viaduct in the second of the previous set of photos? What are the dimensions and what do you expect you will be able to accommodate inside? Is it a dedicated railway room?

I agree with what's been said already; the viaduct is looking very impressive and coming along nicely but then I do have a soft spot for this type of construction. The gentle curve really sets it off.

[fungus]

mick said:

.... I assume it's located in that little clearing that can be seen ahead of the viaduct in the second of the previous set of photos? What are the dimensions and what do you expect you will be able to accommodate inside? Is it a dedicated railway room?

It's in the clearing to the right of that picture, in front of the newly-painted fence panels and behind the blue rotary clothes-line. It's 8' wide and 6' deep. The track will run across the back of it on a low table, arranged so that sections can be taken out and replaced with a "cassette" containing a train or loco. The track curves to the left after the viaduct, before curving right for almost 180 degrees to line it up correctly for the shed.

As well as giving covered access to the track, the shed will provide storage for the two removable viaducts, turnout module and tunnel liner, during the winter or when they are removed for any other reason. I also plan to move the control equipment from the summer house eventually, and it will be a safe place to store locos and stock "waiting their turn" during an operating session. I expect it will be used for other things too; it already has some apples in storage!

[fungus]

I was faced recently with the problem of where to fit a DCC decoder in an old Bachmann Collett 0-6-0. The fact that I had provided it with a white-metal tender from an old K's Dean Goods kit led to an elegant solution. For details, see http://fungusmodels.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/fitting-dcc-decoder-to-bachmann-collett.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.