THLR and Asquith Falls Railways

[tgfoy]

We have two Garden lines, the THLR which is 00 and the Asquith Falls Railway which is G guage.

Both are still ongoing projects, The THLR ( full name is address sensitive) is being constructed on the post frame and board principle and currently is a balloon shape around our pond. The sructure is reused and reclaimed Timber, the boards being mostly out door ply ( reclaimed after completion of the rebuilding of our local comunity center after a major fire, the contractors were really helpful) though some other solid Timber boards have been used. I treat the timber each year either with wood preservative or old engine oil which is just as effective (learnt that one from a friend in the area who has had an 0 guage line in his garden for 60 plus years). The boards support a double track main line.The first extension will turn it into a folded Dogbone shape round the operating shed which is a timber green house frame (over 50 years old) that I inherited and moved to it's current location from my grandparents house. The eventual ambition is to take the line right round the garden tough that will involve possibly 2 long removable bridges over the drive and one over the garden path. It is actually our Second 00 garden line, the first being dismantled due to moving. I have been collecting loco's and stock since 1979 and now have over 90 loco's for the line, It is supposedly a preserved Railway though the criteria is fairly flexible. As long as either the loco or livery is ot used on the national network in regular use then it could appear. The collection includes Steam, Diesel, electric, even hand powered outline models some dating from the 1950's. We have working motive power representing loco's from all the big 4, some pre nationalised loco's and of course BR days. Having a family gave us an excuse to get some of the Thomas and friends loco's and Hogwarts express too. Highlghts of the collection include Stephensons Rocket, 4 A4's, a Trix A2, the caledoneon single, and Lord of the isles. The prototype Deltic is in the collection as is an EM2, The Blue Pullman (4 coach set) the APT and 91. Most of the loco's were obtained second hand from various sources. I can post a full list if anyone is interested. Digital control being relatively new (apart from Zero 1) I have yet to make the leap, with so many loco's to chip it will be expensive, though an aspiration. Having such a large, varied collection means we can theme running sessions should we wish, only rarely do we atempt the challenge of running everything in one session.

The Asquith Falls Railway is actually my wifes, though I do most of the construction work. I am lucky to have a wife who is an enthusiast herself she not only allows me to carry on the Hobby but is active in it herself. The line is ground level and runs through some of our flower beds, it is currently under major rebuild to remove a bridge over the pond and divert the single track line round another section of garden. The loco's and stock are narrow guage outline and is basic at the moment. 1 LGB tank loco, three coaches, a wagon plus the bachman Gandy Dancer and christmas Gandy Dancer. Eventually the line will extend into the floor level of the shed to ease opperating and create a yard where multiple trains can await their turn to run.

Both railways rely on the garden for scenery.

I shall add some images of both lines when I work out how to do it (my IT skills are a bit hit and miss at times in this regard, but ask me to edit a video on PC and I am ok, just never added photo's to a forum post before).

Ok that's a brief outline of our railways, hope it's of interest. Please do ask any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

[mick]

This all sounds very interesting and it's great that it's quite obviously an interest that is shared with members of your family. I doubt there are many wives/partners who are quite so understanding with regards to having their garden taken over by a model railway let alone by two of them! Saying that, I'm also lucky to have the permission and understanding from my partner even though she doesn't quite share my interest and enthusiasm for the models themselves.

I think all railway modellers are 'collectors' at heart and so it's no surprise to learn of your collection of locos. I wonder why we always have seemingly more loco's than items of rolling stock for them to haul when in reality it would clearly be the other way round? I can relate to your thoughts for the layout being a preserved line as I too have examples of locos that wouldn't ever have been seen together on running lines at any time but which I run simply because I like to see them. I try to keep it with a degree of possibility but nothing is rigid. The majority of my collection are of more recent issues as a divorce some years ago resulted in the wholesale disposal of my entire collection at that time. Life goes on.... I operate on DCC so I'm slowly adding decoders to those engines which are DCC ready but like you say, to do them all at once is expensive.

I'm looking forward to seeing some photos when you can add them. I can try to offer some advice for adding images directly to the forum if needed but one way is to have a website of your own on which to store your photographs and link to them from the forum. Failing that you can upload images to sites such as Photobucket etc.. For the forum, just look below the window where you type your forum post and you will see a tab entitled 'Upload Attachment'. Place the cursor where you wish your photo to be inserted and browse for the filename on your computer then add the file.

Mick

[tgfoy]

Thanks for the tips Mick.

Haven't got round to a website yet (on my never ending to do list). I know what you mean about loco's being the main focus for collectors, though I realised I didn't mention Rolling stock above, I have infact over 200 items in the collection ranging from humble wagons to Hornby's Royal coaches. Of course Pulmans are there, as well as both Gresley and Thompson Teaks for the LNER loco's. BR MK1's in three liveries, Mk2's, Mk3's and Mk4's are also present amongst others. Though of course this is far fewer than 90 odd loco's would suggest I need. Wagons range from mineral to tankers, two 45ton cranes as well as various vans, flat beds and Brake vans.

Anyway lets see if I can get a few photos on here, using the attachement feature. Hope this works.

G scale train on now removed bridge.

A composite photo of all the loco's for the THLR

[mick]

Blimey, that composite photograph must have taken ages to put together! There's a great variation in motiver power and some old classics on view - looks a fine collection.

I'm not sure how many loco's I have available (probably less than yourself) - only a small percentage are listed on the website as I never seem to get round to adding any more. Coaches and wagons are certainly in the hundreds but still in the usual minority compared to the number of loco's. I'm becoming more and more keen to include DCC sound, especially among the diesels, just wish it wasn't so expensive an option.

I like the raised trackbed idea for the OO gauge. I don't have a problem with the height of mine or regret building it only 12-18 inches from the ground but my plan is to run the tracks into a garden shed for storage sidings etc... which is going to be somewhat uncomfortable after a time at that height. I may decide to use the post option as shown on your photo for the remainder of my trackbed.

It was nice and sunny this morning after a night of rain and I really had the urge to get outside for a running session but I've been feeling under the weather with a cold and went back to bed instead. Toyed with the idea of ordering the new City of Truro when I got up but settled for the cheaper option of another class 47.

[tgfoy]

The composite photo took about an hour of cloning images though an age to get the pictures in the first place. It's been a thirty year labour of love to put the collection together, though I have been lucky, a friend was very generous with a gift of some fiftenn loco's and items of rolling stock of 1950's and 60's models some years ago for example and various other people wanted to off load their childhood collections of a couple of locos, so as cash allowed I would buy them.

I agree about the digital option, I love the sound in your videos those chips certainly add something special, but it is expensive as you say.

The raised track bed is really easier for me, I broke my back in a car crash whilst out on a filming job a few years ago. I was the passenger. I was lucky though, I can walk and have currently got good mobility though getting up can be dificult at times. Sadly I am left with permanent pain and nothing can be done about it as my spine has "healed badly", in fact they tell me it will get worse in all probability. So I make the most of things and just get on with life and enjoying it, after all if later I can't do things I will regret not trying while I could won't I. Anyway back to the trains.

Sadly City of Truro is not going to be an option for me at the moment, but who knows in a few months.

Anyway heres a few more pics. (now I have the hang of this).

4 coach triang blue pullman

[mick]

Smashing photo's Tom and please continue adding them as eventually it will get more and more people interested in participating in the forum. Photos of the construction will be especially useful to everyone as well as being of great interest to myself.

Sorry to hear about your accident and resulting injuries but pleased to learn that you are making the most of what you have. There are days when I laze around doing nothing at all and then I realise it's another wasted day. I have an interest in family history and it got to the stage where I was becoming depressed by the number of people I discovered who never made it as far as I have in life and it brings it home to you just how precious life really is and how easily and quickly it can be taken from you. You have my very best wishes for the future and long may you continue to enjoy your models.

Some of the more recent Bachmann locos are extremely powerful and I was especially surprised to find that one of my G2A's (Super D) had no problems hauling the same trains as some of my diesels. I really enjoy seeing trains hauling a nice long rake of stock.

Now that City of Truro is available perhaps the Blue Pullman may one day surface. If the RTR manufacturers are indeed listening to the demands of modellers as they say then it can only be a matter of time. The Triang model has stood the test of time well and still looks impressive as your photo proves but wouldn't it be nice to see one available using modern day technology for drive system and highly detailed plastic modelling?

Mick

[tgfoy]

Bachman really have set the bar high for the other manufacturers with recent releases, Hornby etal have some catching up to do with the motors at least.

Hornby apparenty still have the tools for the Blue Pullman so theoretically they could put it back in production quite easily and cheaply with a more modern motor. As you say the Triang one has stood the test of time well. Of course a new set of tools with more detail would be expensive but I think it would be a very popular model especially if extra center coaches could be bought. (the triang ones are expensive on the second hand market I have seen them at between £45 and £60 each and they are hard to find). If they used the old tools then those of us with one could extend our rakes.

Yes exploring family history can be both fascinating and emotional, we have one side done as far as we can go at the moment and are working on my wifes side, so far back to the 18th century.

Ok here are some photo's of the THLR under construction.

[mick]

Adding links to this site from your Facebook profile is fine, indeed most welcomed. Consider this thread your own and add to it or promote it as you wish.

Enjoyed the photos showing your construction methods. I might have gone overboard a wee bit with mine However, I will be using the post method around the side of my garden to complete the figure of eight and wondered how best to form the curved track base. I have used short-cut lengths of patio decking boards on top of the breeze blocks for the curved areas to date but I suspect that sheet plywood or similar would be more suitable and enable fewer joints.

Does your layout run into an outbuilding or are you like me and having to remove stock at the end of each session?

I disposed of some blue pullman coaches not so long ago. I had planned to form a set but the power cars seemed to be demanding a high price and I wouldn't have had a clue about converting them to DCC. Guess I'll wait for the new ones

Your submissions to the forum have renewed my enthusiasm and I'm keen to get outside and begin righting some of the wrongs. I keep looking at the hump in one section of my track and plan to level that out but it's raining again.....

[tgfoy]

I am glad to have played a part in rekindling your enthusiasm as discovering your site did for me.

Don't worry about going a wee bit overboard on the construction, the more solid it is the better, it will last longer and need less maintenance.

You might notice that on mine not all posts are concreted in, some simply sit on a piece of broken slab. This was a method observed on a garden line I mentioned in a previous post (the one built by the same chap with the engine oil tip) really it is only necessary to fix every third post with concrete to create a solid track bed. This simplifies construction and saves money on a free standing line.

Yes I have an out building for all the electronics and a Yard (eventuallly two). It is based on an old teak green house frame I inherited. You can see it before I glazed it in one of the shots above. The line will run arround it with points giving access to the yards in such a way that I will be able to operate the line as either a continuos loop or an end to end line. Once complete I will be able to store full length trains between runs in the yards during sessions so we could operate to a timetable if we want to. (I did this on my last garden line before we moved).

The Links to this site are up so hopefully a few of my friends will join too.

I was lucky with the blue pullman set, it was part of a box of period models a friend gave me some years ago, hope you got a good price for the cente coaches, they are much sought after. Hopefully we won't have long to wait for new ones, will be watching the Hornby website again over news years night, see what they plan to release. They usually announce it there just after midnight, though last year they caught us unaware by saying they would do that then publishing a couple of days early.

I will be starting my winter works soon after christmas, to build the new trackbed round the shed, completing this plan, then rebuilding the G scale on it's new track plan. Then all ready for the second yard in the shed which will double the number of trains I can get out for a running session.

Anyway heres some more pictures.

Asquith Falls railway in festive mood.

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Fairburn Tank and Standard tank both by Bachman.

[mick]

Isn't it amazing how the less hardy 'indoor' modellers spend hours upon end painstakingly constructing realistic scenery through which to run their trains and all we have to do is place our stock on some carefully laid track. A backdrop of some nice green vegetation, natural light, and it doesn't matter whether the track is ballasted or not for us to be able to create a scene that just looks right. You'd be hard pressed get a line up of 7 Pacifics looking that good on any layout located inside. Even Santa and his little helpers are in their element - try recreating that one indoors!

[tgfoy]

I know what you mean Mick, although I admire what people can achieve on indoor railway scenery but you can't beat nature. There is just something about Garden railways, no mater what scale, that feels right. seeing the trains running in the changing light of the day outside is just so real, much more so than indoor layouts under artificial light. That is not to decry those layouts, they just don't have the same feel, good as they are.

You gave me such a nice surprise Mick, using my seven pacific's pic as the Garden Railways area picture, many thanks, I was so pleased when I saw it.

Ok some more pictures.

A4 Line up

[mick]

... You gave me such a nice surprise Mick, using my seven pacific's pic as the Garden Railways area picture, many thanks, I was so pleased when I saw it.

You're welcome. I'm on the lookout for some more so keep posting them! I think I have also enabled the attachment of more than 3 images per post now (I was wondering if you just preferred posting 3 at a time until I noticed it was limiting uploads to only 3)

I'm enjoying seeing your growing collection of loco's. The more recent highly detailed models tend to make older ones less attractive to many modellers but there is something about the older versions and they certainly don't look out of place on track. It's strange but I even class the Bachmann A4 as an 'older model' when compared to the recent Hornby A4 (the cartazzi truck looks far better on the Hornby in my opinion). I have a couple of older Hornby pacifics and they're ideal for running outdoors if only I could convert them to DCC. I may need to add normal DC running so that I can give them all a run.

Right, maybe I could just take a few loco's outdoors and get some photos too....

Mick

[tgfoy]

One of the problems with the more detailed modern models (especially steam outline) is that it is so easy to damage some of the detail with normal careful handling, they do look superb though. I still like the older models and am more than happy to run them, I know they don't stand up to a detailed examination but they still look right in most cases (the triang Princesses are famously too short). The bachman A4 is one of thier older models now and the Hornby new one is superb but having said that The bachman one is an excellent runner. The older models are still worth running, even alongside the more recent ones after all it's about enjoying ourselves isn't it.

Thanks for raising the limit on attachments Mick, it will be good to be able to put more pictures up at a time. I look forward to seeing your photo's.

Hornby Britania remamed Mercury. We have an earlier version named Britania too.

[mick]

I'm delighted to see that it isn't only me that takes photos of derailed locos! Went out in the garden yesterday with a couple of items recently purchased, took some photos and then when preparing them to upload I noticed they were not sitting with all wheels on the rails. Frightening, because I took extra care to ensure that they were. Wouldn't look good for the guy in charge to be displaying derailed locos so I left them out.

Your Triang 3F shows how far model railway production has developed over recent decades but I imagine that little fella has given its fair share of pleasure. Imagine 50-odd years ago waking up on Xmas morning to find one of those in your stocking! I've always found the GWR railcar a strange looking oddity but I have a fondness for GWR tank engines and branch lines even though I don't have anything GWR of note just yet (apart from coaching stock).

Been busy with other things today so not had time to do anything railway orientated.

[tgfoy]

I didn't notice that about the V1 until I put the pictures on my computer, couldn't believe I'd missed it, easy done.

Yes the 3f does show that, but it's still a good runner and I know what you mean about the railcar, it is an odd looking vehicle. My second loco was a GWR one thanks to having a mother who was brought up in the GWR region, so LNER and GWR were the basis for the collection initially (soon followed by dads favourite a green DMU). Anyway as promised here are a few of the Diesel outline models.

Hornby 1960's 08.

[mick]

Another nice batch of photos Tom. I can't believe that some of the Mainline produced models can still stand favourably alongside more recent releases and yet compare the moulding on the front of your class 45 to the Bachmann models today. Unless I'm mistaken, wasn't it also Mainline or Replica Railways who first manufactured the 'Collett' coaches which Bachmann continue to produce today? It seems they have hardly changed a bit and are still superb coaches. I've always thought of the Colletts as one of the nicest coaches ever produced in model form and I have 2 rakes of them - one in GW brown & cream and a rake in BR crimson & cream but as yet, no suitable locos to haul them.

[tgfoy]

Looking at Ramsay's 6th edition It seems that the collet coaches were originally Mainline (Palitoy) models but because Palitoy did not own the tools (they were owned by the chinese manufacturer) when they ceased trading Replica railways paid to use them for a while until the manufacturer was bought out by Bachman who continue(d) to produce the coaches. Mainline and Airfix were the first to make what could be described as High detail models, Airfix was eventually bought by Mainline who were then bought by Dapol, who hadn't realised the situation with Mainlines Tools so only got the intelectual assets of that part whilst they got everything from Airfix who owned thier own tools. Bachman got the mainline tools and used them as the Basis of thier UK outline range initially. The Airfix tools are now with Hornby.

The research bug is now hitting this ex archaeologist, one of the beauties of my collection is it shows lots of the History of Railways but also the history of 00 guage plastic models so I do do a fair bit of research and have found Ramsay's british model trains catalogue to be a good source of basic info. The collet coaches were introduced in 1983 by Mainline, 1989 by replica and in1990/91 by Bachman according to it. The class 45 followed a similar path but was retooled a year after bachman introduced it to thier range.

By the way I read somewhere that digital control also gave a chanel for none digital locos to be run, perhaps it depends on your system I don't know.

Anyway onto the photo's, as promised more of the diesels, but also some electric outline ones this time.

Bachman 03 (minus chimney)

[mick]

I've got to agree Tom, you've got a collection there spanning several decades of railway modelling history and despite their lack of fine and intricate detail compared to modern day releases they are still wonderful items to own.

I believe that some DCC systems can cater for a DC loco operating too but I have a feeling that mine doesn't, or at least I can't seem to fathom out how to do it. I also feel that the running capability of a DC loco is best addressed with a DC controller but I could be hopelessly incorrect on all counts. I may decide to go for a 4 track layout to solve the problem and have 2 lines for each system!

[tgfoy]

Sounds like a good plan to me Mick. Because of the way my track plan is part of it looks 4 track even though it is infact two track, it's quite effective.

I have been out at an event today and was chatting to a chap who was fascinated with the idea of a garden railway, hopefully he will be able to build one, I directed him to this website to see what you had achieved. Hopefully he will join. He, like many others asked the old chestnut "what happens to it when it rains?" My stock answer is it gets wet, but it put me in mind of a couple of shots I took during some heavy rain last year, our garden became a lake because of it.

Thought they might be of interest.

The Asquith Falls line

[mick]

Some fine British summer weather there. The advantage is that during the warmer months it soon dries up again after a good downpour whereas this time of year it's around for days on end. Asquith Falls - a pretty apt name for a railway line with all that water around I should say.

Here's hoping your chat today results in another member for us. I spend a bit of time on some of the main model railway forums out there but there aren't too many OO gauge garden railway modellers among the members. Would be great to get some more outdoor layouts featured on here.