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Worsley Dale Garden Railway


mick
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chris said:

Mick, I wouldn't worry about the roof. It looks and sounds like the same construction as mine and I can walk aroudn on top of it no problem...

Well I don't have any plans for walking around on it - I much prefer my two feet on the ground - but I'm not happy with the gap as it looks like it will be a vulnerable point even once it's covered with roofing felt. The last shed had a similar gap in the roof, caused by the two central timbers being at opposing angles to each other, but on the previous shed the t&g roof panels were extended past the roof bearers so that they closed the gap. The new shed has the t&g panels flush with the longitudal timbers, hence a bigger gap.

grockle said:

Looks like Mick's erection is okay :lol::lol::lol::lol:

I might be knocking on a bit but yes, I got it up in no time!

Blimey, it feels really good to be back on the forum with some news of progress after a relatively barren time over the winter. Getting a structure permanently in place gives me something definite to work from making it easier to plan the next step. In my initial plans, the line would enter the shed to the left of the door, curving arond the edge of the lawn towards the windmill before making it's way around the remainder of the garden, behind the plastic shed, and then into the rear of the new shed. The actual track plan has yet to be finalised as I'm still considering running across the garden too on a viaduct but I'm unsure exactly how that will fit in. I need to sit and ponder some more...

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First thing I saw coming on the forum was the random pictures section. I thought to myself Mick's got some serious wood going there. :lol::lol::lol:

Congrats on the big day. it must be a good feeling to finally be taking off on the new layout. Lots of long summer days ahead, should be a blast.

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I mentioned that the roof appeared to be the weak point in the design of the new shed, and it is, but at least I've now done something about it. The main roof timbers run lengthways from end to end and they span 12 feet. That's some distance without any additional support and so in an attempt to prevent them bowing I've added some supplementary timber in the center of the shed running down from the apex to the central roof bearer on both sides of the roof and then 2 additional lengths of stout timber across from one side of the roof to the other. I'm sure a photo would illustrate it better than a few words can describe so perhaps I'll add some later.

Once the roof had been strengthened I set to covering it in roofing felt and despite my initial reluctance to climb above eaves level, there was no other way to fasten the felt down other than by climbing onto the roof itself. Having added the supporting timbers I did feel it was safe enough to do so but all the same, I was glad once I got back onto the ground. I've got the felt fastened down and all edges sealed so all it needs tomorrow is folding down along the edges and the facia trim screwing in place.

I'm considering insulating the shed and there's still the wiring to route through from the garage after which I can think about some internal baseboards.

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Good to hear you are making progress.

I spent today building a railway shed. It's going to be 24 foot by 4 foot 6". I'm back at my friends tomorrow when we hope to have the full structure in place. The good news is that my mate is now planning on letting his OO railway escape the shed into the garden :D

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If you are seriously considering crossing the garden what about that 00 gauge model of the Fourth Bridge that was up for grabs on the dreaded Fleabay. Only 32ft long and instead of having a river underneath the damn thing have fields in either a ploughed state or just plain old boring grass with of course hedges

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORTH-BRIDGE-MODEL-HORNBY-BACHMANN-LIMA-AIRFIX-MAINLINE-VITRAINS-00-GAUGE-/251021132832?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3a72068420" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ian

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It's gone...... :(

Blimey, that would have been nice. I wonder how my little 'preserved railway company' would have afforded the annual maintenance costs on that? If anyone's got anything like that that's no longer required then do let me know - it's just what I'm looking for.

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It's been so warm today that even the new shed has got a tan....

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It now looks like it actually belongs in the garden having had it's first coating of preservative. Finishing touches to complete tomorrow.

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littlecheritonngauge said:

Love how far you have got with it, hope it all goes well from now on in!! :)

Perhaps this was this meant to be posted in another thread? :lol:

Seriously, thanks for the comment and yes, the shed was the important part of the new build and I'm very happy that it's now in place. I've been getting some good ideas for the exit from the shed adjacent to the door and how it could possibly be blended into the garden. I'm not too sure which idea(s) I'll be going with but I'm hoping that the actual supports for the track base won't be visible and that I can use the rockery stone (of which I have quite a lot) to create a pleasing scene both above and below the track. It'll give me plenty of options for creating some complimentary planted areas that will enhance the overall image.

Expect to see slow but steady progress....

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It's interesting that with Worsley Dale you've started with the shed a whereas with the SGR you started with the track.

When I started, the desire to get things running was so great that track came first and running into the shed (which was already present) was very much a secondary consideration. My second section of outdoor running took far more prep work than the first. I spent months refelting shed roofs, putting up guttering and building a canopy before I felt I was ready to work on the baseboard.

Has your choice of shed before track been a deliberate decision or a subconscious thing?

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chris said:

It's interesting that with Worsley Dale you've started with the shed a whereas with the SGR you started with the track....Has your choice of shed before track been a deliberate decision or a subconscious thing?

I've never thought about it Chris but perhaps my experiences with the previous layout has enabled me to be more patient this time. I've always looked upon the new shed as being central to the whole layout and until it was in position I didn't feel I had a data point from where I could work outwards from. With the shed now in place I can see exactly what I want to do and today I've made something of a start.

At 12 feet in overall length the new shed occupies the whole of the hardstanding area previously used by the old shed. This means that the door of the new shed opened directly onto a section of garden currently designated as a rockery - in fact a large chunk of the 'rockery' has had to be removed in order to be able to open the door of the shed. The photo below shows excavation in front of the shed door in progress.

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It is my intention to retain the rockery area and after renovation/realignment the new track will run directly through it. At the moment, from it's highest point the 'rockery' falls away to path level with just a low single stone wall holding back the soil. I have decided to remove this low stone wall and replace it with a taller brick wall that will not only run alongside the existing garden path but also be continued around and in front of the shed door leaving space for access into the shed. The following photo shows the view looking along the path towards the shed with the stone wall removed and concrete footings in place for the new brick wall.

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Looking in the opposite direction you can see in the next image how the footings have been continued along in front of the shed. Those poor daffs are in a perilous situation now! Out of interest, if you can imagine the track exiting the shed and running through the rockery seen in this view, you can actually follow the proposed route of the new railway around the perimeter of the lawned area.

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It's not easy to visualise but the next photo will, I hope, show the line that the proposed new wall will take.

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I have yet to make a decision about how the rockery will terminate at the shed. Clearly there will have to be some kind of barrier between it and the shed itself but after doing manual concrete mixing and humping all that stone and soil about all afternoon, at this moment I really don't care!

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cleanerg6e said:

...I could have put my railway down at ground level but the slope on my land is just too steep for OO locos to haul long trains.

I have that problem too Roy, hence the reason that only part of the railway (namely that in the vicinity of the shed and top of the lawn in front of the house) will be at or near ground level. At the opposite end of the garden and to the rear of the shed, the track will have to be elevated to maintain a level track base.

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An improvement in the weather after yesterday's snow/sleet/rain has enabled me to start building the brick retaining wall which will run alongside the path and hold back the rockery area in front of the new shed. Just look at that sunshine - can you believe it after yesterday?

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I've still not decided what I'll be doing at the shed end itself but the image below, showing the corner of the newly built wall, shows where I'm up to. The railway will be at about the level of the topmost brick and will run through the rockery with some of the rocks forming a backdrop of stone. It has then to cross via a point very close to the white hyacinth flower (on the center right) in order to enter the shed.

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Having used up all the bricks I had, this evening I have been removing more of the stone edging further along the pathway in readiness for extending the wall towards the house. It's a pity that I didn't see fit to get some coping stones for the top of the wall at the same time as the bricks - would have looked better on the photos!

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cleanerg6e said:

How much light and airy that plot looks in comparison to your Selby plot which always seemed to be in the shade.

We've got a more southerly aspect at the new home and so we keep the sun on the main garden area for most of the day. When the shadows creep onto the patio in the early evening we have to move down onto the lawn! The available natural light to the rear of the house was one of the main reasons for us moving the kitchen into what used to be a rear bedroom.

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mick said:

The available natural light to the rear of the house was one of the main reasons for us moving the kitchen into what used to be a rear bedroom.

Perhaps you should have kept the kitchen in that bedroom then you could have breakfast in bed everyday. :lol:

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I mentioned in my personal journal yesterday that I had erected the indoor layout I had started back in Selby, along one wall of the new shed. After the house move and with it being in storage for some time it took me until today to get it operating correctly again. One of the tortoise point motor connectors had sustained damage and had to be rewired and it all generally needed a good going over. Finally, with the rails cleaned and polished it was possible to get a couple of locos running back and forth without any further trouble.

Set up in the shed, the indoor layout offers a glimpse of what's possible and what's not. Firstly, the height of the permanent garden railway will have to be lower than the indoor layout currently is which is a shame because resting on the purpose built legs the indoor layout is at such a convenient height at the moment and I can operate it whilst sitting on a stool. The problems I've had over the past day has also made me think about access to the undersides of the baseboards for regular maintenance and repair.

Something else I mentioned in my journal yesterday was the idea of having 2 indoor station areas and again today, I've been giving that some thought. At a maximum of 12 feet, the length of the shed offers the possibility for a reasonable length station along either side. With the indoor layout erected it's easier to see how operationally interesting that would be. I think if I made the station nearest to the garden a through station on a continuous 'round the garden' run, I could make the opposite station a terminus station perhaps at a slightly higher level to make it better for viewing. I know I'm supposed to be trying to avoid any gradients this time round but the incline to the terminus station could rise over a considerable length making it as gentle as possible and it would create the task of rostering locos capable of working the line or even double heading, much like a real railway.

Strangely, although I had a shed as part of the garden railway in Selby, this new one feels much more like a railway room even though I've already wished to myself that I'd got one a couple of feet longer. In a way I'm pleased I chose the 12 feet option as I wouldn't want to lose any more of the garden - it's a decent compromise.

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Maybe you could put a grade on the last part to the shed and get it at layout height. I know everyone is skittish about grades in outdoor layouts, but it might be ok. Otherwise you could build a helix just outside the shed in a big wooden box; trains go in, loop around for a bit, and then come out at layout height. there must be a way to connect the layouts. :)

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