traingeekboy Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It's those little touches that make a layout fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Continuing with the mostly Southern Region flavour, I recently had another visit from Colin which enabled us to run a few more of his trains which hadn't seen daylight or turned a wheel for 30 years or more. These veteran locomotives ran very well. The video of the day's events is here: and here are a couple of photos of the M7 tank engine: Local train passing Northdown Sidings M7 at Foxdale Bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 No DGR news to report, but last week some real steam came to Dorking with the passage of the Cathedrals Express en route to Bath. It collected passengers at Dorking Deepdene station and then paused to take water at Dorking West station. Although a small town, Dorking still boasts three stations. There's a 5 minute video here: and this photo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 ...here is yet another short (2.5 mins) video of Merchant Navy class "Clan Line" passing along the North Downs Line near Dorking today with plenty of whistling. Spot the unscripted wildlife interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussietmrail Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hi Andrew, those video links are pure awesome, like both of the gee the maroon coaches look real good I a long rake of them, after 4 sleepers and another dinner will have to be the one with the lights on the tables, I have11 of them so far. Having some issues fitting the new 5pole motor from the old 3pole, looks like it will only fit in one way into tender chassis, the second water tender of the Flying Scot is powered and it is a 5pole motor, going over to a friends house that is an expert on modelling British railways, will take a video of his layout. Wonder if the diesel loco at the end of the train was helping, if not the Merchant Navy class must have some grunt to be flying at that speed pulling 15 coaches, awesome , like the diesel, what class is it. Over here they some times put on a diesel loco on steam heritage trips mainly for shunting duties at stations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFjJF9AZlJU Merry Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 ...and when it does, it tends to bring new rolling stock to the DGR. But first, thanks to Tony for his Christmas greeting and the link (above) to that jolly Christmas video. Hope you had a good time over there in Australia, Tony. Meanwhile, Dorking is having its coldest spell this year, and although today was clear and sunny, in the shade the white frost never disappeared. Undaunted (at first), I decided it was a good day for running trains to exercise a few coaches that had been acquired in the run-up to Christmas and at the festive season itself. Too cold to bother with video, but here are some photos. First is a train of almost all new stock, hauled across Foxdale Bank by my ubiquitous BR standard Class 4 loco. It's pulling a nice Dapol suburban brake coach, two Gresley coaches in blood and custard livery and a maroon BG passenger brake van. Here is a close-up of the BG and a Gresley, hauled in reverse by a Standard 2-6-4 tank loco. [image]3320[/image] Close-up of the suburban coach heading into winter sunshine. [image]3321[/image] Engines simmer while crews await their next turn at Throstlebeck Sidings. The Class 4 heads off into frosty sunshine with a BG as the lead vehicle. [image]3323[/image] The afternoon wore on and things were getting distinctly chilly. The cold weather had noticeably increased the gaps at some rail joints and my summer attempts to replace overscale jumper wires with lighter gauge, closer-to-scale bonds had in some cases failed because insufficient slack had been allowed. Time to pack up and retire for tea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanerg6e Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Some lovely photos and videos there Andrew. I've never had bonds break like that. If mine go they just drop off on one side in the winter. But then again we don't have the really low temperatures that garden railways experience in the UK. It surprised me in that Mark Found DVD on the garden railways with his mentor David Pratt saying that bonding the railways outside was not easy in cool weather. But you don't have to heat up the entire length of rail just a small spot where you're going to attach the bonds. Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Always good to see your photos Andrew... Happy New Year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Andrew said: ...The cold weather had noticeably increased the gaps at some rail joints and my summer attempts to replace overscale jumper wires with lighter gauge, closer-to-scale bonds had in some cases failed because insufficient slack had been allowed... That's a great accompanying photo to illustrate the importance of adding some slack when soldering bonds across rail joins. I like the way that IanR has added his rail bonds so that they come outwards away from the rail and make a loop around the ends of the sleepers which in my opinion also helps to conceal them. Another nice selection of photos that illustrate the benefits of running outdoors and always makes me want to be able to go out and get something running myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 We kicked off the new year with a running session three days ago instigated by another Southern visitor David H. who brought with him several nice locos (one of which he was persuaded to part with). So the Southern Region atmosphere is getting quite established on the DGR, and the King Arthur purchased from David came with three more Maunsell coaches to swell the fleet of green rolling stock. Who says you can't run trains in January? There is a 2 minute video here: and some photos below. Plenty of activity in evidence, with Clan Line (by Wrenn) partly obscured and a couple of King Arthur class locos (and an M7 behind the bogie tender) Here is the N Class flanked by a couple of King Arthur class locos all simmering at Northdown Sidings Finally an N Class pilots a King Arthur running off Sycamore Curve with an express train I must get David over again for some better photos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Nice photos and a smashing video. Does it ever rain, blow a gale, snow or freeze on the Dorking Garden Railway? There's no way that video looks like it was filmed in January! Oh for a warm, bright, spring or summer's day..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublecee Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Great vid and pics. Currently watching Great British Garden revival on BBC2, hoping to get some ideas for the fairer weather Anyone else watching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 This winter I've been hoping to get some wintry snow scene photos as part of the material for my DGR pictorial calendar project (targetted for next Christmas!). Getting any snow for model railway photos in southern England is a hit and miss affair. Getting the right kind is even harder. This morning's light sprinkling was already turning towards slush when I got out and posed a train next to the holly bush. Trying to clear a little snow off the track didn't work as it just shifted the entire slushy mass, so I had to tamp down the snow between the rails by hand/finger in order to get a depth on which a train could be posed. The results look a trifle gloomy, but that at least is fairly authentic. Here then are two pictures of the Jubilee bringing home its train of (Christmas) parcels, complete with holly background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddles Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Congratulations in at least getting a train into the garden at this time of year. I have to ask, did you dare turn the power on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Posed, not powered. Just patted down enough snow to get the train on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Nice shots. I would say the one advantage of going DCC is that you can use your trains in the snow. I'm still on the fence about it though. Trying to figure out what best to do for wiring on my layout. Ok, now I am off to stare at your piccies some more. he he he Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Five days ago I was posting snowscenes but today was gloriously sunny. With a heritage Hornby Dublo engine newly back from overhaul (by Scalespeed) and some Flushglaze windows added, the sunshine was ideal for some prolonged running-in. The Ring Field motor pulls well although it doesn't want to crawl at a realistically slow pace which is a bit disappointing for a freight loco. The other aspect of the Ring Field motor is that it fills the cab with highly visible bits of electrics, as this first photo shows with a train running off Sycamore Curve towards Foxdale Bank: [image]3348[/image] But as this shot on Foxdale Bank shows, if you get the camera angle and lighting alright, it doesn't look too bad: This picture shows the 8F with its freight running past a paused inter-regional passenger train at Throstlebeck: The Stanier loco is also useful for those parcels trains which are frequently seen on the DGR. Here, it runs onto Bamboo Straight: And with all that low-angle winter sunshine, what else but a glint shot, here on Foxdale Bank: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Lovely photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 I finally got round to editing a couple of days worth of video which was shot on the DGR back in Spring of last year, just managing to get organised before the anniversary arrived. The 6-minute video is called A 1950s Miscellany on the Dorking Garden Railway and features some engines that must be all too familiar to seasoned viewers. I must get on with the video backlog and show some other engines such as the King Arthur and the Stanier 8F. A fair bit of material all waiting to be edited into watchable form. The new video should arrive here (Uploading to YouTube seems to take a ridiculous amount of time for such a short item): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Enjoyable as always Andrew. Do you live in a forest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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