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the Dorking Garden Railway


Andrew
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The King returns

Earlier this week Julian reappeared with his ever more-detailed King William IV and some new coaches.  Fortunately lineside photographers were on hand to capture the proceedings.

 

In the first two pictures, Wills is hauling the Birmingham to London standby Blue Pullman set of coaches on a day when the diesel unit was unavailable.

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This gives a slightly better view of the train's makeup, consisting of chocolate and cream open Firsts sandwiched between Pullmans:

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The last photo shows King William IV hauling "The Inter City" which ran throughout the 1950s between Wolverhampton Low Level, Birmingham Snow Hill and Paddington.  Some nice detailing visible on the loco.

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German Visitors

Recently two lots of German themed visitors came to the Dorking Garden Railway.

First, David came back with a range of smooth-running Teutonic monsters, of which this DB Class 41 2-8-2 is but one example:

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Then Geoff brought this fine Roco model of the DB Roco-themed Class 103 electric loco.  The detailing is impressive - but it needs someone to Photoshop some overhead catenary please!

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Even the wheels are the coloured (a bit like an A4 tender actually):

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Edited by Andrew
correction
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Almost a Catastrophe (Ooohhh!)

What was that about 'Never involve children or animals'?

 

Terror stalks the tracks!

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What happens if I grab it?

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What do you mean, "I'm in the way"?

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Edited by Andrew
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My dog does not tolerate cats on the railway.
And the two rats that were stupid enough to walk along, he immediately punished with death penalty.
What has probably spread among the rats, because since then, they have cleared the area widely.

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An afternoon moment at Throstlebeck Sidings

 

...As a Black 5 runs through with a goods train:

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Several photographers capture the action from different viewpoints:

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Until the train finally disappears onto Sycamore Curve and beyond:

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Always nice to see another Black 5 Andrew and freight certainly suits them well. It's been a great summer but surprisingly we've got very few active posters so new photos are always welcome.

Has the weather created any problems with your layout?

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There haven't been any hot weather problems on the Dorking Garden Railway so far.  Although the rails sometimes became too hot to touch in the afternoon sun, there seems to be enough room for movement of loose track on the curves to take care of the expansion.  Sort of vindicates my failure to lay any ballast!

General deterioration of the wood trackbed is another matter.  Some parts will presumably need replacing one day.  Treated wood seems fine when most rainwater runs off it, but some of mine is now showing its age, with cracking appearing (see pic below).  Even if treated, this will eventually lead to further damage from water and/or frost.  Nothing lasts forever.  Nevertheless, I'm quite satisfied with wood as the trackbed material because of the ease of shaping and fixing it in the first place and the nice weathered appearance it acquires.

 

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Edited by Andrew
Deleting duplicate photo
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Southern Splendour

When David came to visit, one sunny afternoon a few weeks ago, we had a session running Southern trains from our combined collections.

 

Here is an S15 with a goods train somewhere near Dorking on the North Downs line heading for Guildford.  Note the bogie tender and "Queen Mary" brake van.

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Later, at Northdown Sidings a waiting T9 almost completely obscures a passing N Class loco from the camera, while the S15 pauses nearby (left) .

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Out on the main line, 30737 "King Uther" pilots an S15 on an express train crossing Foxdale Bank

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The double-headed train races down Bamboo Curtain Straight

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And a few minutes later we see "Ottery St Mary" with an all-Pullman ocean liner train from Southampton to Waterloo

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Nevada meets Georgia

One of the delights of attending model railway exhibitions is that you never know when you may find just that little something that you'd forgotten, or never realised, you wanted. This morning I went to the excellent Seaboard Southern show in Crawley:  https://www.seaboard-southern.org.uk/ .   It is of course an all-American show, and I found some C19th US coaches which are a good match with my Rivarossi 4-4-0 "Genoa" loco acquired at another exhibition about a decade ago.  A purist would point out that the Virginia and Truckee RR is a long way from the Western and Atlantic RR -- but it's fine by me as long as the photos don't show both names at once!

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There is a guy who is posting about using HO scale to model narrow gauge in larger scales. There is the On30 trend, but it is not the proper gauge. This small group of modelers do 30" narrow gauge or 20" narrow gauge using HO scale mechs.

 

So when I saw your 4-4-0 Loco it immediately made me think of this group. http://www.55n3.info/

 

I have since been dabbling at modifying an old Atlas shunter by modifying the cab to turn it into a 55n3 loco. 

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A mixed couple

Josh brought a welcome range of trains on his recent visit to the DGR.

First was Tornado, sounding better than ever with a higher-grade replacement speaker in the tender, and looking good at the head of my ex-LNER crimson and cream coaches:

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Then there was the Javelin set in part-2012 London Olympics vinyls.  Looks good crossing the Northern Viaduct,

but just needs someone to photoshop either some overhead line equipment or a third rail please!

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Edited by Andrew
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Regal Progress

Julian's "King William IV" paid another visit this week, showing the excellent results of his further detailing work, and flaunting an impressive retinue of chocolate and cream coaches in the rear.

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Nice lamp handles:

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A glimpse of the cab detailing:

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Australian Narrow Gauge

We had a very special visitor to enjoy today's sunshine, in the form of Frank with his Baldwin-pattern 2-6-2T from the Victorian Railways 2'6" gauge line in the Dandenong Ranges.  This line, now preserved as the Puffing Billy Railway, was built in the early 1900s, and seemed to be getting by when the following photos were taken at some point in its early decades.

 

The fireman waves to the camera during shunting at Gembrook

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Number 6A dawdles through the Dandenongs with a goods train

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The driver keeps an eye out as the train runs onto the Northern Viaduct...

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...from where it's best not to look down!

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Edited by Andrew
Correcting wheel arrangement.
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The Fat Controller's Birthday

It being the 6th anniversary of the opening of the DGR, the Fat Controller was delighted to welcome Thomas as a new arrival to the railway, to celebrate the arrival of our grandson a couple of weeks ago.

 

When he first arrived, Thomas was rather a lonely engine, having no-one to play with:

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He tried talking to the Throstlebeck signalman, but that wasn't much fun:

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At last he met a couple of friendly coaches and persuaded them to come out for a run:

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They had a lot of fun puffing across Foxdale Bank:

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And then Thomas found another two coaches to join them.  "Look at me now!" he shouted as they charged across the Northern Viaduct:

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