the Dorking Garden Railway

[Andrew]

London Transport steam

The DGR is rather suffering from rot in the decking which operators have to stand on, such that SWMBO has forbidden visitors until restoration work is implemented.  Separately some track maintenance is needed, so the following photos are just posed and sadly don't show a real operating session.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s after the end of BR steam, it was still possible to see steam workings in the London area as LT Pannier tanks used to work spoil trains out along the Metropolitan Line to Croxley Tip near Watford.  Robert and I sometimes used to go and see them, so with my new Oxford 'Pilchard' wagons and his Bachmann L97 we decided to do a re-enactment of those scenes from long ago.

Here is the morning's Down working, heading out into rural Hertfordshire...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then at Croxley there's a bit of shunting to get things the right way round...

 

Before setting off back Up the line with the empties for Neasden:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Andrew
addition

[mick]

Garden maintenance, especially on a garden railway, is a never ending task as we've all discovered at some point but it's all part of the enjoyment of owning a layout outdoors. It can be frustrating but I always look upon it as part of the challenge and it's usually something that can be carried out gradually over a period of time. There's lots of work required on my own layout but it doesn't stop the trains running and it can be attended to between running sessions. I never tire of doing it funnily enough.

You've done extremely well to get this far with so few problems. Unlike an indoor layout we don't need perfection and can often get away with a bit of packing under some sleepers to keep things moving or a few nails hammered in somewhere. Temporary measures never look out of place on an outdoor railway and in my opinion they often add to the scene whereas on an indoor layout they would be deemed unsightly to say the least. Just attend to things as and when you can and you'll soon be back up and running. In the meantime, as you've already shown, you can always create interesting photographs.

[Andrew]

Meanwhile, over on the big railway...

Services after yesterday are being restricted because of fire risk

 

[Andrew]

The hospitable owner calls this a garden railway...

which yesterday's visit suggests is technically correct, it being next to his house.  Very kind of him to let visitors have the run of the place for the day!

 

[Andrew]

Anniversary

Things have been quiet on the Dorking Garden Railway recently,as other activities have kept me busy - and this week I put my foot through the rotting decking which highlights the urgency of getting the garden remodelling project to contract tender stage.

Meanwhile my birthday (also the anniversary of the opening of the DGR) came along and we celebrated in style on the Bluebell Railway by hiring the GNR Directors' Saloon for the day and inviting along family and friends to share the three return trips from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead.  This was an excellent day out: the railway had three engines in steam and was excellent as ever, the directors' saloon was very comfortable, and the Bluebell cold buffet catering was of an extremely high standard.

To cap it all, my friend Julian kindly negotiated a footplate ride for me on the final round trip, which was a great end to the celebrations (especially as my last footplate trip on a passenger train was a Black 5 out of Manchester Victoria in 1968).

Peter, who lives in New York but would have loved to have joined us that day, managed to capture a video from the East Grinstead webcam of me on the footplate of 80151.

All in all, definitely a day to remember.

 

 

 

[Andrew]

Julian gives me a pre-footplate briefing:

[Andrew]

Out of Gauge

I had a good time last Saturday at the annual Winchester 0 Gauge American and Continental exhibition which as usual had some excellent layouts including coarse scale tinplate:

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Andrew

[mick]

Somewhat belated birthday greetings Andrew. It looks like you all had a really good day on the Bluebell and it's an extra special occasion having family and friends to share it with you. Here's hoping that the remodelling project on the DGR gets under way soon.

[Andrew]

Time to get cracking

The bottom of the garden looks a bit overwhelming at present and needs some serious attention.  I'm sure there's a railway there somewhere:

 

[kenbrunt]

Andrew what a colourful photo of autumn leaves, although I do not envy you the job of clearing them all up.

[Andrew]

Rehab

While I do like to have running sessions in the winter months, that doesn't seem to have happened this time, largely because of wet weather.

So the railway has been suffering from neglect, and yesterday's sunshine prompted a serious effort to excavate it from the leaves and rubbish that had covered the scenic side.  This also revealed a number of problems which need to be dealt with - some easier than others.

For the first time, the vegetation on both sides of the track has died back during the winter.  This has affected both the ivy above the railway and the mind-your-own-business below it.  Presumably they will both recover in due course.

 

Secondly, moss has flourished on some stretches of track, which would be fine if a scale overgrown look was required - but it's not.

 

Unfortunately, scraping the moss out from between the sleepers often meant that the scraper just disappeared into the rotten wood beneath.  And holes are appearing elsewhere.  Not good, although after 11 years it shouldn't be a surprise.

 

And inevitably there are a few rail-end bonds which need resoldering, usually in the most awkward locations.

 

But having cleared up most of the debris, a new section of retaining wall was planted.

 

So there's still work to be done before trains can run.  And that's only in the short term, because the garden decking replacement project is due in May and will entail dismantling and rebuilding much of the railway.  Hope I can get some running sessions in beforehand...

Edited April 4, 2023 by Andrew
typo

[mick]

You've got some work on your hands there Andrew although remedial work is something I always find enjoyable. However, you can't complain about getting 11 years out of the wooden base but as has been mentioned elsewhere, I think we've all come to realise that timber isn't the most suitable material to use as a base for track laying, especially when it's situated at or close to ground level. Replacing all my ground level timber baseboards with aerated blocks was a pain but I'm so glad I did it. Now I only have timber baseboards at raised level.

Shame about that moss because it looks great along the lineside.

Are you intent on using decking again as replacements for the rotten sections?

 

[Andrew]

22 hours ago, mick said:

Are you intent on using decking again as replacements for the rotten sections?

Yes.  A treated timber trackbase is by far the easiest solution, its weathered look is fine, and another eleven years will be more than enough for me!

[Andrew]

Temporary suspension of service

A sad day yesterday.  After over eleven years of happy DGR running, I had to dismantle half the layout to make way for garden landscapers to remove the rotting decking at the front of the railway (and elsewhere in the garden) before installing replacement paving.  They will also plant some concrete spurs for me to bolt the new section of the layout to, so the future infrastructure should be on more durable foundations.

So for the moment, no more fun days in the sun like the visiting Q1 and King shown here back in 2015.

[mick]

Well you said it was coming so I'm pleased to hear that renovation has commenced. I'm sure once the hard work is out of the way (and don't forget you can enjoy that too) it will all have been worthwhile and give you (and us) many more years of interest and enjoyment.

[Andrew]

Bamboo Curtain Straight to Desolation Row

First day of the project, and the landscapers have made quite an impact.  Hard to visualise where the front of the railway went...

 

[Andrew]

Looking better

Although our decking will be replaced by more-durable Indian sandstone paving, the retaining walls are being done in oak timber which I'm told will last longer than I will (so that's alright).  The landscapers have given me four upright sleepers on which to rebuild the front of the railway.  The bamboos in their pots have been temporarily(?) moved, so we'll have to see if Bamboo Curtain Straight will retain its name or will need to be called something different.  And as befits a railway that sometimes represents parts of the north of England, a modest amount of levelling-up has taken place behind the sleeper retaining wall using the pile of spoil in front of the digger.

In this photo you can just see the A-frame forming the end of what was the Northern Viaduct, with the bamboo pots still in place.

 

And here is the new work, all ready for me to lay some timber trackbase once the landscapers have departed, hopefully in a few weeks time.

 

 

[Andrew]

Emerging from the backwoods

A bit of transAtlantic eBay shopping has produced this wonderful beast which turned up today, a Doodlebug from just a century ago in America:

https://www.trains.com/ctr/railroads/locomotives/emc-delivers-first-doodlebug-motorcar/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haven't had time yet to see if this Bachmann product actually runs, but it looks promising. 

I really want to acquire a decent interurban model, but they are scarce and pricey and mostly in America.  Of course to be realistic that would need an overhead power wire anyway.  The Doodlebug isn't an interurban but looks like a useful midway option.

Not having bought anything on eBay from the US before, I was half expecting to have to pay import duty here.  But the bill somehow included 20 per cent VAT and airmail shipping and nothing further, so I'm happy.

[Andrew]

Now it's just a question of me filling the gaps, once the paving has been grouted:

[kenbrunt]

Wow what a lot of work you are having done and can see that its all for the better the paving looks very smart. I presume you took out your frustrations on the bamboo. potted plants. Your new Doodlebug looks very much at home. Thanks for sharing looking forward to your new part of the garden railway.