Firstlight Railway

[crepello]

Hi from me. Guess I'd better call my railway something. Well, we're by the first streetlight entering our village so I'll name it after that. There's a video of the layout at

 

This is actually my third garden railway. The others were in N Gauge but those were in enclosed gardens in SE England. One of them appeared in the Railway Modeller in about 1992. But this time I'm in a much more exposed location and with three times the rainfall too, so I decided from the outset to use OO. The climate here in the Monts d' Arree is very similar to Dartmoor so it's quite a challenge. In fact it adds to the fun.

The layout consists of a fiddle yard in the greenhouse and an outdoor 124ft circuit. I run it to various real timetables of the 1970's for South Brent in Devon, including making some attempt to get close to the real train formations. To do this precisely would take endless shunting, so instead I aim for something close which is achieveable in a couple of shunts. Timetable planning is a key part of the hobby for me.

In regard to things like track construction, when I started building layouts there was no info anywhere (there wasn't even an Internet) so I worked it out as I went along. I'm quite glad about this now because my experience sometimes doesn't match what other people say (as noted on the video). I certainly haven't solved everything though, especially the time it takes to clean the track. This is presently the only thing stopping me extending the railway. Anyways, I've seen several topics here that are interesting and might be worth me joining in.

[mick]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for introducing us to the Firstlight Railway!

What can I say... A fantastic outdoor running section through a very realistic scenic landscape. Love all those tunnels!

It looks like you've put down some solid foundations, is the track fastened directly to that? Watching the video there doesn't appear to be a lot of undulations so you've clearly made a very good job of track laying/foundation building. The sleepers look relatively new so I assume that the OO layout hasn't been down too long? Do you do things much like the rest of us here...Peco 100 flexi, bonded joins or bus wire? It all looks very smooth and reliable but I guess that's not always the case.

I won't trouble you with too many questions all at once because I'm sure others will have questions too. Perhaps you'd care to share more of your construction methods/ideas - I for one would certainly be interested in learning more about your layout.

[doublecee]

Ahhh, I know this part of France well, as my wife is from Treguier.

Love the layout. If your track is bonded to a bus, its very well hidden.

I love the organic nature of the layout, and I anticipate its surroundings will mature splendidly all around it over the spring and summer.

Well done.

Im assuming its all DC analogue for now?

[grockle]

Nice, very nice, just needs some steam trains running around it. Did like the rake of MK2's running around the garden. A decent rake

Ian

[AndyR]

Welcome to the forum. Stunning landscaping around the track, I especially love the tunnels. What did you use to construct them? I don't have any on my railway, but if I ever get around to my extension there is some scope for one.

Andy.

[crepello]

Thank you all for a great welcome. Here's a quick answer to some questions. The tunnel tops are the 1m plastic drains normally used across drives or carports. They come with a metal grill which I use elsewhere. I cut them a bit shorter so I can clean all the track by hand if necessary. They have vertical 'fins' which retain the earth above the portals - really useful! Track is Peco Streamline Code 100 soldered over the joiners and it rests freely so simply slides sideways with expansion. I can lift it to sweep the base. There's no wiring outdoors (just one pair linking the adjacent tracks). There's no visible power drop thanks to my wonderful Gaugemaster pulse-feedback controller which adjusts the power both instantly (over dirt) and gradually (as the train gets further away). There's also a Relco but I only power that up to get a struggling loco back home for a clean. So yes it is DC and I'm happy to stick with that. The track base takes some explaining - I'll come back on that one.

[mick]

Is the whole of your outdoor track soldered and laid loose? That's certainly a novel idea but would of course overcome the tendency for track to buckle due to expansion as you say. Do you have any problems with it moving at all? Is it unaffected with wildlife? I'd never considered leaving my track unfastened so now I'm wondering if I should have thought about it. That's really interesting and the fact that you have no additional wiring outdoors just seems to go against everything we've grown accustomed to. How do you manage to form track curves? Do you have to secure temporarily whilst building the layout to maintain the curve? Can't wait to learn more.

[IanR]

Very impressive!

Welcome to the forum from the K&WR.

What's it feel like to have a Deltic named after you?

Hope to hear lots more about the Firstlight Railway.

Ian R

[crepello]

Oops I had flu so a bit slow sorry. I was asked about the trackbed. Well, on my previous layouts if the track was near the ground I could get away with concreting directly into a mould in-situ in a trench going down say about 6 inches below the natural ground level. On this layout that wouldn't work. The track is generally higher, the ground is very soft and it's riddled with mole tunnels. Then there's big animals roaming about. So basically it's built stronger and also able to flex a bit this time. At the base is a trench with a layer of compressed sand at the bottom. I compress it by standing on it then using a mallet. Resting on that are breeze blocks laid on their sides to distribute the weight. The trackbase rests on top of these. It's either upright breeze blocks or pre-cast curved concrete beams. Actually the sand rises to surround and fill the lower blocks up to ground level so there's no gaps anywhere. I then build up the hills each side as needed. It all takes a while but it is really cheap.

There was a question about the track, curves, etc. I'll come back on that. Again, thanks for a very warm welcome!

[crepello]

I'd better add a bit about the track base. On the really low bits (i.e. just inches above original ground level) some breezeblocks rest directly into the trench of compressed sand. Regarding track laying, I think the key to free resting track is to cut the rails so that when you join one yard to the next it sits happily in the right alignment (before soldering it up). One doesn't want unequal stress on a pair of joiners. Peco track is stiff enough to stay in pretty good alignment. I'm not keen on Hornby as the sleeper-rail connections are too loose so It would wobble more and I'm not sure it could take being accidently stood upon. And to answer another question yes it's pretty reliable, apart from "leaf on the line' and insects with a death wish!

[mick]

Good to hear from you again - I hope you've got over your bout of flu.

I still find this idea fascinating. Soldered joints and minimal wiring and from the opening video footage it appears to work like a charm. I keep going back to have another viewing. The only drawback for me is that I've got the desire for ballasted track, something I've attempted with a varying degree of success over the past year or two.

[crepello]

Yes, I admit lack of ballast wouldn't suit everyone. As it happens, my viewpoint (on all three layouts) has been of a line snaking away from me into the distance, so the things I notice are how good the alignment is and whether trains wobble a lot. I'm not really close (or side-on) to the track so the concrete sleepers blend in to imply a modern main line on clean ballast. I have used wooden sleepers at times but resting on something dark e.g. bricks. So for me at least the lack of ballast isn't a major issue. I'm primarily seeking reliability, quick drying after rain, easy cleaning, that kind of thing. Having the track at ground level does put it in slugsville but I put up with that.

It might be worth me putting up another video showing trains as an onlooker would see them. It would give a better idea what free-resting track actually looks like. I will have a think about that.

[mick]

Have to agree with you on the track alignment and running qualities. There's nothing worse than misaligned track and wagons jumping about all over the place. I found that video footage was a good way of highlighting any problem areas that had previously gone unnoticed. I used to try get my eyes down to track level and look along the tops of the rails to try ensure track was as straight and level as possible. Strangely, if you look at real railway track using a zoom lens on your camera/video/binoculars etc it's rarely as straight as you would believe it to be.

I've never experienced many problems with slugs even though with both my previous layout and the current one, the gardens appear to be overrun with them. Bird droppings, on the other hand, are another thing altogether.

Another video?..... That would be great

[crepello]

New vid uploaded which shows the track from above. Here's the link:

 

It wasn't exactly a planned film shoot and I'm clearly still naf at editing - sorry! The new things include the back-out loading siding, long passing loop and a branch down the field bank to the bird feeder. The loading siding is on plastic poles which go underground quite a way. The passing loop involved doubling the track which was really awkward as the scenery was already there. Normally when I do the base it becomes one big building site to do the foundations. This time I had to simply widen the cutting and use concrete or whatever to widen the base. This method isn't nearly so easy to get it dead flat. As a result it isn't flat but I've just about got away with it - phew!

The branch to the feeder drops along a bank I built just 3 years ago and it's still settling. So the plastic poles go way down and deeper than it is tall. The branch has to drop all the way at 1 in 30 so for safety the end bit of track with the buffers is designed to detach after slowing a train somewhat. This got tested accidently when I sent an express that way by mistake and it worked really will, with the engine ending up sitting happily in a strategically placed pot of flowers. In real life this steep branch would scare drivers silly, so I've named it after a similar bit of real railway called 'The Wall of Death' just outside Sutton in South London. As it happens it's next to 'Coffin Corner', so named for obvious reasons!

Just quickly (re. latest post), yes I've too found the on-train videos really useful. Once trains are beyond the main tunnel (which is aligned with my sightline) I can't see what's happening. Strange things have happened which were hard to figure out, like occasional derailments for no apparent reason. The vids showed they were occuring nowhere near where I thought and for reasons I would never have guessed. And I'm amazed how often a tunnel I've cleaned and had trains going through for hours still has a giant slug in it! One vid revealed that 5 leaves fell immediately in front of the train which almost derailed twice. All I saw at the time was it eventually grinding to a halt with dirty wheels which led me to re-clean the wrong bit of track. Yes the videos are a revelation.

[doublecee]

Seeing the bird feeder getting filled made me think of these old things from Hornby...

Thats got me thinking!

Nice video, layout looks ace

[mick]

Another great video - enjoyed that one too.

I'm pleased to read that you've stirred Chris' (doublecee) imagination and that he might consider putting those operating ore wagon sets to some practical use. That will be good to see. Is that anything you'd consider on the Firstlight Railway?

[Andrew]

"Feeding the Birds by Train" is a great video, Crepello. Thanks for sharing it. I particularly like the original story-line; perhaps it will spark a whole genre ("Taking out the rubbish by Train", or more likely with this lot, "Delivering the cold drinks by Train").

You have one particularly attractive shot of the five arch viaduct which seems to show a very effective view of rolling countryside beyond. Perhaps you can exploit that more in future.

As for your lighthouse, given the proclivities of some others on this forum, we should perhaps assume that it is just a windmill which hasn't yet had its sails fitted!

Keep up the good work.

[doublecee]

mick said:

Another great video - enjoyed that one too.

I'm pleased to read that you've stirred Chris' (doublecee) imagination

ahem..... Craig

[crepello]

Those ore wagon sets look promising and I'm sure you could use them somehow. I did look into those and other auto-loading/unloading methods and was surprised how little the model manufactures have developed this idea. As a kid I'd have loved shifting stuff around the house by train. In my case there were too many unknowns about the Hornby ones to risk the cost, whereas the Triang hopper bodies were going for just 99p each. So it's the 'Hand of God' method for me! One unknown was how reliably those Hornby hoppers discharge. This is (from what I read on the Net) a general issue with automatic unloading. Seems things like grain size and weight make a difference but I've no way to test this out.

Would be a great advert for the hobby if someone ever managed a truely automatic version of this kind of thing. The nearest I could get to that at the moment is to let the birds eat directly from the hoppers but I'm not keen on what comes out their other end! And of course my cats would love it - the perfect raid opportunity. I guess that would make it an elaborate kind of cat feeder! Nah - think I'll ditch that idea.

[mick]

doublecee said:

.....ahem..... Craig

My sincerest apologies Craig. In another thread we were recently commenting on any possible link between ill health and model railways due to the number among us who are not in the best of condition at the moment. The conclusion appears to be that it's nothing more than our respective ages and I'm afraid that the above oversight is just another prime example of my advancing years. Funnily enough you wouldn't believe how long I pondered whether 'Chris' should have an apostrophe and an additional 's' or should end simply with an apostrophe.