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Roksee
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Hello there,

.

Watching youtube the other night, i came across a oo garden railway, which i was fascinated by, so here i am, i found your site after a search.

I have a 53ft x 13ft garden to play with(that's the space for the railway, not the garden size), however the garden is tiered due to problems with tree roots, hence a garden on 2 levels.

My first question is this, at the point( a dwarf wall), it is approximately 2 foot in height, what length of gradient, am i looking at.

I plan to lay a concrete bed approximately 3 inches thick by 8 inches wide, 4 tracks around the perimeter wall, before doing this, i need to sort out this gradient, i hope to have 2 cutting on the top garden, rolling onto 2 viaduct diminishing into 2 embankments then opening onto the lower garden.

so guys your thoughts please.

Regards

Geoff from Yorkshire

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Hi Geoff - welcome to the OO Garden Railway Forum!

Taking the layout outdoors is a good decision when you're short of space indoors. In fact I believe it's a good decision in any case as the trains look so much better under the natural conditions found in the garden. It's got it's drawbacks of course, namely the weather, but it's something we can generally work around.

Regarding gradients - are you saying that you need the track level to rise by 2 feet? If so then that's a hefty rise even if you had the full 53 feet length to play with. It would be far better to raise the track level if possible rather than introduce gradients. It's difficult to visualise without photos of the actual area available to you but from personal experience I would suggest you try to avoid any gradients. Can you include a sketch or photo showing why you need the gradient?

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Unfortunately, I am saying the difference is about 2 feet, I shall measure it exactly and include some photo's, if I can't achieve this rise, then obviously, I shall have only 26 feet to play with, raising the track in the bottom garden comes with its own problems, we have a rockery, the garden is L shaped so at the bottom, I can't raise the track, since this would hinder us walking round the side of the house.

I think I will have to experiment with engines pulling up a slope to access their pulling power.

Problem, problems

Regards

Geoff

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I built a gate into my garden area for my layout. It's a draw bridge/hinged lift up and is very simple. It worked very well for me. Others have done step up and over arrangements for dealing with this issue.

I would suggest that you just need to ponder it in the back of your mind and you will find the perfect solution for your particular situation.

Can we get pictures of the proposed layout area?

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Geoff, I would agree with others - do your darnedest to avoid any gradients. Unless you're a civil engineer by profession, you'll end up with gradients even if you try to build a completely level track, so you certainly don't want to be designing them into your layout.

I originally wanted to connect my garden railway into the garage, but it was going to involve 20 metres of track at 1 in 25 so I'm glad I decided against it (not just because I'd have had to have built a layout in the garage at the same time!).

So once you have a layout plan based on level track, you can think about a quick way of getting the rolling stock out onto the railway when the sun is shining. Using a portable sector plate or sidings on a plank (with sides and end-stops) may be OK, but does carry the risk of rolling stock being rocked off the track when being carried. Some people manage to use a strategically-sited shed for storage. I have my sets of coaches in bubblewrap in big cardboard boxes, which is fairly quick to set up. The locos get carried out individually - a Peco LocoLift is useful.

Good luck with your planning!

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Hi guys, well some good news, firstly a couple of miles from Wakey Ian, Just outside Bradford.

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Novice to garden railways, so I'm new in that sense.

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Spoken with our lass the other day, about having a picket fence( an idea traingeekboy gave me), so that I could raise the level of the track, an idea she wasn't fond of, however having bought her a book about feng shui in the garden(she does feng shui in the house), she wants to alter the garden somewhat, which is a good idea.

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The gradient I mentioned before will no longer be 2 feet, after we have altered the layout, i can get it to approximately 8 to 9 inches, which has made me an happy bunny, so no longer will there be a cutting from the top area, it has been lowered so it will come through a short tunnel onto a lowering viaduct, towards the rockery and around it, looping back to the other side, again up a slight embankment( 2 viaduct would not be good), into again a short tunnel( our lass wants the dwarf wall lowering, to accommodate some alpine flowers) and out onto the top area, where it will continue until it loops again to join the other side.

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I've posted a rough plan in the gallery, when we commence work on the pond, that's when I shall continue concreting the base into place, so as you see, there is some work to do, but hopefully we shall start in the next 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

.

Does that make sense.

Regards

Geoff

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A good decision to rethink the plan for a 2 feet gradient. I am sure that we would all just love to be able to have gradients on our layouts - I can think of nothing I'd like to see more than a loco hauling a heavy load up a nice steep bank but at 4mm scale it just isn't feasible with RTR components. I'm not going to say it's impossible because some loco's are heavy and capable but in general, without a lot of additional work, you'll encounter nothing but utter frustration with anything more than a very gentle gradient.

You might have read about Fungus' recent trials with the DCC Concepts 'Powerbase' system. This involves fitting a series of highly magnetic thin metal plates beneath the track and fitting a number of magnets beneath each of your locos. The idea is that this gives greater traction enabling locos to haul heavier loads up gradients. It would be relatively cheap to install and might be something you'd wish to consider before laying any track.

Roksee said:

...when we commence work on the pond....

Sounds familiar...... You'll be starting the railway layout some time in 2015 then :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for the image, not too hot with these items.

I have started on the inner walls in the garden, week end off(Sunday day of rest for me), re-start on Monday building the wall around the pond, then the inner wall, and the dwarf wall, if that makes sense, I know anyway.

So, a big question for me, I mentioned a 3 inch concrete base, I reckon 3 inches will be enough, due to the lack of weight.

I have made my forms for the base, they will be 12 inches wide to future proof, so I can eventually have 3 track, nicely separated.

Does anyone have any different opinion, to this depth, if so what are they.

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Hi,

Been a while since I posted. I've just bought 200 metres of powerbase steel to lay all around my garden. Reading reviews of it, the only negative point is that it's very hard to install retrospectively. My mainline has gradients no greater than 1.5 %, and there is a branch with a 35% gradient. I'll be installing powerbase throughout the whole layout because it doesn't only help with traction; but also with electrical pickup, which is a big deal on outdoor track. It's the cost of a loco plus wagons to lay the steel under all the track, and I need only fit the magnets on locos that struggle.

Next weekend is the big track laying weekend with my parents back up. I'll post some pictures soon.

On the subjet of gradients Rocksee, if you can't managed a raised section on the lower part of the garden, have you considered a helix? 2 Foot would involve at least two to three turns (depending on the size of the helix), but it's worth considering....

Cheers,

Pete.

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Hi Pete,

Thanks for the comments

I have considered helix, but not to keen on them, I have finished the garden now, trees have gone(due to them being dangerous, so no roots now, I have lowered the top garden to 12 inches which I am happy for, a friend will be helping me with the viaduct coming off the step-up which will then run onto a small embankment.

Looking at the gradients you mention, mine are within that so i am happy, the concrete will assist as it will mostly be self levelling.

looking forward to this, thanks for your help and assistance guys.

Geoff

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