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Leasingham Poacher


shaung75
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shaung75 said:

Thanks pppp, I like that idea of having a loop there and will probably go for that as Phase 1 to get something up and running quickly, and then extend it to the original plan as time and money allow.

Here is a quick track plan. - http://i.imgur.com/M1O7Qiv.jpg

I started out around this time last year so I am not an expert and learning all the time.

My one big mistake was when I was making the corners on my layout, I cut the lines equally. If I had cut them not level it would have avoided kinks at the joins and derailments.

example photo - http://oogardenrailway.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=14408#p14408

Take your time and get it right, once a garden layout is down it would be a lot of work to move it.

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Oh, and as a footnote Andrew, please ensure any pics you take are correctly orientated or you will never live it down!!!! Haha!! I didn't fall ( honestly!!!) Lol! I'm sure you'll find everyone on here has a fantastic sense of humour and will do their best to help wherever possible mate. Oh, and be sure to keep it to yourself if you attempt to amputate your finger with a dewalt jigsaw!! Haha!! You forgot that one enginedriver!!

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Mick said:

If Shaun doesn't see the above suggestion in time then there's a good chance he'll have boards set in place around the garden already!

Sadly I don't share your optimism, our garden is like a limestone quarry underneath the lawn and the last time I had to dog a hole for a post it took over 4 hours! I'm hoping it's just down the bottom end of the garden rather than the whole plot as I don't remember any issues when planting the trees. The posts are the one part of the project I'm really not looking forward to.

Feeling ill, tired from lack of sleep and waiting in for the Indesit engineer bloke meant progress was slow today. I was hoping to have the patio extended level with the sandpit/office with decking by the end of the day but just sorting the ground and cutting the timber to length ruined me! Should be a quick job putting it together in the morning though and then onto hole digging.

Joy

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No, You FELL! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

I didn't mention the jigsaw because as it happens' I err, well,..... I err........ managed to err........ well you know,........ plane the end off my finger yesterday with my Bosch electric plane!! :shock::shock::shock::shock:

Luckily I was wearing some gloves but that said there was blood everywhere :shock:

Her indoors was at work and only the kids were in, so basically I was on my own, trailing blood all over the place looking for the sticking plasters :lol: anyway I eventually found some in the first aid kit that I keep in my workshop, only thing was................ plasters weren't doing it :shock: so three plasters later and blood still pi**ing out, I thought "now what?" ............So looking round I saw some ........masking tape! the sort we use at work really good stuff! that stopped it! :lol::lol::lol:

While all this was going on the mrs rang as she does, and I mentioned to her that I was have a small crisis at the moment and she went into a flap and said "what are you going to do?" (I think she meant going to A+E) but I said that once I had stopped the leak I was going to finish planing the door! :lol::lol::lol::lol: She wasn't amused. :lol::lol::lol::lol:

It's a bit sore today though :lol:

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Well that's it, unless I can get hold of some more postcrete tomorrow construction will come to an end. It's bitter sweet, I haven't managed as much as I'd hoped due to feeling rough, but also pretty chuffed with what I've achieved. I'm starting to get a better visual in my head now as to how it will look.

Seeing how high out of the ground the last post is (about a 1/4 of the way to the shed), the height at which the track enters the shed looks as though it will be about a foot higher than I first thought. This will be good as it'll still be low enough to have a workbench over the layout, but high enough to be able to sit on a chair rather than kneeling.

Stuff I've learnt:

1) I miss spending time out doors - ironic when I work for the Wildlife Trusts!

2) Postcrete is brilliant stuff

3) It appears the garden is a limestone quarry throughout

4) I hate limestone

I really hate limestone...

20160226_162928.jpg.0535ee32b6b3dd7de0a36b3340c16061.jpg

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I have come into this whole thing a bit green - I massively underestimated how much this was all going to cost in both time and money when I first started.

Well, to be fair, if I stick with what I had in my head then it'll still be the same (a loop around the garden with a fiddle yard in the shed), but now getting deeper into it I want to add in additional points, electrofrogs and automation so now need to include polarity switchers, accessory decoders and motors - all adding to the cost.

So, the plan has now had a bit of a revision and I've broken it up into phases. The reason for me doing this is I don't want to attempt to do the whole thing in one go, get disheartened when all that's happening is hard work and expense (added to the fact that no trains are running), and give up. Breaking it down like this allows me to have trains running right from the end of Phase 1, with additional phases then being expansions to the original layout.

Phase 3[/b]

Add posts and run the track around the rest of the garden and join up the outer track with the shed section

Phase 4

Convert the shed fiddle yard into the original plan to allow for two line running.

Phase 5

Install "point" motors and decoders to the layout.

So that's the plan in a nutshell, hopefully achievable this time! Now that construction has started I may have to start a new thread in the 'Members Garden Railways' section but I've been putting that off as a) it'll mean things are getting real, and b) I've yet to come up with a name for the line. I have a feeling though that as the majority of initial locos are going to be from the Hornby Thomas and Friends range and the station being based on Edward's Station, it'll have something to do with Sodor :)

revisedplan.jpg

 

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It's a wise decision to build in phases or, if you're like me, in annual terms :oops:

It's all too easy to underestimate the amount of work required in order to provide a suitable base for your layout, not to mention the time needed to complete it and most importantly, the costs of so doing.

I've had some fun times running trains back and forth along my completed sections but it's not the same as being able to sit back and watch them running round. If you can't get some enjoyment from what you've been doing then interest will quickly wane and before you know it the whole project will be abandoned. So yes, start with a small 'phase' and by building a circular section you will at least have somewhere to run some trains.

Looking at your plans, if it was me and I was looking to get something up and running quickly, I think I would have decided to have a circular section in the shed itself with an outdoor running line as a simple plain return loop. That's not to say my idea is any better but that's just what I feel I would do. In fact it reminds me of another layout we had featured on the forum some time ago but which hasn't been updated for some time 'http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=498' rel="external nofollow">The Oakdale Valley Garden Railway'. This one ran from a garden shed, along the side of a garden, around a return loop and back to the shed. In your case something like that would be less complicated and perhaps easier/quicker to get something running.

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Thanks Mick

mick said:

I think I would have decided to have a circular section in the shed itself with an outdoor running line as a simple plain return loop

It did cross my mind to do it that way; have a dog bone layout with one loop in the shed, run up along the fence, follow the loop as per design in phase 1 (without points), and then run back down to the shed as a double line. However the cost difference (in both time and money) wouldn't make much difference as there is a lot of junk in the shed that needs sorting out and the shed needs a few repairs (mainly a new roof) before I would be happy to have models in there.

I've opted to go with the phases that were planned initially so that I can look forward to having a long mainline installed for when I get bored watching them loop around the small section, and so that I can have a bit of operational interest and 'play trains' at the station when I fancy having a bit of a break :)

Having a think over the weekend I've decided that I'm going to be using DCC right from the start now. A quick back of a napkin sketch (see below) to show the polarities showed that reversers would be needed when it comes to upgrading to DCC. I also want to make life easier and wire up at the point of laying track, so my thinking is to wire once and wire correctly from the start. Hope that made sense!

 

dcc.jpg

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I'm still not sure about phase one Shaun. For outdoor use it just looks too complicated to me and is going to require some electronic modules that will need protecting from the elements. I've found that less is always better when constructing an outdoor layout. The fewer points you can get away with the less trouble you'll have. I've never used reversing modules to change track polarity as I'd sooner avoid the need altogether, but are they something that can be disconnected and brought indoors for safety? I lost a 'Frog Juicer' that I left connected up last winter due to the damp so I'm aware how delicate these things can be outdoors.

When I built my first layout, which was in the form of a figure of eight, I built the first circular section and then used a few old planks and boards to build a temporary section to join the two ends up until I had built the remainder of the layout. This allowed me to run trains continuously in a loop. I would look again at phase 1 and see if you can simplify it in order to run a single train. Think about a temporary structure at the shed or opposite end in order to have a complete loop if that's what you want. Even a simple end to end is fun to operate outdoors and you'll have opportunities to expand further later on.

I wonder what others think? Am I being overly cautious?

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I don't think you're being overly cautious Mick and I have to agree that even being able to run a few 'back and forth' trains can be a huge morale boost! :D:D I think most of us new to the hobby welcome the advice from, shall we say, 'seasoned' modellers. I've found it fantastic to be able to run a few trains up and down my 3 lines, which a well as keeping interest up, has also helped me iron out any problems so I don't continue to make any mistakes I've made on the rest of the railway. :lol::lol: A case in point being 1 bend I had which looked good but my Mallard kept derailing on. Just removing 2 track pins either side and gently 'relieving' the bend cured it. I honestly think that 99.9% of us that decide on a garden railway come into the hobby with illusions of grandeur , so to speak, without giving track cleaning, effects of weather, etc a second thought so I'm sure I speak for us all when I say please do continue to advise. Oh, and Shawn! ! SLOW DOWN!!! You're making the rest of us look slow!!! :lol::lol::lol: Regards. Mark

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