A Garden Railway Pipedream: the odyssey continues

mickoo

Western Thunderer
View attachment 141549 View attachment 141544 View attachment 141545 View attachment 141546 View attachment 141547 View attachment 141548 View attachment 141550
Here are some photos that Allan took with his phone camera.They include unusual views and certainly give some idea of the scale of the garden line. Hope you like them.

You may notice from one shot that we did find time for snacks while watching trains go by !
(I will not repeat comments made about what was going on inside when folks noticed windows steamed up in one NG coach ! )

Steve
Tea and scones (best Devonshire of course) must be had, tis hard work this garden railway malarky :cool:
 

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Tea and scones (best Devonshire of course) must be had, tis hard work this garden railway malarky :cool:

Hi Mickoo,
I dream of tea & scones! Due to current restrictions we had to bring our own drinks & food, but come the glorious day...(Well, we can hope...!)
Steve
 

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Please may we have a video of the GCR engine at work?

Hi, Dog Star, I believe Allan is processing his videos at the moment. I look forward to them being shared in due course & hope that Jersey Lily features.
Meanwhile, I checked Richard's video posted here last Sunday, Jersey Lily is featured running there from about 0.58 seconds to 1 minute 40 secs.
Glad you like her, I'm pleased that she steamed well. She's a graceful, high stepping classy lady!
Our late friend and garden railway builder Clive particularly liked her and it's good to see her running here in memory of him & his work on this garden line.
Steve
 
Last edited:

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Well, today we had some sunshine in between the showers, so I took a photo of Witherslack Hall, painted & hand lined by Martin Sheridan.
Hope you like it, they say a picture is worth a thousand words...(she's posing in a warm greenhouse!)
SteveView attachment 134674


Well, today Tim, Allan & I went to the Severn Valley Spring Steam Spectacular and saw a very special 12inches to the foot Hall, Raveningham Hall. It put up a very powerful and impressive performance. When I run Witherslack Hall in future I am sure I will be reminded of what we saw today. Hope you like the photosPhoebe Mar 2021 032.JPG .
Steve Phoebe Mar 2021 011.JPG
 
Last edited:

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Noahs Ark Zoo & Lamberts 036.JPG Noahs Ark Zoo & Lamberts 024.JPG We had a very busy day yesterday adjusting the levels on Richard's line as Allan had brought his 'proper' surveyor's equipment. We knew there had been some movement in the last couple of years due to adjacent tree roots. Sure enough adjustment was needed, but not a difficult job as the scaffolding equipment was threaded and designed for adjustment. Meanwhile work started making formers for the long awaited bridge on the lower part of the line. Afterwards, in the afternoon sun, we found time for running, including Richard's 16mm Roundhouse Taliesin and Brian's Merchant Navy on a long 21 wagon freight, as requested by Allan. Good to see the Prairie also on freight duties ! Richard served cake , which is always appreciated!
SteveNoahs Ark Zoo & Lamberts 022.JPG Noahs Ark Zoo & Lamberts 023.JPG
 
Last edited:

AJC

Western Thunderer
35024 - Well, Bullied did designate them as mixed traffic locos!
Looks idyllic.
Dave.

Quite - there's a lovely (if scarcely believable) Mike Esau picture of one shunting Axminster goods yard and I've always been amused by the thought of such a beast working the associated pick-up goods...

Adam
 

isambardme

Western Thunderer
Great to see you up and running again with visitors. I particularly liked the Radial and Merchant Navy. Bit concerned that the narrow gauge consist lost a coach - was it carried off by a crow or buzzard?

Well spotted that man! Over the last year or so there has been a little track/baseboard movement, as often happens in garden lines. The offending 16mm long wheelbase 4 wheeler was unceremoniously removed by the 'Hand in the Sky' as it couldn't cope with a minor track issue. As it happens, my long w/b four wheel 16mm brake coach also had some issues with the track at the same place. Once home it was given a good talking to & some sheet lead was glued above each axle. It subsequently behaved perfectly on it's last outing!
The track has since had some work done. Among other heavy duty tools, a chainsaw was used for a different area under a large tree whose roots had moved the backerboard upwards, up to 20mm in one spot , according to Allan's surveying equipment!
It's hard work at times on the garden railway chain gang! There's more to do to complete the track rectification. Then there's the bridge project...
The tree is forgiven as it's shade is very welcome on hot days. It prevents us passing out from exhaustion!
So it's not all tea & cakes, honest!
Steve
 
Last edited:

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Hi,

We have now started serious work on the viaduct at the bottom of the garden, where the railway is at its highest above ground level. It will be a McAlpine concrete poured viaduct.

The unbalasted section shown in the pictures shows where the viaduct is to go. It was scheduled for last spring, but that went by the board.

P1010418a.jpg

P1010417a.jpg

We spent a lot of time deliberating the construction - as in could we build it round the existing baseboard and supports, but we felt it would be quicker and look better if we did it from the ground up. There will be 9 arches, and the viaduct will be about 16ft long, subject to final survey.

Brian organised 2 steel formers so we could cut whatever material we were using accurately.

P1010413a.jpg

I was given some insulated metal panels which would give rigidity to the outer formers:

P1010411a.jpg

P1010412a.jpg

and we used offcuts of foam insulation sheets to make the overall width up to 32cm. All held together with 'No More Nails' or similar. The 10mm threaded rods ensures alignment and that it stays together while the glue is setting.

P1010419a.jpg

P1010420a.jpg

P1010421a.jpg

P1010422a.jpg

From here we shall make sure the outer formers are all at the right height etc, then use expanding foam to fill the gap in the middle. This will be trimmed across the formers when dry, and we shall glue some damp proof membrane round the arch in the hope that we will be able to release it from the concrete......that's the plan. We have made 5 sets of formers so aim to do 2 pours, 5 arches and 4 arches respectively

Richard
 

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
Well, the sun shone on us again on Wednesday, and we were able to progress the formers.

The idea of using expanding foam to fill the gap between the outer formers, while messy and sticky, worked well.

P1010425a.jpg

P1010426a.jpg

This was one of two that had been done the previous week. A saw was used to cut off the excess foam, and a good line was obtained by using the 2 outer formers, and shaving a little bit off at a time.

P1010427a.jpg

P1010430a.jpg

It remains to fill any dips and voids with polyfilla before attaching the DPM.

Current state of play is 3 formers are foamed up and the remaining 2 are trimmed and being filled, So the plan is on schedule to do the construction work towards the end of June when we hope to have a couple of weeks of good weather.

Richard
 

isambardme

Western Thunderer
A fantastic day in the garden today.

Inaugural run of the 'Shits and Giggles Express'.

View attachment 143730

Richard


Here are some more photos of the day's live steam running. Apparently Richard had finished off one of the red 16mm FR miners coaches (more like vans)006.JPG 005.JPG 012.JPG that morning before we all arrived. (Who said deadlines focus the mind ! ).
Richard Spoors German Aster ran very well, he even sat on what we are coming to call the platform, raised slightly above the path, watching his train make it's way effortlessly around the line from a cunningly designed shady spot.
Allan has suggested we put a station sign on one of the wooden buildings behind the platform.

Anyway, hope you like the shot that shows Richard's prototypical FR 'last vehicle' sign!
Allan's Adam's Radial Tank put in some good runs, it looked very graceful in the welcome sunshine.

My Tom Barratt Hall ran well for half an hour, I also sat for a while on a station platform seat, watching her run steadily by with a lovely exhaust beat.
A very good time was had by all.
Steve
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top