1/32 Gauge 1. Hollywater line.

[Keith Phillips]

That looks like a perfect way to spend an afternoon . Trains trundling by while you work in the sunshine, has to be the best way to get on with the garden chores.
Keith

 

[Dave Bowden]

That looks like a perfect way to spend an afternoon . Trains trundling by while you work in the sunshine, has to be the best way to get on with the garden chores.
Keith

Yesterday was running on the outside track, the next dry day with a bit of sun I’ll test out the inside track, maybe with a few more Wagons.
Dave

 

[TheaJ]

Dear Keith, it's been inspiring reading through your posts this evening - to see the photographic journey of your garden railway! Many thanks, Thea

 

[Keith Phillips]

Dear Keith, it's been inspiring reading through your posts this evening - to see the photographic journey of your garden railway! Many thanks, Thea

You're very welcome. I hope that you find other threads on here helpful and inspiring. Welcome to the Forum and I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Kind regards,

Keith

 

[Keith Phillips]

The Company have made a start on the Down platform Waiting Shelter. GWR colours have been applied and it is looking very smart. Still have the glazing to install and some detailing to do.

Painted with Vallejo Acrylics using brush and airbrush.

Model Air 71.027 Light Brown to represent GWR Stone 1
Model Color 70.981 Orange Brown to represent GWR Stone 3
Model Color 70.951 White
Model Color 70.822 German Cam Black Brown and Model Color 70.981 mixed 1:2 makes a nice chocolate brown for the bench.
Panzer Aces 306 Dark Rubber for the roof.







The roof will be fixed on properly once I've finished the painting, glazing and varnishing.

All the best,

Keith

 

[cbrailways]

Is that Mr. (I'm free) Humphries standing there......

 

[Keith Phillips]

Is that Mr. (I'free) Humphries standing there......

There is a resemblance. Not the look I had intended.

 

[Keith Phillips]

Small GTG on Easter Saturday brought a good variety of loco's out to play on the line. Really great to see everyone that was able to come along.

The weather stayed dry but it was pretty cool in the easterly breeze. I hope there will be lots more running sessions to come now. The Easter egg mines managed to keep everyone supplied for the duration of the running too.



I am expecting delivery of some hedging this weekend which will keep me out of mischief for a while. The Treasurer has hinted that it is about time those ugly scaffold poles started to disappear. A few trips to the garden centre will bring in the necessary specimens to achieve this goal and help naturalise the look a bit more. More on this once I get started on it.

The fine weather has given me lots of chances to get out and run trains outside. The line is still performing really well and I can set a train running and forget about it without fear of derailments. The running of live steam will be a bit more 'hands on' which will be engrossing in a different way. I can safely say that the garden railway has been a worthwhile addition to my life and I look forward to many years running trains around the garden.

Aside from the horticultural challenges, my thoughts are turning to buildings and platforms to compliment the waiting shelter. This years budget is allocated to the 43xx live steam loco which is on order but I hope to begin next year with either a main station building or perhaps decent platforms. Time will tell.

All the best,

Keith.

 

[Keith Phillips]

While I am still trying to get over this blasted Covid, I have had time to sit back and watch the trains go by.

All the best,

Keith

 

[Keith Phillips]

Almost a year since posting an update. How very remiss of me. It's not that I have not meant to, it is just that the Long Covid has made my life a lot more difficult to manage. Even the simplest everyday things have been a strain and so sitting down and marshalling my thoughts for long enough to make a post has been beyond me. I'm still on the mend but the hospital are putting me on the right track

I'm here now and thought I would show the progress made on the horticultural side of things.



The 'Lonicera' planted under the approach to the station area went in last year. There were a few casualties, partly due to the poor quality of the plants and partly due to the dog making new pathways through the undergrowth.



The older 'Lonicera' and the Yew planted at the beginning of the project continue to grow up nicely and are starting to obscure the scaffold pole supports. I hope that this continues and so soon there will be a railway within a garden rather than one dropped on to it.

More to follow soon.

All the best

Keith

 

[Dave Bowden]

You can come and do the same on my Railway any time you like Keith.
All the best
Dave

 

[Keith Phillips]

Over a year since any activity on this thread or indeed on Western Thunder.

I've been battling with my Long Covid for all this time, trying to get well enough to return to work on the old 1:1 stuff. I did succeed in achieving this aim but I couldn't last for more than a couple of months before my symptoms returned with gusto. So now I'm off of driving and waiting for medicals to see if I can do another job with the company or if it's a very early retirement. Either way I have a bit more time to devote to the Hollywater Railway.

Trouble is it needs A LOT OF WORK

The last winter and the 'permafrost' we experienced here has meant that virtually all the baseboards have de-laminated. The trackwork is fine and some areas of ballast have survived well but sections of baseboard have lifted off or dropped off. I can pin down some of the troublesome areas where the track has too much 'spring' and coaches derail, so as to get it all running again. It is a bit frustrating but I have learned a great deal about the railway, the layout, the weather and the horticulture surrounding it.



The rebuilt line will have this knowledge taken on board and will give me and my guest runners even more enjoyment. Track removal will begin at the end of this year and then the baseboards will come up at the start of next year. In the meantime I will enjoy running a little more carefully and look to the future.

All the best to you all and I'm glad to be back.

Keith

 

[Mike W]

I don't understand. I am planning to use Hardie backerboard myself as it is permanent with no maintenance whatsoever. What has gone wrong?

After posting the above I re-read your message - didn't pick up the severity of your Covid issue the first time. Really sorry to hear this and hope it will improve, given time.

Mike

 

[michael mott]

Sorry to hear about your health issues Keith. Here in Alberta we have to deal with the extremes of weather all the time, so I understand your frustration with the damage caused by climate conditions. I only have a small dogbone loop but had to go through a complete rebuild the second year as I went about it all wrong the first time. Now I’m just trying to complete the ballast a little bit at a time. Good luck with your recovery and rebuild.
Michael

 

[mswjr]

when i had a garden railway, all the marine outdoor ply it was built on, just de laminated , it cost a lot of money too, I see a lot of gauge one tracks at model engineering clubs now use, the stuff you use in the bottom of trailers now, I think it is called phenolic ply, I have been told this is great. Though if i ever did it again i think i would use some sort of plastic.

 

[40057]

I was involved in building a gauge 1 line in a friend’s garden many years ago. Marine ply was used in some sections and only lasted a few years before it fell apart. I know of another line nearby where the marine ply only lasted two winters.

I would be extremely distrustful of the various guaranteed building products. Being wet in a building is not the same as being wet then exposed to hard frost. Repeated freeze/thaw cycles are pretty tough on baseboards.

The line in the friend’s garden was rebuilt using off-cuts from the roof beams for a house extension. These are two to three inches thick treated timber. Probably much thicker than really necessary and would have been an expensive baseboard if the timber had been bought specially for the purpose. But still solid after many years of use.

 

[David Waite]

Hi Keith
I have just been reading through your post great work, the supports for your railway are certainly going to be there for years to come its a shame about the delaminating of the tops, in the photos of Dave Bowden's garden layout that he posted I noticed there is some sort of covering protecting the tops perhaps this would be a solution what ever it is, my only thoughts could it be Malthoid?
David.

 

[Dave Bowden]

Thanks for the Railway mention David. My Railway is covered with two layers of torch on felt, the first layer is a smooth one over lapping the sides and felt nailed down. The second layer is a light mineral one torched on folded over and felt nailed down.
The main boards are 3/4” thick laid across ways, ie two feet wide. This is how it had been made prior to me buying it and it had been outside in a retired vicar’s garden for over 10yrs. I did have to replace some of the boards before setting it up in my garden. So far it has been up and running for 4yrs with no signs of wear. I haven’t ballasted any of the Railway yet as the mineral felt does have a sort of ballast effect.

I was sorry to see the amount of damage to your layout Keith and I feel for you. I hope you have some friends locally who will come and help you when you decide to make a start on the rebuilding.
DaveB

 

[Keith Phillips]

Many thanks to you all for your kind wishes and for the suggestions for the baseboards.

As far as what went wrong, I can only think that the coat of masonry paint stopped the boards from 'breathing' and expelling any moisture they might absorb. We live in a Cob house and I know how important the use of lime products are on it to allow the moisture that gets in to be able to escape again. I surmise that the trapped moisture froze and forced the boards apart.

Having said that though, the SBR that holds the ballast in place will also form a moisture barrier. I really don't know what caused it. Maybe it was the Pixies that plague my garden. Every time I buy a new plant for the garden it's a battle to keep it alive/in the ground/or to not be eaten. Yes, the more I think about it, it has to be Pixies .

As Mr. 40057 suggests, it might be better to consider a solid wood rather than a ply. We have a company in our village that makes preformed wooden houses so I guess they would know a thing or two about outdoor wooden structures.

I did build a Summerhouse for Mrs. Phillips (just before I asked if I could have a garden railway ), and that is still standing. The roof was made of a compressed wood board and that is only covered with roofing felt and the adhesive for it. Granted, it does have a pitch that my railway will never have, but it seems to work so it must be possible.

I'm starting to ramble a bit now so I'll sign off.

All the best,

Keith

 

[Mike W]

Thank you Keith.

My experience of marine ply is not on baseboards but full size carriage beading and paneling. I bought Mahogany-faced BS1088 Marine Ply rather than the ply stocked by the local merchants who said "all our ply is exterior quality" which was not what I asked. Anyway, an offcut of the 3/8in thick marine ply stood in my garden completely untreated for over ten years with no deterioration at all, except for slight warping.

I've asked around about Hardie board and responses varied from somebody in Yorkshire where it was painted with household oil paint and has been in use for baseboards for 16 years without any problem (that would probably see me out!). At the other end of the spectrum, at a track in Cumbria it was coated with bitumastic and coal dust, but fell apart after just one winter.

I'm still confused - bring back sheet asbestos!

Mike