My first garden railway...

[Gavin Sowry]

Just how on earth did you get an armchair into that shed? Anyway it can't be a shed as it looks like my wifes handbag

My wife's got a handbag just like that, too......

 

[voodoopenguin]

The PIGSEAR lives!!! OK, it's in a very basic form but the sun was shining and I had done a lot of earthmoving in the last week and felt I deserved to see some action. The circle of track on the video is not where the line will be but as I pan round you can see a larger squarish area where one end of the dogbone will be and then panning round further there will be another large area in the other corner behind the shed for the other end. Later spurs will hopefully enter the shed at one end and go off to the left at the other.

It's a start!

Paul

PIGSEAR Norfolk

 

[voodoopenguin]

It's been a while since the last update, amazing how things take longer than expected! Still no track permanently laid but today some track was put down to see where plants might fit. Only half the raised bed has been made but after shifting about two tons of earth some planting could be done.

That will be a small pond in the middle. Holly is planted in the corner which will hopefully grow to disguise the fence with a little under cutting to accommodate the trains. the two track ends will continue across the back to another loop in the other corner. Very simple layout but hopefully it will then get extended. One spur might head in to my shed and another head down the left side of the garden to a station near the house.

Paul

 

[beavercreek]

Coming along very sweetly Paul.

 

[stockers]

Looking good. Holly might turn out to be a bit ambitious in that corner!

 

[voodoopenguin]

Holly might turn out to be a bit ambitious in that corner!

I will have to keep it in check, I know. My hope is it will make a kind of tunnel if cut right. Not too long I can't reach in but if major work is needed it can be hard pruned and then allowed to grow again. Planting three together might be interesting, one I know is female as it has berries so I'm hoping at least one of the others is male. Being a new estate there might not be another holly for some distance.

Paul

 

[PhilP]

Holly is pretty slow-growing, so should be OK for some time..

Would love to get a female, all the self-seeds from next door appear to be male, though I am not sure how old they have to be before they have berries?? - I am leaving them as long as possible..

Holly does not seem to move very well either..

 

[voodoopenguin]

It's been far too long since my last update due to a lot of activity away from the garden meaning less time in the garden but finally the raised bed is built and the soil topped off with three tons of pea shingle. Very few plants at the moment, waiting to see where the final layout will be. In the centre of the loop where those obelisks are I will be planting a silver birch. The other end loop is still going to be a pond. I like the way that gentle movement of the track really beds it quite firmly into the gravel. There will be a point off the far end which will head into the railway shed which can just be seen on the right in the first photo.

Paul

 

[dunnyrail]

It's been far too long since my last update due to a lot of activity away from the garden meaning less time in the garden but finally the raised bed is built and the soil topped off with three tons of pea shingle. Very few plants at the moment, waiting to see where the final layout will be. In the centre of the loop where those obelisks are I will be planting a silver birch. The other end loop is still going to be a pond. I like the way that gentle movement of the track really beds it quite firmly into the gravel. There will be a point off the far end which will head into the railway shed which can just be seen on the right in the first photo.

Paul

You certainly have done a lot Paul but classic error with the Yuka? The stem will certainly thicken out over time meaning that the track may need to be slewed, left will not cut the mustard on that (too close to the fence) but you have plenty of space to the right. Suggest that you leave out planting any big stuff in that area just in case!

 

[Gavin Sowry]

but classic error with the Yuka?

I'll second that, from experience, both mine, and others.
But, on the whole, nice work, particularly tidy. I like.

 

[voodoopenguin]

I understand the concern with yuccas having had them in previous gardens however the plant in the photo looks similar but is not one. Forgotten the name for the moment but we also had them in previous gardens and their rate of growth and final size will be fine. I was probably going to remove the rearmost stem anyway. The long straights near to the fence will probably change but I do want some parts of the line to disappear behind some undergrowth.

All my track was second hand and I was a little concerned about how black the long straights were however I pushed the sections together and with no cleaning at all a test train ran the full length. It was hesitant on just one short straight halfway round so I wiped it with a damp cloth and all was well.

Paul

 

[Rhinochugger]

I understand the concern with yuccas having had them in previous gardens however the plant in the photo looks similar but is not one. Forgotten the name for the moment but we also had them in previous gardens and their rate of growth and final size will be fine. I was probably going to remove the rearmost stem anyway. The long straights near to the fence will probably change but I do want some parts of the line to disappear behind some undergrowth.

All my track was second hand and I was a little concerned about how black the long straights were however I pushed the sections together and with no cleaning at all a test train ran the full length. It was hesitant on just one short straight halfway round so I wiped it with a damp cloth and all was well.

Paul

Yeah, it's a Dracena - can be cut / pruned after a fashion. Should be OK

Don't fret - the railway can always be developed around it

 

[dunnyrail]

I do agree that it is nice to have a bit of a hide and seek part of the Railway. My choice would be a small leafed Box, Lonicera or Hebe all of which are easily trimmed to shape if they get a little wayward.

 

[voodoopenguin]

I do agree that it is nice to have a bit of a hide and seek part of the Railway. My choice would be a small leafed Box, Lonicera or Hebe all of which are easily trimmed to shape if they get a little wayward.

Good suggestions, we like hebes so they were on the shopping list. I have some box in pots taken from a small hedge my daughter wanted removed from her garden. On my list for today is a Daphne so winter train running will be accompanied by gorgeous perfume. Not the smell of live steam but more appreciated by my wife.

Paul

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I'd find a way around the S curve you created by putting 2 curves of opposite direction next to each other. Maybe you will say you will never run long cars, but an "S" curve is never good.

Greg

 

[voodoopenguin]

Another gap of 5-6 weeks but today saw the laying down of the final circuit variation, I think this is it for now. All curves on the main line are R2. All track had been dipped for a few hours in dilute brick acid as recommended here and it works a treat. All fishplates have been given a squeeze and all track joints had the protective but conductive grease applied. As also recommended here I have eliminated all S sections putting at least 1' but usually more between reverse curves. There is an R3 point on the right in the distance which for the moment feeds a siding but later will head off into the shed which can just be seen far right. Out of sight bottom left is an R1 point, the straight part is on the main circuit. This is also a siding for the moment but will later be extended down the side of the garden towards the house ending in a small terminus with run round loop. The joy of laying direct on loose gravel is I can easily adjust and adapt. That R1 point might get changed for an R3 and neighbouring track wiggled to accommodate.

The gravel looks a bit bare but there is selection of plants waiting in pots for this moment so the ground should soon be populated. I need to work out the best place to have a controller although I'm wondering about having at least two covered sockets where I can plug in the controls.

Paul

 

[voodoopenguin]

Almost two years since the last update to this so what has happened in that time? To the PIGSEAR it will be obvious that very little progress has been made and I will say in my defence that in the last two years there have been not one, not two but three grand children arriving so we have been a bit distracted.

A few weeks ago I lifted all the track as once again the ground had settled. I knew it would do that but hopefully this will be the last time as my days of carting a ton of pea shingle from the front to the back are over (hopefully). I took the opportunity of putting a few more plants in and today I put all the track back and tested it, hurray!

At the moment I have put the track back as a straightforward dogbone circuit with no points. At the beginning I made a mistake (well several) and that was I decided to go with R2 curves as I didn't want any R1 outside and I didn't think there was room for R3 as it has to be a garden as well. It was only later I found out that LGB don't make R2 points and R3 points don't even have the same degree of turn. I was hoping to replace one of the curves at each end with a point to send off to future extensions. I'll figure something out later and the joy of loose laying on the pea shingle is that alterations are relatively quick and easy.

I have been impressed at how good the LGB track is. It is all second hand and when I first laid it I gave it a good clean and put some sort of grease that had been recommended in all fishplates. No clamps and I have never had any problem with the electrics in the two years despite there being only one track feed. A quick wipe over and some more of that grease and the track I laid today worked perfectly.

Hopefully there will be more developments soon.

Paul

 

[voodoopenguin]

Over three years since the last update. If this video I took today is compared with previous ones it will be seen that PIGSEAR has not grown however all the planting around it has. Much fun has been had, especially with the grandchildren, on what is just a single dogbone circuit with up to three trains circling at once, two r/c and one track powered.

The growth of the vegetation means that maintenance has increased and again there has been settling of the raised bed I created for it so I have been thinking. The thinking is heading me towards a complete change involving raising the track off the ground and not restricting it to the raised bed. Briefly shown in the video is my railway shed and although the line will probably still run along the back fence it won't return the same way but go round the outside of the shed. This will give a vaguely rectangular circuit (obviously with rounded corners!) and a run of at least 40% more length. I wondered whether to have it at the height of the bench in the shed but am now leaning towards a lower level and storage sidings on a shelf below the main bench. There is just the one entrance to the far end of the garden and we always thought a gate might be put there. The plan would be for a lift out bridge to span the gap.



The line having gone round the shed would come in from the right side between the trellis and shed, cross the gap and continue along the trellis before turning back towards the raised bed. All this would be much easier to visualise with a plan so that is my next job.

Wish me luck and hopefully the next update will be in days/weeks and not years!

Paul

PS As it will be a new railway it will need a new name, how about The Pig's Other Ear?

 

[voodoopenguin]

Only eleven days since the last entry here, that's good for me.

So I managed to do a couple of rough plans showing what is there at the moment and what I hope for the future. The yellow cross hatched section is the raised bed I put in with the idea of the garden railway. The ground does rise up a bit at the back so a raised bed makes sense even without a railway. The track is laid loose on the gravel top dressing and the line weaves through the various plants.




Onto the proposed new layout. This will run round the edge of the available area with a spur off to a station area against the railway shed and another spur that heads into the shed to storage sidings. The line will be higher than the existing one and I will take my level from the shelf in the shed. Also shown is a possible extension that heads back towards the house along the boundary. There might also be a passing loop along the back fence. This layout will need a lift out bridge at the entrance to this area of the garden.






All existing curves are R2 but hopefully I can use R3s on the new line. I have checked that there is plenty of room at that corner with the shed. The new design won't give me the meandering look I had before but should allow longer trains without the worry of derailment. The station and the storage sidings will give me the ability to send a train from one distinct area to another.

As I will be working from the spur into the shed outwards I will still be able to run trains on the old line while building the new.

Wish me luck.

Paul

 

[Brixham]

Looks good to me. You could still have a meandering line following the front of the raised bed, with your old R2 curves.
IMPORTANT! Interlock track power with the bridge in position!

Simplest may be to have isolators some 4 feet each side of the bridge, and feed power at the bridge, which then livens up the dead sections. No bridge? No power!


We shall enjoy watching your progress.

Malcolm