Cogges Railway 2 - Track Sketch

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CoggesRailway

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Currently my railway is a double track around the entire garden, passing behind my shed and through my garage. At the bottom is some sidings and a loop. The garden is split into two with a veg garden at the end. The lawn area is designed for small kids to play and this is why the track runs in mortar at this point. I have decided to abandon veg growing and the Mrs wants the lawn to be made longer to allow more running as the kids get older. Negotiations have resulted in me having a strip up the right hand side up to 7 feet wide. Not the whole way down - the aim is to have a curving properly blocked edge between the railway and the lawn, maiking strimming easy. My current plan is to keep the layout as is, but repalce the tool bunker at the bottom corner with a quarry 18 inches or so high, and build a quarry railway, with steep gradients. There would be a loop at the bottom to leave trains for the main line and a track configuration to allow mainline to be mixed into the quarry line or to run three seperate lines - inner outer and quarry.

Money and time mean this is not happening that soon but I want to be sure I have this right so sharing here. I would probably aim for an open day launch in autumn 13. As much input as possible please. Obviously the sktech is not to scale- I sat up in bed and did it last night. The quarry line would be a steep incline with a level r1 loop at each end- probably for battery operation only:
As is now:
railwayupstairs.jpg

Current thinking:
trackplan.jpg
 
Looks good Ian, it would allow for some more varied running too.
If it was me I would use a couple of Maasoth reverse loop units to allow track power as well to the quarry tho.
 
A steep incline. not unlike the unintended one then.

I know you like the railway but the fact you have moved your bed to the bottom right hand corner is taking it a bit far, or is that where the other half is going to make you sleep for getting rid of the veg patches.

Looks like a good idea. If you need any back breaking labour, give me a shout........ I'll send the wife down.

I like the village valley, make sure its well drained though.
 
Have you measured where the bottom loop will come to Ian? I know from experience that, even if they're R1, it might be surprising how much of the new lawn it'll take up - especially allowing room for the 2 running lines and the passing loop (ie 3 track widths plus the loop).
 
yb281 said:
Have you measured where the bottom loop will come to Ian? I know from experience that, even if they're R1, it might be surprising how much of the new lawn it'll take up - especially allowing room for the 2 running lines and the passing loop (ie 3 track widths plus the loop).
Click to expand...

Yes this would be the widest bit and will intrude the most into the lawn about 7 feet from the fence- I am going to lay it out with a hosepipe and have a look. I know what you mean but after the loop the lawn will widen until the rocky ridge upon which the line will ascend to the quarry. I think you are right that the sketch convieniently underestimates the width of the loop!
 
Looks to me that you're gaining more real estate for your rails. Is that your plan :laugh:
 
As well as the area required for R1 curves, have you considered the incline from the lower loop, to rise over your mainline and into the quarry?

Might be a little steep....
 
Gizzy said:
As well as the area required for R1 curves, have you considered the incline from the lower loop, to rise over your mainline and into the quarry?

Might be a little steep....
Click to expand...
Yes, good point Giz. I reckon it would need to start climbing pretty much as soon as it left the bottom loop Ian rather than running level with the lawn marked as a tramway.
 
yb281 said:
Gizzy said:
As well as the area required for R1 curves, have you considered the incline from the lower loop, to rise over your mainline and into the quarry?

Might be a little steep....
Click to expand...
Yes, good point Giz. I reckon it would need to start climbing pretty much as soon as it left the bottom loop Ian rather than running level with the lawn marked as a tramway.
Click to expand...

Sheringham Tunnel on my railway (aka the step to the shed!), is 3 brick courses (or a standard size concrete breeze block at the rear) high, which allows for most stock, but I'm not sure how high some of your US locos are? That's about a foot high, so to get say a 1 in 20 grade, you'll need a 20 foot run from the lower loop to cross the main line....
 
Attached is a file for a minimum sized R1 loop which needs an area of 7 X 5 feet.



I've added the 2 points from the loop on your diagram.
38da3944e59141079da81d26cd1eb7b7.jpg

I guesstimate your garage/workshop to be say 16 ft, and the 2 sheds having a length of say 12 ft?

From your sketch I reckon your incline would start at 7 feet, then you would have maybe 18-20 feet to climb before you cross the mainline at a height of 1 foot? I'm also assumming a dead level garden.

Some careful surveying and measurement is required to get the 1 in 20 incline, which may be just about feasible, but a less steep incline would be far better of course....
 
Many thanks for that guys, especially Gizzy for the diagrams. yes i think my tram way is maybe optimistic and it will need to start climbing immediately. I have just measured it out. Allowing seven feet for the loop there is 25feet to the centre of the overbridge. The garden is pretty much flat/undulating an inch or two. The whole idea of the line is to be very steep- on the limit of what is possible, and possibly to have some braked gravity trains! I will have to think about it. Maybe the line will follow the edge of the lawn instead of crossing it....
 
CoggesRailway said:
Given Gizzys diagram I am really worried about the loop at the quarry. Mmm. I think some proper surveying is needed!
Click to expand...

Get some cheap R1 curves and lay them on the ground to give you an idea of the space you need mate....
 
Good to see you have been given the go ahead to expand your railway Ian :thumbup:
 
CoggesRailway said:
Given Gizzys diagram I am really worried about the loop at the quarry. Mmm. I think some proper surveying is needed!
Click to expand...

Hi Ian. Just catching up on this thread. I'm pretty sure you are OK for room at the top of the incline, but the bottom R1 loop has been worrying me since you mentioned it last weekend. there is certainly room, but I think it might constrain your lads play area fairly severely. Remembering that your primary intents were to gain more play area and get an incline in, I wonder if a radically simpler solution might be to allocate the boys the inner loop for tailchasing and have a simple branchline without loops up to the higher level. With railclamps on the point blades, sidelong collisions would be prevented (and they are your family speciality :bigsmile: ). On the branch, not having a loop at the high level would mean either a run-round loop on the outer loop to allow trains to run-round/ propel up the branch. Or you would need a dedicated release loco for the quarry meaning you need another loco. :thumbup:

I'll try and draw something out when I have time tomorrow.
 
Interesting to see your plans Ian. Having heavy inclines does really affect your running. I have them on all the lines and the mainline needs triple or quad heading (or motorised rolling stock) or short trains. My quarry line has a steep incline but little locos like the LGB 0-4-0 diesel (Rio Grande version) manages to drag up to four Bachmann tipper cars loaded with slate scree. Bachamnn shay and Climax take the slope (and the sharp curves) in their stride and could easily pull up to 8 loaded cars. So your incline could be fine for simple trains as long as the curve is not too severe.
 
Gizzy said:
CoggesRailway said:
Given Gizzys diagram I am really worried about the loop at the quarry. Mmm. I think some proper surveying is needed!
Click to expand...

Get some cheap R1 curves and lay them on the ground to give you an idea of the space you need mate....
Click to expand...

Or better & cheaper , cut them out of cardboard !
 
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