Finchdale Garden Railway (if at first you don't succeed...)

[Ralphmp]

Over the past few years I've had several attempts at getting my railway up and running. I guess like many people I played about with my starter kit and realised "I need more track!"; attempt 1.

Then there was the summer of 2010 when I had a reasonable stab at a first layout - the track was loose laid but it went round the pond area of the garden just fine and the trains ran OK. I was all set to convert into some form of permanent fixture when a number of things happened that meant trains became irrelevant and took a back seat. During this time I discovered that LGB track really doesn't like being attacked with a heavy duty mower (I'd left everything in situ, the grass had grown over it and when we came to tidy up the garden some months later I'd forgotten it was there ) Still I salvaged a fair bit of it and it had gained a very nice weathered appearance...

Anyway, fast forward to February this year and I'm convalescing after hospital treatment, the weather is quite mild and my wonderful lady suggested "Why don't you make a start on your railway again?". So I did and here are some photos of random quality that try and tell the tale. I did have doubts about posting anything as compared to the other people's layouts mine isn't extensive, and as I have neither the skills nor the ability to tackle digging, concreting, brick-laying, miniature engineering, etc. I've had to go down a different route. However, I promised a few folk photos of some things they sold me and I thought that maybe what I've done could be a help for others.

My railway is all raised at around 50cms above ground level. Two reasons for this - my knees just won't let me bend much anymore and we have wildlife (and now a cat) that delight in digging up anything so a ground-level ballasted layout would simply become a litter tray. As the photos will show, I've used metposts, fence posts and a mix of ply plus decking boards to support the track. First steps involved agreeing site boundaries and track planning. The part of the garden here is an area we have always planned to "do something with" - so now it has a railway in it The outer loop uses R3 curves and the small land grab of the edge of the lawn wasn't an issue.

 

[Ralphmp]

So track planning complete I worked out roughly the materials I'd need and got all ready to make a start

Out with the sledgehammer (which at the time I could just about lift) and in with the first metpost

In the immortal words of Captain Blackadder "I think the phrase rhymes with clucking bell". Anyway, at least I'd proved I could actually bash the posts in! So out it came, was re-aligned and hammered in again and some time later I had my first posts in and deckboard loose laid.

 

[Ralphmp]

So now it was a case of plodding on and putting in posts to support the long straight run at the back of the layout.

I decided to use ply to support the curved sections of the track and I learnt a couple of things when trying to get the most out of a 2.4m x 1.2m sheet - first, create a template (I used cardboard at first but then switched to using some surplus Sterling Board left behind by builders). Second, if you have a wife/partner/friend who makes dresses and theatrical costumes as a hobby, ask their advice on how to minimize wastage! All that time spent cutting out patterns from lengths of materials means they are great at working this out. If I'd not asked for advice I would have wasted an awful lot of wood!

Anyway, here are some shots of the top curve showing the various sections I cut (the odd shaped ones are to support points when the railway expands in the future - forward planning!)

 

[Ralphmp]

So having done the long back straight and top and bottom curves I came to the tricky bit. The layout has an inner and outer loop which come together in a station area and I wanted a single sheet of ply to support the tracks and pointwork. I had a number of goes at templates for this and in the end I adopted Mike's strategy and had a drink a cake whilst I figured out the best way of doing things!

The photo below shows the Sterling Board template in place and to celebrate getting it as I wanted I had another drink and 2 cakes!

Final photo shows the ply cut and laid.

 

[Ralphmp]

Bit of an oops there - the last photo wasn't the ply

Still, onwards we went and the next few shots show how I got round another tree and split the outer line to go either side of a shrub I was told had to stay.

 

[Ralphmp]

So eventually the hammering and cutting for the outer loop got finished. Once all the posts and boards were cut I painted everything with 2 coats of Barn Paint to help weatherproof the wood. The posts were fixed into the metposts with the supplied bolts (see below!) and the ply / deckboards attached to the posts with galvanised angle brackets. To help level things I used the "packers" that window fitters use as these are available in different thicknesses, are pretty cheap and will last longer than slivers of wood, wedges, etc.
I also learnt a few more things:

1. The "Value" Deckboards I had bought managed to warp in ways which I wouldn't have thought possible. I tried as hard as I could to compensate for this but in the end gave up and bought hardwood boards (which I guess I should have done from the outset)
2. If you buy Metposts then don't do it on-line - go and inspect every one to make sure they aren't mangled, bent and that the bolts haven't rusted solid in them
3. No matter how carefully you make templates, transfer them and cut the out, when you come to fix the track down things have mysteriously moved / grown / shrunk so you have to do some fettling.

Track connections are a mix of rail clamps and fishplates. For the second hand track I'd bought I generally threw away the existing fishplates, cleaned up the track ends and fitted new fishplates as necessary. In all cases I used graphite gunk on the connections. The track was screwed down as necessary to keep alignment.

 

[Ralphmp]

So then I was ready for the first running of trains. The following photos aren't that great but hopefully give a sense of how things had progressed

Then I thought I'd better try some other coaches and another loco to make sure all was well

(The driver seems happy)

As you can see, nothing prototypical here, Rule 8 definitely applies!

 

[Ralphmp]

So nearly up to date now. Having got the outer loop working I cracked on with the inner one using the same techniques and eventually I had all the track in place. Obviously testing was required so here are some "testing" photos

The 3 MOB coaches here were courtesy of Keith

The extra MOB coaches were acquired from Mike a while back (sorry it took so long to send you a shot of Brian's coaches)

 

[Ralphmp]

Well, that's the story so far. Next on the agenda is to "convert" some of the boards into trestle bridges and create some buildings in the station area. I also have to wire points and I have a signal somewhere in the loft I'd like to install. Oh, and then there's the tricky task of extending the railway round the edge of the garden to the pond area I mentioned at the beginning, not to mention tidying up the garden area. Still, so far my layout has achieved the aims of blending in with garden and being at a height I can work with which is IMHO a good start.

Hopefully this was of interest to some, and if anyone has any hints, tips or suggestions they will be gratefully received.

Cheers

 

[playmofire]

Thanks for a very detailed and useful introduction to building a garden railway, illustrated with some excellent photos. When (if?) I get round to sorting out my own planned garden layout, this topic will save me hours of work.

 

[trammayo]

Looks good and 'at home' in the garden I look forward to you posting on further developments. Nice one.

 

[shropshire lad]

Nice Phil
A comprehensive set of build pics too.
I'll look out for the pond extension when you take a break from playing, I mean testing

 

[Tony]

Phil i love the way it fits around the planting you almost forget its raised ........ one thing though cover the ply with felt or as i have had to do eventually with pond liner....don't believe what it says when it says exterior ply..... pond liner is very cheap on eBay compared to redoing it ...don't ask me how i know .....look forward to more posts

 

[ge_rik]

Phil i love the way it fits around the planting you almost forget its raised ........ one thing though cover the ply with felt or as i have had to do eventually with pond liner....don't believe what it says when it says exterior ply..... pond liner is very cheap on eBay compared to redoing it ...don't ask me how i know .....look forward to more posts

That was exactly my thinking. Exterior ply is prone to delamination even when it's been soaked in preservative. Covering the upper surface and edges (leaving the base uncovered so it can breathe) is time well spent IMO.

Looks like you've made brilliant progress and already the railway is looking well bedded-in. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Rik
BTW - here's an example of what happens to a pressure-treated and then preservative-soaked fence rail after 6 years left out in the elements. I now cover all my timber in felt.

 

[CoggesRailway]

I enjoyed this- the simplicity with which you got it up and running, very good.

 

[lgbmad]

Great set of pictures, and some nice rolling stock etc. Some great idea's there (notes have been taken )
At least the four legged friends should stay off the railway.
Kev :wave:

 

[Ralphmp]

Many thanks for the kind remarks and helpful comments, particularly about covering the wood. I kind of knew I'd have to do some maintenance over the years but hadn't appreciated the level of devastation that can occur.

When I started, I did wonder about covering everything in felt as this would both protect and give an impression of ballast. However, I remembered a comment from someone on one of the Mark Pound Garden Railway videos about using materials that reflected the surroundings to help the railway blend in. As in my mind the part of railway I've built so far is like the "frontier" end of the line (the main hub will be near the pond when I get there), having the wood showing seemed the right thing to do.

On the subject of ply, I had an interesting comment from one of my friends who used to work at a timber merchants. I used marine ply as, like many folk I guess, I assumed it would be the most weather-resistant. Apparently, the only difference between marine ply and normal exterior ply (other than the former costs more) is the inclusion of an additive in the glue that holds the layers together. This additive is designed to combat algae that are found in/near salt water. As there isn't much salt water where we live (we are around 60 miles from the nearest seaside area) his view was regular exterior ply would do the job just as well. I'll bear this in mind when I start extending and it will be interesting to see as time goes by whether there is any major difference in how the two different types of ply stand the test of time.

Thanks again!

 

[stockers]

Apparently, the only difference between marine ply and normal exterior ply (other than the former costs more) is the inclusion of an additive in the glue that holds the layers together.

Sort of correct but not quite. The problem is differing qualities of the ply, mainly in the actual wood used.
Most ply, including marine ply, is not made to any defined standard.
As your mate says, the glues used in exterior ply and marine ply are very similar (or the same) and an anti fungal attribute is usually present.
There is a British Standard for Marine ply. BS1088 I think. This limits the types of hardwood that can be used. It defines the way edges of different veneer sheets can be laid up. (end grain joints are not permitted) and the size of any spaces between sheets. (How often have you found a small gap inside of plywood when you cut it - water gets in here)
BS1088 also controls the thickness of individual veneers and the amount and types of knots in them.
As I said earlier - ply does not 'have' to meet this spec. So your usual marine ply and exterior ply probably are pretty similar, certainly the glue is.

 

[Shawn]

That looks good. Nice height. Should be easy to hide with bushes etc..... Then you will never know it was raised.

 

[Ralphmp]

Thought I should add the current track plan for completeness.

I'll post one of the garden overall showing the planned extension once I've agreed the route ... (some challenges ahead I fear :thinking: