Hello from England, on Hadrian's Wall

Ben Knibbs

Ben Knibbs

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United-Kingdom
I'm hoping to make a garden railway and so far have two old working Märklin locos - Rossele and Luzie - and three blue four-wheeler passenger cars. Plan is to make the locos radio control with on-board battery power. And make my own aluminium track. A big project and a lot to learn. This is something I've wanted to do for years - had 5 children and now 12 grandchildren, so now's the time to make a start. The track will be in a location exactly on the route of Hadrian's Wall, with some good landscaping (rocks, cuttings, bridges). I've come here to search for good advice! Happy to join you
 
Welcome Ben, I'm sure there'll be plenty of advice and encouragement on here. I've had a go at batterifying (abs no experience) and it worked fine:) Never tried making my own track though. Keep posting!
 
Welcome to the forum Ben.

I look forward to seeing your progress....
 
Chris Vernell said:
View attachment 341575
This bit?
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Gonna need a bigger battery...

Welcome to the Forum, Ben. We're a friendly bunch (I hope!) who don't believe in stupid questions: we were all starters sometime, and needed to know the basics. So ask away!
Making your own track could be a challenge: not so much the straights and curves, but points/turnouts. There are a few people on here who use aluminium strip and wooden sleepers, who might be along to say hello...
 
Ha ha! Thanks Chris. Quite a gradient there. My bit has no wall left but just up the road is the first existing turret, remains of at least. Our cottage is made of pilfered wall, built in 1681, so it wasn't pilfered by me!
 
Welcome sir, Dont go cutting any trees down on the wall to make the railway !

Are the locos O guage then ? with that many grandkids you might need a Thomas also.
 
Ha ha! Thanks Chris. Quite a gradient there. My bit has no wall left but just up the road is the first existing turret, remains of at least.
Northsider said:
Gonna need a bigger battery...

Welcome to the Forum, Ben. We're a friendly bunch (I hope!) who don't believe in stupid questions: we were all starters sometime, and needed to know the basics. So ask away!
Making your own track could be a challenge: not so much the straights and curves, but points/turnouts. There are a few people on here who use aluminium strip and wooden sleepers, who might be along to say hello...
Click to expand...

Our cottage is made of pilfered wall, built in 1681, so it wasn't pilfered by me!
Northsider said:
Gonna need a bigger battery...

Welcome to the Forum, Ben. We're a friendly bunch (I hope!) who don't believe in stupid questions: we were all starters sometime, and needed to know the basics. So ask away!
Making your own track could be a challenge: not so much the straights and curves, but points/turnouts. There are a few people on here who use aluminium strip and wooden sleepers, who might be along to say hello...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Northsider! I was going to try just straights and curves using the aluminium and hardwood method, and perhaps see if I can link up with purchased points. I decided I'd need battery power rather than electrified track, which would be too hard to keep clean outside, and difficult to power outside anyway. I wondered if anyone was using battery power and RC, and sure enough I found a lot of enthusiasts were already going down that route, and found a lot on this excellent website/forum/society... I really am a beginner and probably far too optimistic, but it's a dream I'd love to realise. I have some good deWalt tools - router, big compound mitre saw etc, and my brother has some good bending and welding equipment (and keen to help). Loads of stone and a nice bank on the edge of the area that could make some interesting routes and scenery. There are three big beech trees that will mean falling leaves in November but I think I can cope with that, and if I can get it done, it should be a super setting.
I won't be cutting down any trees!
 
Thanks Dicky! My locos and carriages are Märklin Gauge 1, 45mm, G scale. I also had a large amount of LGB copper and plastic track, 3 Playmobil locos and various rolling stock for my kids, now all grown up. None of that was good for a permanent outdoor railway, especially where I want one now, but the Märklin models worked on that track. They're beautiful - metal bodywork with lights, very heavy. There are big trees on the site, but I won't cut any down!!!
 
playmofire said:
Welcome... why not on Hadrian's Wall itself?
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Thanks very much Playmofire. It would make a good solid foundation but English Heritage might object!! The wall did run through the site but after it was all nicked for building there, a couple of little cottages were put up in Victorian times. Now they are long gone but a little further on there are the rather impressive remains of a turret and a lookout tower, then two more turrets and three miles from us is a fort, Birdoswald. My planned site is right next to the Wall Path though - but a very long way to go before it will be up and running.
 
Welcome. A few make their own tracks, check out Igor's threads. Battery power is great, but also has it's downsides, and is a theme of continuous discussions.
 
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