Made a start at last...

[DaveG]

Over 10 years ago, I started collecting G-scale equipment both new and second hand and even a couple of train sets, (with my trusty Stainz tank and Otto), with a view to building a garden railway. Well, after a house move, 2 children and a house extension, I have now finally got the start of a fixed garden railway beginning to emerge.

I have drafted various plans using the LGB template, Anyrail and also by trial and error with track pieces, but finally decided for my main station area to base it on a variant of a scheme in an LGB book which offers potential for rolling stock storage plus interesting operations as in my version it is the convergence of 3 single bi-directional lines. After a couple of holidays in Austria and Switzerland, this station layout also has the feel of a typical Alpine narrow gauge station, so I decided to take the plunge and make a start.

My first idea was to lay out the track to get a feel for how big I would need to build the track supporting base, so this is the first picture.

 

[DaveG]

With a few tweaks here and there, I could see that the layout I envisaged would fit in the length I had available and be capable of holding a train comprising my 3 LGB bogie coaches plus the post van or a reasonable length freight train. The base for the main station area is recovered decking timbers, previously in use in the garden before the house extension was built. I wanted it at low level in the station area but intend to raise at least one of the lines as it goes round the garden as I quite fancy a water feature, especially after picking up a superb aluminium girder bridge from the BRM model show in Doncaster earlier in the year.
This photo shows the temporary base and track but this time with rolling stock so I could see how much storage space I had. I thought it was also a good idea to put the station building in place too as I didn't really want to turn it into a half-relief model because I'd forgotten to account for its width! It will be on a typical continental style low platform and the Piko kit is perhaps a bit low anyway so it will look better when raised up a little.

 

[palstig]

With a few tweaks here and there, I could see that the layout I envisaged would fit in the length I had available and be capable of holding a train comprising my 3 LGB bogie coaches plus the post van or a reasonable length freight train. The base for the main station area is recovered decking timbers, previously in use in the garden before the house extension was built. I wanted it at low level in the station area but intend to raise at least one of the lines as it goes round the garden as I quite fancy a water feature, especially after picking up a superb aluminium girder bridge from the BRM model show in Doncaster earlier in the year.
This photo shows the temporary base and track but this time with rolling stock so I could see how much storage space I had. I thought it was also a good idea to put the station building in place too as I didn't really want to turn it into a half-relief model because I'd forgotten to account for its width! It will be on a typical continental style low platform and the Piko kit is perhaps a bit low anyway so it will look better when raised up a little.View attachment 224496

Hi Dave,

It's good to see that after all these years that you've taken the plunge and made a start.

I purchased a starter set and track but 6 years passed by before I decided to take it out the box and lay it out on the lawn. That was summer 2016. I laid more track and used some new pieces of decking to use as track bed, but it soon became clear that this could not be a permanent solution. After laying out the track how I wanted with the key features e.g. tunnel, level crossing, rock cutting, I obtained quotes from landscaping contractors to build the track bed at ground and raised level using standard Concrete Flat Top Edging 914mm long x 150mm wide x 50mm thick. Curves were cut to the appropriate angle. This base is level, solid, and can be walked on if required. After 4 days of construction and £1400 lighter, I made a start on painting, track laying, installing the rock cutting, landscaping/planting, and adding detailing. It's one of the best decisions I've made as my wife loves it, 12 year old daughter does too, and we enjoy sitting out in the summer with a drink watching the trains go by.

I love your station area and would try and widen it slightly to accommodate the station area and be able to add some detail/cameo scenes around it. There is no right or wrong construction method, but I would say that the foundation for the track bed needs to be durable and level for smooth running and to prevent derailments. Keep up the good work and I look forward to following your progress.

Regards,

Paul

 

[DaveG]

Hi Dave,

It's good to see that after all these years that you've taken the plunge and made a start.

I purchased a starter set and track but 6 years passed by before I decided to take it out the box and lay it out on the lawn. That was summer 2016. I laid more track and used some new pieces of decking to use as track bed, but it soon became clear that this could not be a permanent solution. After laying out the track how I wanted with the key features e.g. tunnel, level crossing, rock cutting, I obtained quotes from landscaping contractors to build the track bed at ground and raised level using standard Concrete Flat Top Edging 914mm long x 150mm wide x 50mm thick. Curves were cut to the appropriate angle. This base is level, solid, and can be walked on if required. After 4 days of construction and £1400 lighter, I made a start on painting, track laying, installing the rock cutting, landscaping/planting, and adding detailing. It's one of the best decisions I've made as my wife loves it, 12 year old daughter does too, and we enjoy sitting out in the summer with a drink watching the trains go by.

I love your station area and would try and widen it slightly to accommodate the station area and be able to add some detail/cameo scenes around it. There is no right or wrong construction method, but I would say that the foundation for the track bed needs to be durable and level for smooth running and to prevent derailments. Keep up the good work and I look forward to following your progress.

Regards,

Paul

Thanks for your comments Paul.
I will put a few more photos up later but I fully agree re the firm foundations. This set up shown was for sizing really and I have used buried brick pillars (buried in postcrete) and wooden beams to support the decking so that it is flat and stable as you suggest.
We have yet to get landscape gardeners in but will do once I have more of an idea of the track layout away from the main station area.
More will be revealed later, in a completely acceptable G Scale Central kind of way!

 

[palstig]

Thanks for your comments Paul.
I will put a few more photos up later but I fully agree re the firm foundations. This set up shown was for sizing really and I have used buried brick pillars (buried in postcrete) and wooden beams to support the decking so that it is flat and stable as you suggest.
We have yet to get landscape gardeners in but will do once I have more of an idea of the track layout away from the main station area.
More will be revealed later, in a completely acceptable G Scale Central kind of way!

You're welcome. It's good to hear that you've laid the track on firm foundations. The main thing is that you've gone ahead with building it and once you make a proper start there's a stronger chance of it being completed. I say that as I've aborted the construction of so many OO scale layouts over the years. With the garden railway, I engaged a landscape contractor to build the foundations, but did the track laying/landscaping/planting myself. I found that bit really enjoyable and satisfying.

Looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

Regards,

Paul

 

[Rhinochugger]

Get the trains running - that's the way

 

[DaveG]

Get the trains running - that's the way

I couldn't agree more, and neither could my 9year old who is very keen to see things moving.
We've been testing sections as we lay the track but at the moment it's all capable of being controlled by one controller but it will need 3 eventually.
I have a Train Engineer 2 for one circuit but, and this shows how long it is since I was taking a regular interest, I didn't know Aristocraft had ceased manufacturing!
I like DC (although if I could afford it I'd probably like DCC better) so I'll need to try and find at least one MORE Train Engineer.

 

[mike]

Get the trains running - that's the way

What chuggers says

 

[Zerogee]

Looks like a great start, Dave! I now just need to follow your good example....

Jon.

 

[DaveG]

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments so far. I've always thought how positive the "vibe" is on this forum - I've been a member for quite some time and enjoyed reading the threads and viewing the pictures. So, in the spirit of onward and upwards, I will now post a few more photos, some of which date back to May showing the development of the station base board (seems weird to be writing about baseboards as I am also building a OO gauge layout for my 9 year old which is on a "baseboard") but I suppose that's what it is in a way.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the decking boards are supported on brick pillars which are 3 bricks deep and buried in the ground. The wooden beams are then screwed to the bricks and the decking screwed onto the beams.

Below this is the building site and aforementioned 9 year old.

If he's in the garden, may as well get him working!

The building site is not as neat and tidy as I would like but it's coming along. Decking going into place.

 

[Zerogee]

Excellent, child labour in action, always good to see......

Jon.

 

[DaveG]

Following on from the previous pictures which could be mistaken for a low quality decking installation, here are a few more showing the next stages.

First up is decking treated with decking preserver.

Next, and this is where I hope I am not making a mistake, is the covering with roofing felt which is to serve 2 main purposes:
1-Protect the decking timbers so they will last
2-Provide a sort of ballast sub-base, before I ballast for real.

I am quite pleased with the level and fairly sturdy base - it will certainly take careful walking on which will be essential for the ongoing build, future maintenance and dealing with any derailments.

 

[DaveG]

Now for more track again - much more interesting than a glorified shed roof!
After a comment from Paul earlier today, I have revisited the width of the board and added some extensions at the ends as my loop lines have got further apart than originally intended and the tracks were too close to the edge.

 

[DaveG]

As you can see from the photo below, the track did get a teensy weensy bit close to the edge but I do intend to bring the ground level up to this height so it blends in to the garden rather than being above it. I know I could have used 2 points back to back to achieve the same effect but I really wanted a double slip! Pricey but a good looking bit of S&C, especially when combined with the tandem points. I suppose the only downside to this layout is the first radius points used everywhere (except the slip, hence the very short pieces of curved track - thank you Anyrail for helping me identify the right pieces) but it does maximise the siding lengths and it's all a low speed operation area anyway.

In the next photo, the other end of the station is seen and as you can see, I decided to go with the cheap option of 2 points!

 

[DaveG]

Is this the shortest piece of LGB track - I think it was 35mm long and one sleeper! It just fitted between the 2 rail joiners.

 

[DaveG]

It's inevitable I suppose that as the layout develops, I find things which don't work as well as I might have hoped - in this case, the water crane did not fit between the 2 loco stabling roads without being clobbered, so a bit of rearranging was called for. The coal stage needs a bit of TLC as it was poked by a small child (not one of mine!) some years ago when it was on an earlier, temporary setup in the garden.

 

[palstig]

It's inevitable I suppose that as the layout develops, I find things which don't work as well as I might have hoped - in this case, the water crane did not fit between the 2 loco stabling roads without being clobbered, so a bit of rearranging was called for. The coal stage needs a bit of TLC as it was poked by a small child (not one of mine!) some years ago when it was on an earlier, temporary setup in the garden.
View attachment 224567

The photos are brilliant and I love the track layout around the station. I like your philosophy too. It's all a learning curve and that's part of the fun of finding out what works and what doesn't. It's good that you've got your 9 year old son involved in the construction too. I'm really enjoying this forum post and can't wait for the next update - no pressure!!!!

Regards,

Paul

 

[DaveG]

And now, to tonight - no more track tonight but I took Paul's advice and extended the boards at the ends as I mentioned earlier. Boards attached and treated with the lovely antique pine preservative. Roofing felt yet to be applied.

However, there was some trackwork done last night - aren't these warm June days ideal for evening track laying?

The 2 tracks at the tunnel end will go either side of the shed, which will be connected to the mains in due course, (armoured cable buried well below the boards) and be the operations centre.

I still have to decide on my preferred approach to changing the points as some of them will be quite difficult to reach, especially when the lines are covered in rolling stock. Obviously the tandem and the slips are fitted with motors as standard so I expect I shall make use of them. I will probably be posting queries on the track laying or electrics threads at some time in the future to find the best way to approach this.

So, that's now up to date but I shall add more as it develops.

However, I am intending to ballast the tracked sections on top of the felt covering (which was softening in the heat the other day, hence my worry about this approach) and did try some fine grey gravel from B&Q many years ago on a few metres of test track which looked good. Does anyone have any recommendations, or even more importantly, things to avoid?

Also, I will have a vast area of grey if I'm not careful so I am considering some plant growth on the larger areas of grey, such as "Mind your own business" but does anyone with green fingers know if this will grow on a thin spread of soil or compost on the felt and also, would its roots ruin the felt below and thus render it useless as a means of protecting the decking planks?

Thanks. I might post a question in the appropriate forum too.

However, I should also say I will be putting some form of low platforms between most of the running and loop lines as per continental practice so this will reduce the extent of grey to a degree.

 

[DaveG]

The photos are brilliant and I love the track layout around the station. I like your philosophy too. It's all a learning curve and that's part of the fun of finding out what works and what doesn't. It's good that you've got your 9 year old son involved in the construction too. I'm really enjoying this forum post and can't wait for the next update - no pressure!!!!

Regards,

Paul

Thanks Paul - my little lad is a true enthusiast, and although I've been fascinated by all things on rails for as long as I can remember, it is entirely natural and genuine with him, and not forced on him by me, but I am delighted by his interest. He is also a budding musician which pleases his mum who is an instrumental teacher - long may this continue.

 

[palstig]

Thanks Paul - my little lad is a true enthusiast, and although I've been fascinated by all things on rails for as long as I can remember, it is entirely natural and genuine with him, and not forced on him by me, but I am delighted by his interest. He is also a budding musician which pleases his mum who is an instrumental teacher - long may this continue.

It's good that he's enthusiastic. It won't be long before you have it finished............