Seaport & Beachtown Coastal Railway Co. Ltd. takes to the grass

[playmofire]

We were recently away for a few days so I decided to move the track from around the pond and store it inside. However, as it was a fine, sunny day I decided that in the process I would set out a layout on the lawn to see how the loco ran over an undulating surface. Here are some photos of the trial.

At one end I had a simple terminus with a run around so the loco could be run round from the front to the back of the train for the return journey:

At the other end I had a siding and a loop so that the train automatically ended up ready for the return journey:

So here's the train just after setting off for the run towards the loop end:

And then out in the country:

Here it is on the return journey:

And finally arriving at the terminus with another train:

I was quite pleased with the trial as the lawn was far from level in places. For example, the trucks on the siding at the loop had to have the leading one off the rails to prevent them running down on to the main line. And the unevenness was also lateral with the loco and rolling stock tilting to one side quite noticeably on some sections.

The layout is now indoors, scattered about the place as I experiment with different variations. It can't return to the pond for some time as where it was is now covered with plant pots in places to keep the birds (crows, gulls and a heron) from taking the frogs from the pond.

I'm thinking that one planned veg patch in the garden may become shrubs and other plants with a railway weaving around them.

 

[yb281]

Now that sounds like my kind of veg patch .

That's a great name for a railway too.

 

[playmofire]

I'm not sure the lady wife took me seriously, but we'll see.

Glad you like the name - you can find the origins of it and more about the line here:

http://www.gscalecentral.net/m133551

 

[jameshilton]

It's always fun playing in the sun I hope you can find a permanent home in the garden for your railway soon, mind as it's not track powered and looks quite easy to clip together it at least means you can get it out quite often!

 

[playmofire]

Thanks, James. The grand plan has developed considerably since the first "three sides of the pond" approach and involves an end to end terminus approach with two or three intermediate stopping points. The track laying is a bit time consuming so a permanent outside layout would be good. If not, it may be possible to fit a shortened version in the garage (but not as much fun as in the sun). I saw the use of decking as an outside base and so a halfway house between a permanent outside system and the garage layout would be a modular approach with lengths of track pre-fitted to decking which can be moved in and out as necessary.

Gordon