Seaport & Beachtown Coastal Railway Co. Ltd.

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playmofire

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We've recently moved and where we live is only a few hundred yards from the route of the former Whitby to Scarborough railway line. The line, 21 miles long, was built late on in the railway age - it was opened in 1885 - and was never really successful financially and was closed in 1965 under the Beeching Report. It was single line with passing places and ran through magnificent moorland country and near the sea. I've been a collector of Playmobil (mainly fire and rescue)for 13 years and the nearness of the old railway route (it is now a trailway) plus the size of our garden inspired me to buy some Playmobil trains on eBay, originally the 4018 but then also the RC steam set, amongst other items. The idea then came of creating a layout loosely based on the Whitby to Scarborough line called the Seaport (i.e. Whitby) & Beachtown (i.e. Scarborough) Coastal Railway Co. Ltd. So yesterday I had to clear the train out of the spare room and as it was a sunny afternoon I decided to try it out in the garden round the pond, the first (trial) run of the new company. The track runs round three sides of the pond so the layout is terminus to terminus and runs along the coping stones of the retaining wall. The sides are about 16@ and the end section (Pond End) about 10' long. Here are some photos, starting with the track layout.

First, looking towards the Seaport terminus:

Seaportend.jpg


Here the coping wall is very narrow and only a single track is possible and chive plants sometimes get in the way.

At the end of this section as the track bears right, it slightly overhangs the pond itself:

Overhang.jpg


Next, the Pond End section, which has room for a passing loop:

Pondend.jpg


Finally in this post, a view towards the Beachtown terminus showing the sharp kink in the track to allow a run-around for the the loco away from pond in case of accidents:

Beachtownend-1.jpg


I'll post some photos later of the train travelling round and, hopefully, links to some videos.
 
The inaugural journey (testing only) from Seaport to Beachtown.

Ready to go:

SeaportTerminus.jpg


Along the north side of the pond:

Reflections1.jpg


Battling past the chive plants:

Pastthechives.jpg


Leaving the Pond End section and entering the Beachtown end with the sharp wiggle:

Beachtownkink.jpg
 
Here's the train entering the terminus section with the run-around loop which you'll see in action shortly:

headon.jpg


It's arrived at the terminus and stopped prior to the loco being uncoupled:

Runaround1.jpg


The loco runs into the head shunt and stops

Runaround2.jpg


before reversing into the run-around:

Runaround3.jpg


and out onto the main line again behind the train:

Runaround4.jpg


After which it's recoupled at the rear and begins the return journey:

Returnjourney.jpg
 
Well, we're on the return trip now down the south side of the pond with the loco running in reverse:

Reflections2.jpg


I find that the loco will pull OK whether going backwards or forwards, but isn't good at pushing when going backwards - has anyone else found the same?

Now we've rounded the curve coming off Pond End and begun the climb up towards the Seaport terminus. It's quite a pull and there are one or two coping stones which are uneven to add to the task:

Almostthere.jpg


Almost there now:

Reflections3.jpg


And now we've arrived back at Seaport, the first test run of the layout completed successfully:

BackatSeaport-1.jpg
 
Here are some video links. (Click on the picture.)



First, a continuation of the earlier one. The video quality seems a bit fast in places, maybe it's been compressed or something in uploading it.





Then a driver's eye view, there and partly back. The operation of the train went perfectly first time but the camera didn't work. This run ends rather abruptly after the engine went into "jerky reverse" mode just as it got onto the Pond's End section and partly derailed.



And, finally, one with a camera balanced on top of the cab. On the interest of the camera's safety this ends at Beachtown where, on stopping, the camera lurched forward and almost came off.

 
Nice pictures Gordon (OMG another Gorden from the NE, god help us...:bigsmile:)
Great start, but be careful with derailments, does the locos and stock float..
 
Looks good. Fantastic start!
 
Thanks, John. I've got the loop in at Pond End now but it's a bit short so for tonight's testing we're down to locos plus two pieces of rolling stock.
 
Like it....
 
great idea, and a different take on the garden railway....... is it all to be playmobile? keep the pics coming.
 
duncan1_9_8_4 said:
great idea, and a different take on the garden railway....... is it all to be playmobile? keep the pics coming.
Click to expand...

It probably will be as it's fairly cheap and fits in with I've already got.
[style="color: #800000;"]Edit: I've just remembers, I've got two MIB LGB summer coaches as well as the Playmobil rolling stock.
 
Thank you Mr Spock. I plan to add the railway's name or initials eventually to the coaches and name the loco. There's another steam one on the way and the pair will be called Cromwell and Fairfax.
 
Well, last evening Peter and Christine came round for coffee and for me and Peter to run the trains. A bit of a chaotic start as Peter had forgotten to bring his hand control, plus both steam locos use the same chip. I had spare chips and a spare hand controller but no spare batteries for the controller, so Peter had to go back for a battery (he only lives about six doors away). Meanwhile, Diane (my wife) and Christine were in the warm inside.

During the afternoon I'd got the passing loop at Pond End complete apart from two of the small extender pieces which Peter brought round. These were put in place under arc lights:

Nightworking.jpg


and then the job finished off:

Jobdone.jpg


I'll post pictures of the actual loop later.

We got both locos running but by now it was too late for photos and, in any case, it is far too difficult controlling a loco and keeping a watch on what a second loco is doing to take photos as well. The passing loop worked OK but is too short for anything other than a loco and two trucks or carriages.

There was some excitement which illustrates the difficulties of running two trains at once when I was distracted by Peter's train with the result that mine went through the buffers at the Seaport terminus. (I haven't used any track connectors so far, but clearly they are needed at the buffers at least.)

There was further drama at the Beachtown terminus when Peter stopped a coach straddling the points and when he set off the coach tried to go straight on and right at the same time! He quickly reversed the direction of travel which derailed the coach and it disappeared over the side and into the pond! It was fished out safely (roof and carriage body had separated but both were retrieved before they sank out of sight) none the worse apart from being wet and trailing a bit of weed. Diane took it into her care, drying and washing and leaving it to dry near a radiator. A quick oil on the axles and it will be 100%.

Overall, an enjoyable and successful evening.
 
What's really nice about this railway is that you're having fun! It is a great hobby but sometimes the fun bit can be difficult to recapture!! in the frustration of derailments and electronics having a mind of their own.
 
Andy Worsfold said:
What's really nice about this railway is that you're having fun! It is a great hobby but sometimes the fun bit can be difficult to recapture!! in the frustration of derailments and electronics having a mind of their own.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Andy, fun's exactly what I'm after so I'm not taking things too seriously whatever happens.
 
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