Taita Gorge Railway

[JRinTawa]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old.

Well done Gav, reckon an extra WGRG daylight visit is in order to celebrate and test - I'll ring tomorrow

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old.

Well done Gav, reckon an extra WGRG daylight visit is in order to celebrate and test - I'll ring tomorrow

8| All wired up, ready to go. Bit more ballasting done today, and some 'temporary' plantings to liven the scene. Yes, you can still have fun with track power and R1 curves.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Today's activity was a trip to Masterton for a family picnic, with a stop off to relieve Jeremy of some surplus rolling stock.... rather partial to the LGB Feildbahn stuff. Didn't take long to have it running on the Taita Gorge Extension

 

[stevedenver]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

like those, i do!

 

[Shawn]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Looks good. I always liked smaller stuff.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

All set for the running day .... a trailer load of reballasting done, then we get washed out :wits:

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Well, the rain has stopped. Plus side of that is, the ballast has 'settled', and only a few spots needed attention. I had raided the balloon loop trackage to do the main alteration, and since found I have enough track to reinstate the loop, which I started doing last night, until I ran out of rail joiners. An additional turnout has gone in too, which I forgot to check its setting when I ran the Climax over it, and promptly put it in the dirt :impatient:

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

:love: Last night, as the sun was setting, 1203 wanders into the new siding on the balloon loop.

8| Why B&W ? Well, the garden is floodlit (backlit, actually) with green bulbs..... and boy, did that affect the photo.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

:impatient: Question. What do you do when you want to work on your railway, and it's blowing a 110 km/h breeze.
Answer. You work on the sheltered section, and finish laying and wiring up the enlarged balloon loop.

I've run out of ballast, but at least I got all the trackwork down with materials on hand. Well, almost. I was 3 rail joiners short, and feared a 25 km drive was about in order to Mack's Tracks... but I scrounged some off a storage road, in the shed, that can do without them for the time being. All worked perfect, first time (mind you, it should have, I was only replacing something that was once there).

Once I had proved that all was OK for operation, I set to with some horticultural maintenance (in English, read weeding) when I had one of those 'must capture the moment' visions (read, I'm sick of weeding, and that looks like it would make a good photo), so here's Bertha approaching Happy Feet curve (that's Happy in the background, Penguins were flavour of the month these parts last winter).

Later on, I had another of those moments.......

Amazing what you get when a little vegetation is cleared. :love:

Actually, when I downloaded this shot, I almost didn't recognise my own railway.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

8| Well, we all had to start somewhere. Flashback to March 2000, just under 3 months after the opening of the Taita Gorge Garden Railway.

Ah, the memories. Yes, just an oval of track (flextrack bent to R1 geometry, paid dividends that later on). Couple of those Alberta Spruce are still in original position. The near end of the oval was subject to this years 'modification'.

 

[beavercreek]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

A lot has happened in all those years Gavin. Your layout is a little gem

 

[jameshilton]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Isn't it incredible looking back at where you've come from. Those recent shots of the feldbahn locomotive are superb

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Isn't it incredible looking back at where you've come from. Those recent shots of the feldbahn locomotive are superb

8| just picked up a copy of CM (for the free DVD, you understand)..... nice bit of work by James in it. Well done.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Today's viewing pleasure is brought to you courtesy of the '2012 Garden Railway Non Convention'. The real Convention is currently on in Christchurch, so, in keeping with the spirit of the event, non attendees (well, this one) ran trains, back 'ome.

Bertha came out to play, and is shown here, on a first time view, rounding the newer higher level curve on the balloon loop. Behind that fence in the background, is a full size mainline.

Old Bach the Engine mann guides Bertha into the new (as yet unnamed) crossing loop on the balloon loop.

.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

8| A new angle on the Taita Gorge..... this is where the line comes out of the backof the train shed towards the balloon loop. One day, I will build a real bridge for here.

Looking along the new crossing loop. That RAILWAY sign in the background is both real, and serves its stated function... my 'other' train set (the one that now pays my salary) is on the other side of the fence.

The Climax has just crossed another train in the loop. Simple wiring, all done with a DPDT switch

 

[beavercreek]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

sweet, real sweet

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

sweet, real sweet

8| Thank you. That photo of yours in your signature.... is that up in the Front Range, just out of Denver ?

 

[beavercreek]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Hi Gavin
I think that you are spot on. The photo is in the current 'Trains' magazine but I have compressed and stretched it a bit to make it fit the long thin format of the signature.
Have you had a peek at my thread about it? I also tried to simulate the ski train with the heritage SD70 in the snow yesterday.

It is at http://www.gscalecentral.net/m191629

EDIT:
The signature picture is now one from my layout of two Bachmann 'Connies' battling up the incline

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Shades of the early days on the Taita Gorge Railway.... the side tank Porter is in the same colour scheme as my first loco (this is not the same loco, the original stripped a gear, and Bachmann refuse to supply a replacement), and new growth Dwarf Alberta Spruce trees that the nursery finally restocked, at the right price, after an absence of 10 years. Previous week, I paid twice the price for one tree at a 'named' centre. Unseasonal showers have had a positive spin off this summer, the ground hasn't dried out, and the garden is self watering. 8|

 

[Don Gilham]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

I always thought it was a shame that Bachmann dropped the saddle in favour of the side ! Both nice locos though