Nearly 2 years after the Ardnacraish Light Railway was lifted, work has begun on a new line in a new house. There are challenges a-plenty in the new site - after the flatlands of Cambridgeshire, living on the side of a hill in Warwickshire suddenly introduces things called gradients... John Roach |
In the Beginning
The previous occupants had been keen gardeners, but as they became older, so things became a bit less orderly.
A lot of remodelling of the garden had to be done, to clear space for Ruth's vegetable plot, and make room for a conservatory.
Once Jon the landscaper had finished with his big Tonka Toys, I could start surveying the plot.
Hmm - 5% gradient and a couple of trees to negotiate. Time for the old graph paper and pencil!
Planning
Mark 1
A slightly folded dogbone, with a steam up area at the low wall by the patio and a cut-off at the top of the garden to allow out and back running.
The lower loop would be some 17" above the steam up area in order to minimise gradients. I had my reservations about how this would be supported, but decided I'd think about that in due course.
LGB track was laid out to give me some idea as to how it would look.
Hmmm - I wasn't happy about the gradient required to get the line from the steam up area to the main line, and the steam up area would be a bit restricted, unless I moved the main line further back. I was loathe to shorten the running line any further, so time for a Mark 2.....
Mark 2
Much happier with this - keep the lower loop further back from the wall, and take a line off to a steam up bay alongside the new conservatory. Time to lay out some track; as I had by now cleared the top right hand side of the garden I could get an idea how that would look, too:
Construction
Start at the Bottom
Conventional wisdom would say to start at the highest point (i.e. behind the golden maple) and work down. However, there were coherent reasons for starting at the lowest point, given that construction would start in December:
1) I'm planning on laying the loop around the maple using the Filcris recycled plastic trackbed system. I've been advised not to lay this in extreme heat or cold, to avoid expansion/contraction problems.
2) Starting with the steam-up area would give me some scope for shunting a few wagons back and forth.
3) Following on from the above, I could have something in place to show my grandson at Christmas.
So let battle commence.
The steam up area (the future Switchwater) was built from 150mm x 22mm timber, suitably cross braced and covered in roofing felt. It was to be a free standing unit to allow it to be moved when the fence behind it needs replacing. Given that it would be standing on a newly laid patio, I needed supports that would not mark the stone, hence 110mm soil pipe was used, with matching end-plugs screwed to the board, onto which they could be pushed.
Holes were drilled in the pipe to allow for height adjustment, with screws inserted to lock the leg.
Small radius points were initially used; these were quickly replaced with large radius after testing. Ultimately I want to replace the right hand pair (at the end of the loop) with a loco turntable, to save space - and given the price of turnouts, money too! Come the better weather, I will add some screening to hide the legs.
Getting ready for inspection by the Small Controller:
