Southgate Light Railway

[robyholmes]

I posted up a hello quite a while ago and promised to create a railway progress thread...well I've finally got round too it. I'm going to confess now that the railway is pretty much complete. I'll post up progress over a few weeks and welcome comments. Good way of knowing if I did things right ha.

Bit of background first. Myself (Rob) and my girlfriend (Nicki) purchased our first house in September 2013. My dad already had a 16mm railway in his garden so while viewing properties I would always jokingly plan out a railway. Once we got our a house (Luckily with a garden) I was told I couldn't build a railway until some re-decorating was completed.
January 2014 came and no de-cording had been done (Infact isn't only just been done in the last few weeks). The windy weather however had blown down the fence at the bottom of the garden. Then came the smooth move of saying we'll build a wall to match our neighbours, but we might as-well make it wide enough to run a train on it. I'd learned from my dad's railway that while ground level tracks blend in better and are generally cheaper and easier to build, its a pain reaching down. I'm still in my 20's and I'm thinking about back problems... Anyway progress sort of continued on from then. Luckly my girlfreind does enjoy the railway and has helped a lot along the way. I guess she thought sooner it was done, sooner I got round to decorating.

So some pictures before I ramble on to long.

First a track layout was created.

I was to use the shed for one end of the U shape, the layout software couldn't do a sharp enough curve but it will stay within the shed. The loop is below the run-around at the shed end. Both tracks rise and fall at 1/50 to clear each other.

Work Starts Feb 2014
First, out came the fence and the wall foundation dug.


Next the brick wall is built at the bottom of our garden. A path runs along the rear.

I should just say, my dad's a retired builder/joiner so its made life a whole lot easier. When I could get hold of him mind you! Retired my bottom!

Next the inner stone wall is started.


Then the next section is started.


We then fill the walls with rubble and top with soil. The station is left without soil to be concreted later.


Upright flags are used to support the base of the concrete track base so it can't sink as easy.


The keen eyed amongst you will spot the corner missing from our wall. A waterfall anyone?

A small 12V pump is used to circulate water from the tank below.

Let me know what you think so far. I'll put up another update tomorrow.[/img]

[andymctractor]

Garden railways usually start to impress once the track is down, the foliage starts to mature and some structures are in place.  Yours is impressive before any of that.

[tom_tom_go]

You (and your back) will thank yourself later for not building a ground level line.

I would like to see what you did with the waterfall feature if possible please

[robyholmes]

Thanks your for the comments. The pictures do make the wall high and it was at that stage, it was worrying us but by the end turned out to be a good level.

[Peter Butler]

That's a seriously impressive structure! Well thought out and executed. It really enhances your garden and doesn't seem to overpower the space.
I will be watching to see further progress..
The waterfall idea and location is just great.

[robyholmes]

Thank you for the kind comments. More progress as requested.

Once the walls were filled we cast the concrete track base.



Work also started on wiring. Due to the limited room in the shed for a run around I needed to place the point outside the shed (At the rear). This meant I needed to operate it without having to run round everytime to change the point. I found a point controller online which controlled 8 servos. I would use cat5e network cable to connect the servos.
If anyone is interested the point controller is here:
http://www.microminiatures.co.uk/acatalog/SERVO.html
I've since replaced the remote with a radio remote from ebay, the IR operated one which came with it wouldn't work without direct light of sight and often failed in bright sunshine.



Next we moved the shed in to its final position so work could begin on fitting the track bases inside.


A removable section across the door is used to complete the loop. Currently lift out but may go to hinged in the future for easy installation.



The top run around section was then completed.


The first sections of track outside were also laid on the main station side.


We soon had enough to test my Silver Lady on.




The waterfall was also tested, some work needed to keep the water in however.


Now we just needed to span the waterfall. This meant starting the bridge project. We needed 5 bridges, 2 over the waterfall and 3 to get in to the shed. My dad had a arc welder and we had made two bridges for his own railway. As this was my railway I needed to take the lead. Lets just say neither of us are great at welding but after the crash course I think I've got the edge.





More bridge building to come. We did a lot of bridge building, felt like an age.

[Peter Butler]

Well...... pause for breath.....that's looking just brilliant!
Running into the shed at that level make everything so convenient. It looks to be about the same as mine and it is a very comfortable working and viewing height.
Everything is coming together nicely, top marks for a great job.

[ge_rik]

A really well engineered railway which really does make effective use of the space. Another thumbs-up from me for the waterfall. Brilliant!

Rik

[philipy]

As usual, when I look at most peoples railways, I'm envious! I'm looking forward to seeing it progress and mature.

Its also given me an idea for my own line, so may I ask what size your shed is?
It looks very similar to one that I have, that I have previously rejected as being usable and is on the demolition list for 'one day', but maybe not.....

[Maple]

i love this line, very well planned . and the work your putting is great. the point control looks very interesting. im still trying to convince my wife on a 1/50 line extension

[Andrew]

Wonderful stuff, and very creative use of space - keep the updates coming!

Andrew.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Marvelous stuff - following with interest

[Soar Valley Light]

The stone work really sets the picture. The waterfall is a true masterpiece! Well done with the work so far. I really look forward to seeing more as things develop.

[robyholmes]

Thank you for more kind comments. It was very handy to have lessons learned from my dad's railway to use on my own.

As usual, when I look at most peoples railways, I'm envious! I'm looking forward to seeing it progress and mature.

Its also given me an idea for my own line, so may I ask what size your shed is?
It looks very similar to one that I have, that I have previously rejected as being usable and is on the demolition list for 'one day', but maybe not.....

The shed is 8 foot by 6 foot. Pretty tight radius inside due to the frame but its fine for all my loco's.

More progress for you all. We've covered from Feb 2014 to September 2014 now. The following buildings were started in July 2014. These kits were purchased from Modeltown.


Some line side buildings also started.


The next bridge was started in October 2014, this would be on the lower level in to the shed on the garden side. This bridge needed to be removable to allow access down the back of the shed.



As winter moved in work on the railway came to a halt. It did however mean I could undertake some loco building.
A HGLW kit was purchased with the open cab option.


Tanks and extras were then added to enhance the kit. PC screws were used for fuel and water tank caps, solder fills the screw head.


So railway staff couldn't lose the little loco in the yard we decided to paint it yellow.


A bit of weathering later we had the completed loco.



Due to our layout the loco needed to be radio controlled. A Deltang receiver and controller were used, allowing for directional lights. Also squeezed under the bonnet is a Mtronics sound card with canal boat sound (To be different to my larger diesel). This required 6V which is delivered using 5x AAA battery pack. All a very tight fit!

Winter also meant we could fit some upgrades to our Roundhouse Charles loco. A DJB whistle and spectacle bars and fire irons from Locoworks.



Railway work would resume in March 2015...

[jim@NAL]

I love your bridges there fantastic keep up the good work its looking great

[Peter Butler]

It's all looking very good. I do hope the neighbours are impressed, I certainly would be!

[ge_rik]

Great looking bridges - the bespoke ironwork really looks the part.

Rik

[MDLR]

That looks absolutely cracking!

[Peter Butler]

I agree, nice enhancements.... makes a big difference.

[robyholmes]

More progress now and more bridge building.

The rear bridges been test fit. Some changes to the track bed required for the top.



A lot of thought & research had been put in to creating stones for a retaining wall of the upper track. A lot of stone cutting later using a variety of tools resulted in buckets of small stones to wall.


The stones might be a little on the large size but not enough to notice.



James is used to re-supply the workforce with stone.


First few plants in place and test fitting rear bridges again.


By end of April 2015 we had the bridges in and track connected.



Buildings have also progressed over winter.


With all the track & points motors in we could finally have a full track running day at in May 2015.



Sorry no action pictures, as you can imagine we were running around fixing teething issues.

At this stage we're on the home run and had a date set for the open day of 28th June (Later became 12th July due to weather). A mad rush of finishing work to follow.