Semi-scale BR: The Modernisation Plan

[Old Man Aaron]

Very nice

[Tropic Blunder]

Superb as always Bertie! A well proportioned and neat job well done

[invicta280]

That is superb. I missed that as I hadn't looked in for while!

[BertieB]

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‘Less is often more’

…advised Grant a few months ago regarding my intended first proper go at weathering.

That was the idea but I got carried away... It was well on the way to being mistaken for the dirtiest 9F you’ve ever seen but then I ‘misted’ it with rattlecan matt varnish, which has greatly reduced the effect — for the better really, I suppose, though initially I was a bit disappointed.

I realise there are inconsistencies. Somehow we still have gleaming brass brightwork, for example. I’ll bear that in mind next time.

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Dirtied with Humbrol weathering powders and a large, soft, make-up brush from Poundland

[LNR]

‘Less is often more’
…advised Grant

I like it Bertie, welcome to the real club. Must be a lot of hard water at that loco's shed area. There's even a bit of a Victorian Railways look to the loco.
Grant.

[BertieB]

The Beeching Axe has fallen

Sadly, the track’s being lifted and bundled up (along with the recycled plastic trackbed), to be delivered to the next back garden, where the slightly narrower gauge, Southern Region still intends to push ahead with its challenging, several hundred mile, extension to Bonnie Scotland — Bulleids and Thumpers will be seen north of the border.

I suppose I shouldn’t expect to be able to launch straight into serious re-landscaping of the garden to accommodate a railway. There are likely to be other priorities at the new place (getting enormous floor-standing speakers for the hi-fi aside). But for some time I have been on the lookout for bargain-priced, second-hand, essential items.

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I’ll need to try and remember to:

• only use large radius curves
  avoid (or at least minimise) gradients
  allow access for maintenance, weeding, etc
  provide sidings / passing loops
  don’t use any wood
  don’t [expletive deleted] up the garden

There’s another challenging video, End of the line, of the last trundle round the garden, now posted in ‘Videos’.
Here's a grab from it. Spot the professionalism.

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NB Younger or overseas readers may not be familiar with the infamous Dr Beeching, the bloke tasked in the early ‘60s with returning British Railways to profitability, by recommending the closure of almost a third of the network (including most of those charming rural branch lines). Didn’t work, of course.

[LNR]

I’ll need to try and remember to:

only use large radius curves
avoid (or at least minimise) gradients
allow access for maintenance, weeding, etc
provide sidings / passing loops
don’t use any wood
don’t [expletive deleted] up the garden

I guess if it can be said that there is an advantage in having to up stakes with a garden railway, it's that you learn and hopefully don't make the mistakes twice.
Good luck with the clean slate and the new project.
Grant.

[Phil.P]

D*mn!

Now I 've got to find the videos on here...

Good luck with the move!

Phil.P

[BertieB]

"...you learn and hopefully don't make the mistakes twice..."

Well, exactly. Thank you, I hope so. Even this one was done as a correction to my first effort, that sort of fell apart after a few years. At the time, though, I was only running short tank engines and never imagined that I’d end up with mainly longer locomotives.

[Scrat]

Somehow we still have gleaming brass brightwork, for example...

This is quite realistic. Handrails are always clean as they are being used.

[ge_rik]

Always unsettling when having to move, but it can also provide new opportunities.
All the best and looking forward to MK2

Rik

[BertieB]

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Back of envelope, there-and-back / dog bone hybrid proposal. Perhaps

The Southern Region northern extension
Hello again. We’ve finally made it to Coastguard Cottage, a few hundred miles north of Waterloo and the challenging new back garden looms malevolently through the living room window. I’m exaggerating a little, of course: It’s not really called that and out the back there’s a more or less rectangular, rather scruffy lawn; scattered, out of control foliage and rotting decking, though one side features an overgrown, stone built, raised bed extending along the side of the house. Hmmm… [gazes thoughtfully into leaden sky]

I would hope to figure out a scheme to both make the garden more interesting and incorporate a railway — and which doesn’t take years to do. Fortunately most of it’s reasonably level-ish. The house itself will demand a lot of attention for some time — but we’ll still have to do that stuff with stakes and spirit levels and so on — and come up with a plan.

There’s going to be the usual there-and-back, dog bone (with large radius return loops) or round-the-garden, options dilemma. I would prefer a continuous, ‘look, no hands’ route (plus sidings, etc) if practicable, though the long, narrow, raised bed clearly has potential in some way. A lot of stuff will have to be cleared, however. I’ll have to tiptoe very carefully around any suspicion of Toy Town too, as I recall other members have also reported in the past.

Whatever we end up with, I imagine it’s going to require rather more track than last time. And I’d prefer the track bed raised, say, 6-12 inches, varying with the lie of the land, as before. I might have to look for less costly materials — back of the envelope totals for track and recycled plastic planks are horrendous. If only they made decking in gentle, sweeping curves…

Wish me luck.

[philipy]

Sounds intriguing or should that be daunting?

Go on.. show us a couple of piccys of what you have to begin with?

[FWLR]

Shame about moving. Looking for to see the next instalment of your new project.

[SimonWood]

Good luck! Love the map. (Hopefully you'll get to extend the line to the pub at some point )

[Lonsdaler]

I thought you'd gone quiet! I notice philipy has asked for photos of your blank canvas. Excellent idea - I think it would help you tremendously as we will be able to share our expertise and offer suggestions to ease your journey into the new railway, and we can all have a nosy!
Hopefully your domestic duties won't completely rule out making a start on the line.

[Phil.P]

Ooooh! Photos!

We can suggest lots of ways to spend your money, and give you backache...

Phil.P

[ge_rik]

Looks like the garden has potential with raised beds, rockery and shrubbery.
One of my walking chums says there's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing ......

Rik

[Old Man Aaron]

Best of luck!

[BertieB]

Thank you. I’m comforted by the response, of course, particularly the offer of ‘shared expertise’. Being extremely lazy (and lacking in practical skills) coping with any obstacle, however trivial, can seem too much like hard work — or ‘challenging’ (perhaps I overemphasised that). And I’m afraid there isn’t a rockery, just lumps of it in the ground.

As demanded, here’s a few snaps. It all looks quite nice in the sun! And we’ve removed a load of OTT growth already.

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clockwise from top left
Quieter end of ‘L’ shaped raised border: this bit’s been tended fairly recently
Bright and cheerful end, not so much
Rotting (and unnecessary) decking needs to go. Built over the raised bed so you could peer into next door, it seems (?!)
Kind of boring: something will have to be done…

Can't wait for those aesthetically pleasing, practical, cost-effective suggestions!