Garden Railway Forum

We have realised fairly quickly from visits to other 16mm members Railways that age really needs = easy access for steaming up, however a lower back issue as made me realise that our new Railway being entirely at ground level really needed a steam up area. A lot of thought was put into where and how in such a tiny 11 x 8 garden. So we sacrificed our rhubarb patch and cleared the area in front of our greenhouse and made plans.
The following pictures should show our progress.


Area laid out to also incorporate the quarry section which will be modified on the incline four roads and turntable will help with multiple steamers brewing starting off and finishing there runs plus a bit of storage and nice access for servicing

Hopefully the last batch of thermal blocks to be laid down very pleased looking promising

Getting there but now I have to change some levels on the quarry road this involved digging back ten foot of track bed to drop it 5 Inches and relaying it.


Finally it looks like something at last just the turntable bridge and gubbins to finish but we can service our Roster standing up
Only room for one but we are delighted just the finishing touch's to complete and sort the two bridges and think of a name for the Yard.



We will post some more pictures as the PSLR progresses
Regards to all Gloria and Stephanie

Impressive work there, well thought out and executed..... back issues are a problem for some, me included, so this will make your railway a pleasure instead of a chore.

Nice job there, the handrail is a good idea. Looks like an impressive sized turntable to end up in that pit.
Grant.

Hi Gloria and Stephanie,

I am very impressed. You have ingeniously squeezed a lot into that space. Given me some ideas for our railway, thank you. How about, "Rue Barb" for the name of the yard.

Dave

Clever solution, good use made of the available space.

Rik

Thank you peeps for your kind comments, and Dave Rue Barb is seriously being considered
Below is a link to a recent video of my Fowler build running on the PSLR I just realised it shows some better views of the recent steam up area too before the walls and bridges were installed
Please enjoy and please excuse the state of the garden

https://youtu.be/MpKF_YVDvec

Regards to all Steph and Gloria

Running nicely on your line, you have managed to get a variety of route options in the space and still have some garden to spare.
Clearly your little dog has seen it all before.

Congratulations on the Fowler. Also watched the Gerties Tour video, cameras mounted like that always emphasize track work, you have obviously gone to much trouble in track laying and it shows. Always the best way to insure trouble free running.
Grant.

What is that in the tender of the Fowler?

Lovely layout and really envy your flat garden. We have a steep slope to contend with so it limits options although I do get a waist height steam up section where the path falls away.

Hi tom tom , The red item in the tender is a gas tank I built for a small steam launch which is sadly destroyed now due to a fire in friends car, I had been using it for a bench testing tank for various projects however it was such a nice fit I just had to use it
It's been tested for butane propane mix so ideal in case i have freezing issues in winter but I am hoping with the larger surface area I can continue to us butane.
the gas valve is on the tender and the feed to the loco is via my own built up flexible gas pipe.

Which actually brings me to an ideal time to ask how some people seem to get away with just a piece of silicon tube between the tender gas supply and the Locomotive when there is such a fuss over gas tank and boiler testing and certification A question for another thread I think

Steph.

We hired in some heavy plant last week end So Bob our new driver here at the PSLR took control as he as a track digger license
Here he is getting set up to clean up the turntable area


We don't see heavy plant down in this part of Cornwall very often so the entire PSLR staff turned out to see how Bob got on

A vid will follow soon

Gloria and Steph

Hmmmm! a 1/14th scale RC digger if I'm not mistaken, I've just gone very green around the gills.
Grant.
PS think I'll join the crowd and watch too!

I like the pit idea and have seen it done before.

I would happily go to ground level running if I could have a pit in my garden but SWMBO would not have it so the shelf railway remains

Great update on your layout, i love the turntable, brilliant work with the digger, hope he wears his Hi-Viz next time...lol..

I'm very impressed, there's some lovely work going on and some great photo's of it.

Like Tom, I love your pit, it's very nicely designed and built, well done.

Andrew

Thanks peeps for your lovely comments I managed to scrounge some stainless steel sheet today so got stuck in and made a start on the turntable
I decided to go with a shallow pit turntable and base it on A Ransomes and Rapier design so it stays in keeping with our 2ft gauge Railway .
I painted the exterior ply on the underside with roofing felt lap cement then screwed the stainless on the underside then found the centre with my pattern marked and drilled all the holes needed to fix the track and the middle fixing screws I attached a heavy piece of timber across the frame raised slightly so that when screwed down tight I would have a gentle dish for easy drainage . This was positioned and made level then again paintedwith lap cement then covered with bird grit whilst still wet. I am delighted with the result

Just the bridge to complete and track to fit now but rain stopped work as usual

Grit rolled on

I poured a glass of water on to check the levels spot on too

Four weeks to the day we started the planning for the PSLR
Seems like years lol
Only the coach siding and the goods shed road left to do, then we can make a proper start on the buildings and detailing work
Steph and Gloria

Wow! That all looks fantastic. Well done. Looking forward to more.

Looking forward to more on this turntable. Great job so far.
Grant.

Nice bit of engineering there, like the look of that inner rail - proper job.