Garden Railway Forum

Hello all,

My first post here. This is my railway, the Narborough and Littlethorpe Light Railway, a narrow gauge preserved railway, set in Rural Leicestershire.

The rest of the back story can be found on my website http://www.freewebs.com/nlrr/

The railway was built in the summer of 2006 and has been slowly growing since. The line currently owns 7 locomotives, mainly of European origin.

The lines first loco, like so many other's, was an LGB Stainz; 'Guido'




The next loco to arrive was LGB shorty, 'Mike' probably the line's most powerful engine.

Then came Mack, a small LGB Fieldbahn Diesel, used primarily on MOW trains.




The next purchase was another LGB stainz, this time in black and lettered for the DB.

Hi Keith, nice to see a familiar face

Next was an Aristocraft Little critter in BP livery 'Carl II'



And then perhaps my favourite, 'Cropston' a LGB 2-6-0 Spreewald, the line's largest tank engine.




And the latest to arrive is 'Terrier'. She started out as a yellow LGB Kof diesel, that I have repainted and added a mock up of a compressor tank to.

The railway is quite small but comprises of three main parts. The upper station, Narborough. This area of the railway is in desperate need of an overhaul as the the baseboard is sagging by up to 6 inches in some places!

Then there is the lower Littlethorpe, based around the pond.

Then in between, there is the gradient. This was worked out in being 1 in 11, very steep indeed. It limits the Stainz to 3 four axel wagons, on a dry day with clean track.

Just a couple of my favourite pics for good measure

There was a snowplough in front of the first stainz

Keith&Joanna wrote:Ricky,  if you get some plants in the pond they will help to cover up the edges  :)   me likes plants  

There were at first Kieth, but over the winter the filter failed (which is why the water is so green) and we took them out to try and give it a chance at keeping it clean. When we scrub the thing out in the summer I will have to suggest putting some in

musket the dog wrote:And the latest to arrive is 'Terrier'. She started out as a yellow LGB Kof diesel, that I have repainted and added a mock up of a compressor tank to.

I like the irony of a German Diesel in RAF livery................

Hi Ricky, welcome to the mad'ouse! I've come across you're site before somewhere, looks a nice fun railway! You're not the only one with steep gradients, I have one of about 1 in 8! And I run live steam!

AHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAHHHRRRRG! (That's the sound my drivers make when steaming down "Death Hill" on River Butley on the MHLR!) Looks an interesting set up... What is the track layout in the shed?

mhlr wrote:1 in 8! And I run live steam!  :lol:

and if thing that is bad, i have a simular thing and i run MAMODS!

Welcome by the way!, nice little railway!

Thanks for all the comments

mhlr I think I've heard of your railway somewhere too..

[quoteI like the irony of a German Diesel in RAF livery................[/quote]

Haha never though of it like that To make it worse I painted it at air cadets too

AHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAHHHRRRRG! (That's the sound my drivers make when steaming down "Death Hill" on River Butley on the MHLR!) Looks an interesting set up... What is the track layout in the shed?

Gradients are a nuisance aren't they? What really makes me annoyed is when a coupling comes loose and the whole train ends up in the pond

Drew up a quick track plan

musket the dog wrote:Gradients are a nuisance aren't they? What really makes me annoyed is when a coupling comes loose and the whole train ends up in the pond  :shock:

You need to get 00-DVLR (aka Mr Bond) to make you a working brake van in that case haha!!

00 DVLR?! Haha! That's a new one. Anyone can make bond brakes easy peasy.

Progress!

The wrecking Crews moved in today, taking up the track around Narborough.







Finally This means I can get started on bringing the line back into running order. I will now either strengthen this board, or make a new one out of a more suitable type of wood.

Just to highlight the scale of the problem this is how much the boards have warped by...

Coor that is quite a problem! Is it possible to lower the boards in the shed to reduce the gradient?

Mr. Bond of the DVLR wrote:Coor that is quite a problem! Is it possible to lower the boards in the shed to reduce the gradient?

I've been thinking about that. Do do it all I would have to do is remove 3 of the boards in the front of the shed that have been cut to make an entrance. It would also the transition between the gradient and the shed a bit smoother as at the moment its over the fishplates.