I’m worried about badgers. Sure, lay track on soil or turf, and you’ll soon have problems even without any wildlife becoming involved. A couple of rainy or frosty nights later your trains will be rolling up and down newly emergent humps and hillocks. But badgers could really exacerbate the problem. I read plenty of advice that agreed the trackbed needs to be solid and stable, but also that there are several completely different ways of doing this, each with their pros and cons. I’ve not come across any confirmation of which is the most badger-proof.
Wagon
I got me some wheels. I bought a wagon kit before I even began construction on the railway, because I wanted some track to play around with whilst planning. As it happens, Track Shack (who I’d recommend for their extremely prompt service – order before 3pm and it comes in next day’s post) give free P&P if you buy enough. Some kind of vehicle is essential for testing purposes, anyway, right?
Site Survey
I’ve been asked for photographs after my last post in which I described the chosen location for the railway.
Well, it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, though these aren’t great photos, so they might only be worth 7 or 8 hundred words. Continue reading Site Survey
New Territory
The story so far… At the end of my gripping previous post on where to build my railway – I ended on a cliffhanger. Two possible locations, both suffering the limitations of my narrow, steep, garden. Which would I choose?
Purpose
At one level, planning the course of a garden railway is simply a question of: “how would I like to lay out my train set?”
But for an involving, operationally interesting and authentic railway, it’s worth thinking a bit about what the purpose of the line will be. Continue reading Purpose
Scale and Gauge
Size matters in the garden – if only because your N gauge train isn’t going to cope very well when it encounters a fall leaf or twig. Some people manage to run 00 gauge outdoors, but generally it’s the larger scales that are popular. Continue reading Scale and Gauge
Location, Location, Location
Having decided to build a garden railway, I just needed to make the simple decision: where to put it. (Apologies in advance for the cliffhanger ending tot his post…But it was almost 2 years before I cut the first sod.)
My garden is long and thin; excellent for a railway if it weren’t for the slope. In theory a slope is quite useful because it allows a compromise between two alternative ways of building the thing… Continue reading Location, Location, Location
The Beginning
Welcome to my Garden Railway blog.
This is where I’m going to record my efforts to build my first ever garden railway…
I’m going to start with a few posts going back to the beginning, before bringing things up to date with the first tentative earthworks now underway. Continue reading The Beginning