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Summer Hampton Railway - OO & O gauge in a small garden


ba14eagle
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Im aware that most of the railways featured in this section are of the "normal" garden railway scales - ie big! but here is my OO gauge railway - more a railway in the garden, as opposed to a garden railway.

The Summer Hampton Railway is built on, what was, my 15' x 15' patch of grass, in my back garden. This is my second railway outdoors, the first being the Hampton Field Railway (search on YouTube) which was more a garden railway. That went through 3 phases - at the outset it was an O gauge line, then G scale and then OO gauge! A forced change of home led me to my current home and garden, which in all respects, is a lot smaller!

Construction of Summer Hampton started in March 2016 and full running achieved during June 2016 :O

The baseboards are recycled plastic material, supported on recycled plastic posts. I had previously used cast concrete for my trackbed, but that was effectively at ground level and I wanted this railway to be higher - we are all getting older and I didnt want too much bending down!!

The decision to use recycled plastic was made to try and minimise maintenance on this aspect of the build, as I am fully aware that garden railways involve enough maintenance, without worrying about what your wood is doing... There is some linear expansion / contraction with the material, which needs keeping an eye on, during the course of the year.

The railway isnt for displaying my skills at modelling fine detail, but for running scale length trains, of a fairly specific time period, from my youth. This being the 12 - 15 months immediately prior to sectorisation liveries appearing on BR. I have recently started running some steam outline models, but I dont give them the same attention, detail wise, as I do the diesels - they are just run for fun :jester: One issue I have experienced with the steam locos is that they cope less well with the steep gradients the railway has. I am currently in the process of retro fitting dcc concepts powerbase to the gradients on the railway. I have yet to see if this completely overcomes the problems - fingers crossed!!

My railways also feature on the OO garden Railway Forum on the web. If youve never looked at this forum, its a very good source of information and ideas, covering many aspects of garden railways, in smaller scales.

Videos of the Summer Hampton Railway and the previous Hampton Field Railway, can be accessed following this link;

https://www.youtube.com/user/ba14eagle/featured

 

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This was how the garden looked in March 2016, before construction started.

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This was the railway just 3 months after construction started - and I still have a full time job on the 12" to 1' railway to do too!

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14 months later, August 2017, and the plants have matured too nicely in places!

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The station and signalbox lighting were installed by my late Father and are solar powered, through an accumulator battery. Dont ask me how it works - I havent a clue :no:

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Billiant i love it! I'd be really tempted to roof the whole lot over gazebo style like one of those smoking huts they now build behind most pubs. 

If it's a glazed roof and has ventilation on most faces to make an 'alpine' style greenhouse under old planning law you could cover your garden with a 'greenhouse' probably still can under permitted development rules.

 

Whilst it would be an utter ball ache to retro fit, starting the gradient from the point at which the lower line emerges from beneath the upper may well solve the steam loco haulage problem. Although with DCC control adding a 'banker' would be feasible it's probably more hassle to get the banker onto and off the train than the benefit it gives.

 

Looks good all the same.

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It seems to have been a while since I did any running on Summer Hampton, so it was nice to be able to spend some time out in the garden, in the blazing sunshine.

Some Sulzer action for those of that persuasion!

 

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Having recently purchased one of the latest batch of Heljan O gauge "Western", I have been looking at how I could scaleback the OO railway and incorporate an O gauge circuit.

I had planned on removing the outer 2 circuits of OO and using this space for the O gauge. The O gauge couldnt go around the centre section / pond, so the boards nearest the back of the house would be split lengthways and the O gauge route would drop down under the footbridge.

To make use of the best radii around the pond section, the remaining OO gauge lines wouldve been slewed to connect with the now disconnected outer tracks.

 

However, after surveying today, Ive found that I would have to employ a 36" radius curve on the O gauge line to make this fit. This Im not prepared to do - I was prepared to try 42", but nothing less.

So, my plans for an expansion into O gauge in the garden have been shelved for the time being. We need a bigger house to live in and I need a bigger garden to play in, so we will just keep hoping the Euromillions comes up soon!

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Its been a while since I posted on this thread, so here goes!

A lot has happened in the last 12 months. The railway was removed from the garden, when a house move was happening. Unfortunately, this didn't complete and the move shelved, So Ive been redeveloping the railway - plenty of time in lock-down! It is a lot simpler this time around and the trackbed is solid concrete - the recycled plastic boards didn't work as well as hoped, so have been done away with. The railway is now a combination of both O and OO gauges. Ive had to utilise Peco setrack on the O gauge which isn't ideal, but I can live with the compromise. Each scale has a single line with loop. The OO loop is huge, mainly to comfortably accommodate my representation of 1S19 Bristol to Glasgow / Edinburgh sleeper train. Control is now provided by a Powercab system with 5amp booster.

Here is a short video featuring my only dcc sound fitted O gauge loco to date, D1010 "Western Campaigner". I have a Hymek which is waiting a sound chip - something that will get sorted as soon as lock-down is over, along with a shopping trip to the garden centre for plants. The next locos on the shopping list are a 31 and a 25.

 

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A couple of videos of the first OO gauge running sessions at Summer Hampton.

The first one has a definite Southern Region feel to it - with a small supporting cast.

 

 

The second film has a mix of freight and NPCCS action

 

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Phew! What cracking weather. :heat:

There has been more work going on (planting, ballasting and soldering) than playing trains, just lately, so, before I start my next run of shifts and the weather turns, I had a little running session. All EE locomotives - my 3 x 37's and my 3 x 50's. Split into 2 films - one for each type.

 

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On 04/05/2020 at 15:47, ba14eagle said:

cut.....

It is a lot simpler this time around and the trackbed is solid concrete - the recycled plastic boards didn't work as well as hoped, so have been done away with. .......cut...

 

 

Could you add a bit more about the problems of the recycled plastic boards please? I was looking at that option for an outdoor circular patio layout/test track* as no room in the house for a long roundy-roundy set up.

 

*Basic oval with the vegetation around the layout growing in patio tubs.

Edited by john new
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22 minutes ago, john new said:

 

Could you add a bit more about the problems of the recycled plastic boards please? I was looking at that option for an outdoor circular patio layout/test track* as no room in the house for a long roundy-roundy set up.

 

*Basic oval with the vegetation around the layout growing in patio tubs.

There was too much expansion and contraction John. Maybe, shorter pieces would have been more effective?

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22 minutes ago, ba14eagle said:

There was too much expansion and contraction John. Maybe, shorter pieces would have been more effective?

 

Thanks for this, a problem I hadn't foreseen as an issue. Both possible locations would be in full sun a lot of the day so probably not a wise move. I may well sling something down for the next month or so on a temporary basis using scrap timber bits with a view to doing something better next summer. I can, just, run a temporary 2nd radius oval on the garden dining table for testing (one of B&Q's range) but, as this video clip shows, it is quite a tight fit hence thinking of a patio layout alternative.

 

Also, although good for drainage run off, nowhere was the concrete yard/patio base laid level by the former property owners which doesn't help; the table occupies the one area mostly in the shade.

 

 

Edited by john new
Typos.
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23 hours ago, john new said:

 

Thanks for this, a problem I hadn't foreseen as an issue. Both possible locations would be in full sun a lot of the day so probably not a wise move. I may well sling something down for the next month or so on a temporary basis using scrap timber bits with a view to doing something better next summer. 

And today’s bonus, as a result of some roof repairs we are having done a massive quantity of scrap wooden sheeting has come my way for free. The short  term solution is therefore pretty obvious.

 

 

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On 20/09/2020 at 10:27, halsey said:

Hi,

Sorry if this has already been asked but HOW do you keep the track electrically clean?

The track is carefully cleaned with a decorators sanding block, before each running session.

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I seem to have neglected this thread lately.

There hasn't been much building or development with the layout itself, but I have purchased a number of new O gauge items of rolling stock.

 

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