Attempting To Build A OO Gauge Portable Garden Railway

[AndyRAP]

Introduction

 

I thought I would share my experience of trying to create a OO gauge garden layout which as you will gather from the title needs to be portable. I tend to bumble along with my modelling, so I am always open to some advice and comment.

 

The Beginning

 

Like many other railway modellers, my 'proper' layout is restricted in space in the house and, by my own choice, an end-to-end design. The main reason is that I wanted to have that added interest of the train operation that comes with terminating services. The layout is being modelled on the north-east in the early eighties (basically I can run deltics!) with a little bit of licence which means that most services are loco-hauled. The two disadvantages are that I'm not able to run full length trains and the lack of any continuous running (at best a loco will travel about 20 feet in one movement). I do have a rolling road and that helps, but it's not exactly the most exciting way of giving my engines a chance to stretch their legs, so earlier this year I started to consider what options I might have using the garden. Luckily I do have a reasonable amount of garden space, so I started to sketch out some ideas. Unsurprisingly, when you start wandering around the garden with a tape measure out and scribbling notes in a book, the head of the planning committee starts to ask questions! After some negotiations, planning permission was granted, but with one key requirement of it not be a permanent fixture.

 

So this is my challenge... build a garden layout that I can store in the garage/shed when not in use, but be able to be made ready to run in an reasonably short space of time. 

 

[AndyRAP]

The Garden

 

Here's a picture of the garden and the space that I have to work in...

 

 

As it is not going to be permanent, the whole construction needs to be easily accessible , so the initial objective is to have the running lines as close to the edge of the grass as possible. Also, part of the planning permission conditions are to ensure adequate sunbathing access should the British summer ever kick in. To give you some idea of the dimensions, the longest edge of grass is approximately 30 feet and a similar width at the widest point. At the narrowest point, it's about 10 feet.

 

As you can see from the picture below, the garden is roughly 2-3 feet about the patio level which is something that I am hoping to put to good use when it comes to creating some form of terminus.

 

 

Initial Planning

 

There are a few guiding principals that I adopted as I started the planning. The project has to be pragmatic.

1. Easy of set-up / breakdown (but not at the expense of reliable running)
2. Good length of continuous running with scale length trains
3. Reasonable radius curves (but storing very large curve sections is not easy)
4. Could run DC motive power (I have a good selection from the last time I was modeling)
5. Avoid complex track design where at all possble (straight is good)

With these in mind, the first draft of a plan took the 'as close to the edge of the grass' approach around the whole of the grassed area. Clearly this would have the longest running distance, but I scrapped that plan based on the tight and curves and short straight sections needed if I was going to follow the edge of the patio all the way around.

 

After a bit more mucking around with ideas, I have settled on the plan below.

 

 

This design delivers in the running length of around 80 feet and keeps the construction to sensible level of complexity. It also has the added bonus that I can build the layout in stages rather than having to complete the whole lot before trains are running.

 

I'll share some of the construction thoughts in the next post.

[RJS1977]

I think your first mistake was making your measurements while the head of the planning committee was around.... ;-)

 

I presume from your post that the 'main line' would be laid directly on the ground (or at least, on boards laid directly on the ground). My main concern with this would be - how level is the lawn? Whilst slight undulations in the lawn are manageable in larger 'scales' (particularly Hornby O gauge, Big Big train or Lego, or perhaps G scale), 00 really isn't very tolerant of uneven track.

 

A smaller layout which can be erected on the patio may be a better option, more in the manner of a portable indoor layout that just happens to be set up outside in fine weather.

[Dorkingian]

I think you need to appeal the "not permanent" ruling as otherwise it will just make your life very hard.  Try submitting a few photos/videos of attractive garden railways...

[RJS1977]

Thinking about your plan in general, though - I might be inclined to do away with the continuous run as shown (which, despite having a 'passing loop' can only be used by trains circulating in one direction. This means that all points are concentrated on the terminus area, which you can operate single-handedly pretty much from one place (if you want a continuous run, have a couple of through platforms at the terminus feeding a second reversing loop).

 

A layout based on a long run with a reversing loop at one end also has the advantage that not all modules need to be made at once (once you've made the reversing loop, you can get trains running, and you can slip in extra sections at a later date). You also don't need to get all the sections out if you only have a short period in which to 'play trains'.

 

 

Going back to my earlier comment about levelling, it appears you have an arbour with a seat in it on the left hand side of the garden, and some sort of gravelled area at the end. Would Mrs RAP be open to the idea of a level paved path being laid along that side of the garden to link those features together, which could then be used as a flat base to lay the railway on?