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Southgate Park garden railway


Wolf27

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Hi All

 

First of all a brief history of the railway. Construction started in summer 1986 following 'eviction' from the garage due it being converted to a granny flat! I have pictures of the railway in its early days but these are on slides and cannot upload them at the moment but there are scanned prints here http://southgateworks.fotopic.net/ in the Southgate Park garden railway gallery.These pics date from 1988 onwards. The railway was constructed from wood using fencing posts and old planks. Not the best discision but it was what was available at the time. The first two years consisted of a circuit at the top of the garden that formed a sort of L shaped oval. The station on this section was known as Westbourne Heath and featured a tunnel and viaduct with sweeping curves. Landscaping was carried out in winter 1986 and spring 1987. Later in 1987 construction started on the branch heading towards the house. This ran down the length of the garden giving a run of around 70ft. This was a long straight section of double track with a third track on a rising incline from the triangular junction, seen here in early 1988

yr9y46.jpg

This location was known as Ivy Bridge and featured a halt at the south end of the triangle for several years. Construction of the main terminus, Southgate park, began in late 1987 and a spare door from the garage building work was used as the base for the station. A discision that we regretted for years to come, which will become apparent later.

 

I have uploaded videos to youtube of the railway which date from November 1990 and a selection can be seen here.

 

 

I will add more about the history as time permits and when I can remember it, it was a while ago. Enjoy

 

cheers

 

Shane

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I have uploaded videos to youtube of the railway which date from November 1990 and a selection can be seen here.

 

 

I found loadsa vids, thankyou. Garden railways always seem rather jolly, but as your flooding scene demonstrates, the Weather Gods ain't necessarily on your side! I also think there might be a Garden Railways section within RMWeb - although joining the others is no doubt optional.

 

Ah, yes, here we are. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/forum/114-outdoors/

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I have added a few more of the railway, I think these are June or July 1991, first few are when a friend brought some of his stock round for a play. All straight out of the box and nice and shiny

 

 

 

 

This shot was taken from the back bedroom window and is 31165 on a frieght plodding its way round the garden one evening

 

 

class 50's in their final summer of regular service. In this last clip there can be seen some repair work to the station base board, something that was to cause problems for the railways life.

 

 

cheers

 

Shane

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  • 2 weeks later...

Really excellent videos!

 

I'm supposed to be painting a ceiling and then getting on with other DIY tasks before my better half gets home and now I've just stumbled across all these videos. It's pure nostalgia!

 

There are some stunning views in the videos and I especially like one particular view of the viaduct which absolutely looks like it is meant to be there. Now to take a long hard look at my own and decide where I go from here.

 

Thanks for sharing. Oh yes....the painting.....

 

Mick

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Nearly four years since I posted in this topic!

 

While looking for something else I uploaded this, the only time I recorded a train completing a full circuit of the railway. This was at its fullest extent, which only lasted about two operating seasons before it closed for good. Took about four minutes to get round without stopping, just!

 

https://youtu.be/GucEf6bwmlU

 

cheers

 

Shane

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