298 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I have two people to thank for this, firstly SWMBO for agreeing to the idea on the basis It'd be a good idea for me to sort out our back garden after it's use as a builder's yard for the kitchen extension and years of general neglect, and the other being my Brother who has an interest in live steam which I thought wouldn't get the better of me until we went to collect a coal fired loco and I was well and truly hooked. Coupled to the realisation that my railway room was taking up valuable space and the only place for a continous run layout would be outside resulted in rough plans being drawn up with the aim of being able to run trains and generally feel less embaressed about the outdoors mess by the end of summer 2011. The Sherbourne Valley Tramway currently consists of a loop of Peco SM32 track of approximately one chain in length, but will eventually be extended via a triangle to a larger station and steaming up area. It will also eventually have a dual purpose for running some American 1:48 stock I have and possibly some British O, plus SM32 gives my Brother somewhere to run until his much larger railway is finished. I had considered 45mm G for the availability of American stuff, but the track is much more expensive and some of the models are quite toy-like, but not in the twee British outline 16mm way. Stock currently consists of an Accucraft Edrig and a few wagons, all RTR and easy to sell on should the bug be squished or I feel the need to be a bit different and move to the visually appealing 7/8ths scale. The gradual slope away from the house dictated a ground level line that would run below the existing decking (the bridging of which provided a route from the house to the lawn without getting in the way of the railway), but would be at a low waist level by the time it reached the shed and planned steaming up area at the bottom of the garden. Plus, being of moderate years compared to the stereotypical garden railway builder meant bending down to a ground level line isn't an issue. Construction started in earnest earlier this year, after considering various options I went for a mix of class B engineering bricks and aerated cement blocks laid on a 50mm mortar bed over ballast, helped along with the use of an old cement mixer that was left behind by the builders. There are a couple of removeable bridges on the loop, currently aligned by sliding rail joiners across the joint. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR23F8lA8RU More later.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Looks like we might have another railway fan there with your son too! Looks like fun and will mature into a good fun line. Any plans for scenics? Ballasting and planting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted October 20, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 20, 2011 Nice start and if you decide to go 7/8ths then there are body kits available for your loco. Corruption alert http://simply78ths.com/page21.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Looks like we might have another railway fan there with your son too! Looks like fun and will mature into a good fun line. Any plans for scenics? Ballasting and planting? Ballasting will follow soon, once the alignment has been slightly tweaked where necessary. There isn't alot of point planting at the moment, I do have a few ideas but it'll be more of a "Garden with a railway in" theme, instead the other way round where the railway is too overpowering. Another problem is it'll take a few years for the garden to properly mature, that'll really test my patience as I'm used to seeing instant results. Elliot has shown a bit of interest but is still too young to really understand, especially when he's told not to walk on the line or go near a hot steam engine. He does like watching tailchasing layouts at shows tho... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Nice start and if you decide to go 7/8ths then there are body kits available for your loco. Corruption alert http://simply78ths.com/page21.html Tempting, aren't they...? I've seen a "Cedrig" running (Baldrig body, Edrig chassis, & DJB coal fired boiler) and think there is enough interest in 7/8ths scale for it to grow in conjunction with the blossoming 16mm scene. It's just a question of whether to do something to fit in with my Brother's projects, or move to this scale.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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