Faulconwood and Springbridge Railway

[faulcon1]

Hi all, My name's Faulcon1 and I'm nearing the end of the reconstruction of my outdoor railway. I had a full circuit previously but weather and wildlife progressively made it a shambles. I used treated pine timber and it warped to blazes. I couldn't paint it as it was still oozing sap even though it was treated with copper chrome arsnate. This time around I've used some treated wood for the frames but have painted it and have used 15mm structural ply for the tops also painted.

I Live in New South Wales Australia and have fitted hinged covers due to the very hot weather we get in summer. They are painted white to reflect the heat. They do work as I opened one on a 47 degree day and whilst everything (including me) was roasting and track was only just warm.

I've also canted the curves on my railway mainly so that when my nephew comes round to run the HST at full speed it won't fly off the railway on the first curve it comes to. 

The two photos show a Bachmann/NRM Midland Compound No.1000 and a Bachmann Brush Type 4 No. D1746. You can see the canted curves in both photos.

Both locos are equipped with Loksound decoders

[faulcon1]

One point, Model Rail magazine produced the Garden Railway Expert DVD. Whilst the construction method used is good. On the track laying side they seem to use indoor principles for an outdoor railway. You DON'T have to paint the rail sides as nature will do it for you in the form of dirt and muck. The nickel-silver rail sides oxidise just as well as the rail tops.

If you want to cover the blocks with roofing felt then you need to cover the entire top surface at least. You use a blow torch to melt the backing to make it adhere to the blocks.

DON'T DON'T put little strips of roofing felt just under the sleepers only. If you look on the video of the owner cleaning the rails you can see the tracking bouncing around and soon the pins will be dislodged and the railway will be useless.

If you want ballast outside then use proper crush granite ballast,(not woodland scenics as it's mostly peanut shells) and cement with PVA.

I asked the previous MR editor if they'd been back to Berkswell to have a look at that railway to see how it had matured. No they haven't been back since the video/DVD was made. I think that speaks volumes.

So if you want to build a garden railway DON'T use indoor constrution techniques as they have no application on an outdoor railway. 

Remember that nature doesn't recognise the concept of scale and gauge. So whether you build in OO or 32 or 45mm it makes not one itota of a difference on what nature thinks. 

[doublecee]

The other thing to remember (and this is really aimed at the newcomer that may stumble on these threads as they start thinking about an outdoor layout, as oppossed to more seasoned users) is to really choose your accessories carefully. What works indoors certainly isnt going to be a good fit outdoors.

 

 

I only use resin based buildings (mostly Bachmann), as they are great at resisting the elements. I have also placed them in the area of garden that sees the least amount of sunlight, so as to reduce the effects of fading from the suns UV's.

 

Any electrical accessories such as Hornby's Illuminated signals (a very old design that seems to not want to give up or be succeeded with a more contemporary design) are given a light but efficient covering of clear silicon sealant. Mine have been in the garden now for 2 and a half years and show no signs of wear & tear or water damage / corrosion. I plan to adopt the same treatment to some peco point motors once time allows.

 

With regards to the small windows on many of Bachmanns scenecraft buildings, I have noticed the the white window frame detailing is quite delicate, but a light glazing over with the aforementioned sealant and some internal and external beading really does help improve their chances.

 

So, im in full agreement with all the previous comments RE construction, but would also like to offer the above points, based on my experience with our south coast (and quite exposed to the elements) garden railway

[faulcon1]

Yes I too have noticed how 'tough' Scenecraft Resin buildings are as I left some out in the weather for a week. Everything for torrential rain to baking hot sun an no visible damage. The Scaledale range is the same.

[faulcon1]

I have found a new video camera that is ideal for indoor or outdoor filming of OO gauge railways. It's a Sony AS100VR Action Cam.

 

NOW BE WARNED THIS IS NOT A CHEAP CAMERA!. I bought mine from Sony Australia and it fits into a Bachmann well wagon (33-879A) with it's boiler load removed....of course. I tested it in the wagon on a small demonstration layout at a local model railway shop complete with a single track tunnel.

The camera has Wi-Fi control and the user wears a wrist control which has a LED screen so what the camera films the user sees.

Here is a professional review of the Action Cam

http://youtu.be/4P340RTWo2M

[faulcon1]

I've come to a part on my railway where I'm going to have tunnels. Unlike indoors my tunnels will be constructed out of Hebel or Celcon blocks. Does anyone have any idea how to make Skaledale Tunnel Mouths adhere to the blocks and do the backs of the tunnel mouths need to be cleaned or prepared first.

I know that many on here have written that the Skaledale Tunnel Mouths are made for a train set. But to me that's ideal as I need the larger dimensions because it will be impossible to remove the roofs of the tunnels to rescue derailed stock.

My tunnel lengths will only be less than a length of Peco Streamline track so that all rail joints will be in the open and not unreachable in the tunnel.

It will also make track cleaning easier.

I will also be making some tunnel mouth covers so that my pink tongue goanna lizard can't take up permanent residence. She/he is not a pet but  "adopted" my place over 12 years ago.    

[faulcon1]

Horrors of horrors my outdoor ply has started to rot giving me a choice of having to replace whole boards or demolishing the whole railway and starting anew in some other location. The boards in the photos are my second effort. My first effort the treated pine timber warped to blazes in the hot sun and had to be replaced. This time however I'm not going to replace the boards a third time and at present I'm about three quarters of the way through the demolition process.

I'm looking at the garage as the place to have a model railway. Here in Australia I've found in the summer it's too hot to run trains and the autumn and spring it's often too windy which only leaves winter as a time when it's cool enough and still enough to run trains.

The Peco track survived with no detrimental effects to it and many piece have been saved for the next railway.

So goodbye Faulconwood and Springbridge railway....you were fun whilst you lasted. 

[faulcon1]

You can't keep an old garden railwayman down and after recovering from the shock of the last railways boards rotting away I seem to have found a material which maybe ideal for a ground level garden railway in any scale. It's called softfall/softrax, and is precoloured rubber granules and is designed for kids play areas in public parks and daycare centers. The manufacturer says it has a life of 10+ years. But that's with being jumped, walked on and having things dropped on and generally being abused.

On a garden railway that doesn't happen and I recently visited a small test track in OO where the base was this softfall/softrax. It's been there for around 18 years and is still as good as new.

There is a well known modeller who uses a rubber type track bed for the basis of his garden railway with cement, cork chips, rubber chips and all held together with an SBR binder. This softfall/softrax just uses the rubber held together with the binder. The whole lot is done in a wet pour process and can be contoured to any shape.

It's seems to be the ideal base for a garden railway.

It comes in lots of LOUD colours, like yellow, red, light blue etc, but also black and grey with grey being the ideal colour for the track bed.    

[Jongudmund]

Good luck with the softfall. Why not go for something fun like yellow? It might scare the lizard away from the tunnels

[faulcon1]

When I get round to doing this build I've decided to have the track layout completely different to the last one which was double track with long loops and sidings. This one will be four running lines so I can sit back and just watch the trains go by. If a path needs to cross the railway then the railway will go underneath the path via a brick lined tunnel, I say brick but actually a paver built tunnel with a removable roof and plug the openings. I want to have this railway running through a garden rather than being 1.2m to 2m high as before.

The idea of having four running lines is so I can have two passenger trains and two goods trains running on a continuous circuit without the need to worry about accidents. I have already proven that Peco OO Streamline track works well outdoors here in Australia and I also intend to use DCC Concepts power base for added traction on gradients. The track itself really only needs protection in the summer months when it's really hot (40 degrees+).

I'll have a couple of stations outside and Hornby Skaledale or Bachmann Scenecraft buildings are ideal for an outdoor life.

To keep the nasty spiders (red back and funnel webs) at bay I can spray the insides of buildings with an outdoor insecticide.

I'd have to modify a kit of a footbridge to enable it to go across four running lines and it would remain indoors when the railway is dormant.

I've also been looking at having built for me an outdoor railway room for the trains to run into for storage. Metal sheds are available here but their temperature range is huge so a room built to housing specifications with insulation and air con would I think be a better bet.