Leaderboard

last one for today. this is the path crossing

It all started one evening in the summer of 1999 when a knock onmy workshop door revealed a small 10-year-old boy by the name of Michael, theson of a neighbour. With a large smile and clutching a tatty cardboard box,which I ascertained later contained the remnants of a old, battered TriangGoods Train Set, he said to me “ Do you think you could help me put my trainset on a board and get it working againâ€. Well me being me settled down withMichael and over a few weeks and more than a few visits to the second-hand toystall on our local midweek market we had a small but presentable layout complete with scenery, cab control and two more young but willing helpers,Michael’s older brother Ashley and his younger sister Gamma. The deep interest in oo scale model railway that had been lost andforgotten some 15 years ago following an industrial accident, which left merelying on the use of a wheelchair, came flooding back. After the purchase of afew copies of Railway Modeller it became apparent that a visit to the ModelRailway Exhibition that we read was to be held just up the road at Doncaster inthe February of 2000 was very much needed to bring me up to date on thedevelopments that had occurred within the hobby over the last 15 years. Withthe promise of a few days holiday made to the better half, my lady wifeMargaret, an arrangement to visit the exhibition was settled. On arrival it became very apparent that wheelchair users could not very easily get to the front or indeed if you could you could not see the exhibits owing to the height of the base boards, so after only a short time I started to feel a bit claustrophobic owing to the large crowds. As we started to make our way to the exit with the intention of returning home, Fate played its hand, and as we turned rounded one of the corners we came face to face with the G.R.S. stand(Garden Rail Specialist) which immediately draw the remark from Margaret “ Why don’t we build in the gardenâ€. Well I ask you, does a bloke need telling twice,so I responded before she could change her mind with the purchase of the video“ Railways in your Garden†followed rapidly by half a dozen or so back numbers of Garden Rail magazine I spotted on another stand. Before leaving the G.R.S.stand an order was placed for their new catalogue that was to be available in the coming March. The journey home that only takes about 40 minutes seemed to take forever just because we now owned a video on garden railways and was very impatient to view it all the way through. I think we viewed it eight times that night and have viewed it numerous times since. We have spent many happy hours viewing, reading and discussing the way forwards. Following these many hours and reams of paper used we have finally come up with a plan of action. This is in the form of a three year plan which following all good business practice containing costing, work scheduling, gauge and construction methods The gauge took a while to settle on but the final decision was 15mm to the foot running on 45mm track and the motive power was to come from the track, using the LGB system as well as radio controlled battery powered engines. This to be of various designs, as a fixed time scale or place was not envisaged. The attached track plan has evolved after a number of problems that planning to this level reveals had been overcome. I feel that now may be a good time to explain the site available more fully and also the type and name for this new creation. My career has been over 30-years in the design, manufacture and sales of moulds used in the concrete garden ornament industry and as such has led to a large range of finished garden ornaments for sale to the general public in and around the gardens of my home at Tuxford, so it was felt that the first stage of the development should be this area of the property so as it may encourage more visitors or indeed allow the children of visitors to be entertained while their parents where free to browse and hopefully make a purchase. Now as for a name, after a lot of discussion with friends,neighbours and customers, it was put to the new board of management, the wife,that the G.V.R. seemed most appropriate, GNOME VALLEY RAILWAY. As a reader of Tolkens, The Lord of the Rings, a story line built up around Gnomes seamed obvious. So here it is. In the early part of the twentieth centaury hidden deep in the North Yorkshire Moors, a long forgotten valley known as Chiverton Dip, was found to house the home of a family of Gnomes mining Barley Sugar Ore. The family, known as the Evereats, soon became well known in the area for their high quality of Barley Sugar Puddings, the product obtained from Barley Sugar Ore. The growth of the business was rapid and it soon became apparent that transportation was going to be a problem. Lord Evereats, the head of and founderof the B.S.P. Co, (Barley Sugar Pudding Company), having numerous sons decided to send his three eldest to stay with relatives in various parts of the world to hopefully obtain knowledge on narrow gauge railway systems. It was also hoped that they could acquire on the cheap any redundant narrow gauge railway equipment. Gnomes being Gnomes are very shroud negotiators when money is being spent, but the lack of communication skills lead to the purchase by Grom, the elder brother, of rolling stock suitable for 3ft gauge while, Sven the second son,obtained stock for 2ft gauge. It was then left up to the third brother, Gorbad to come up with a plausible reason for the lack of discussions that had left them in this predicament. This is it. The top end of the valley, being very rugged and heavily forested was felt to be more suitable to the narrower 2ft gauge as it could negotiate the sharper bends that would be required. So the section from the mine to the processing plant would be 2ft. (32mm track gauge), and the other section from the factory and main dispatch area on up the valley to the main line would be3ft gauge. (45mm track gauge). The boy’s put together a presentation of their proposals and prepared to meet Dad on arrival home. After lengthy initial discussions it was decided to go ahead with the 3ft (45mm) section, as marked on the enclosed Map, The 2ft (32mm) section to follow at a later date. The shed was chosen as a starting point so as to obtain the working levels needed to continue around the garden, taking into account the need to be wheel chair friendly. The use of LGB radius 2 and 3 fixed to a fibreglass bolt together track bed system has been used on majority of the circuit, and maximum gradients of 1 in 30 have been adopted throughout. The shed is used mainly as a secure storage area, as well as a base for the electrics. The track leaves one end of the shed, travelling around a loop and back under itself. It travels along the edge of a ravine and rounding the curve enters the proposed junction station, which is the area that also houses the engine shed, coaling and watering facilities, as well as a steam up bay used by visiting live steamlocos. On leaving the station the line continues round a curve over a bridge near a waterfall and on through a small woodland area, that will eventually bethe site of the Tap Plant Nursery. The line carries on and doubles back up hill past a rock face embankment and back in the shed from the other end. The shed contains an 8ft by 2ft 4-road traverser and then completes the circuit. The junction will eventually have the 3ft(45mm) rack line leaving and travelling behind the Tap Plant nursery and up the end of the shed, were it will run along the back wall into a small hillside halt used primarily by walkers and sightseers. The Barley Sugar Pudding Factory will be located on the two-road sidings as marked on the map. These 2 roads will at some time in the future be extended along the back fence and into the barn that stands empty at the rear of the property, and is to be converted into a shop. The barley sugar ore produced in the Barley Sugar Mine Complex housed in the shed is to be transported from the mine around the circuit and on to a Barley Sugar Pudding factory. Now as we all know, the waste from the production of barley sugar pudding is pumped into settling ponds and this slurry is very high in minerals. This slurry can be dried, crushed and used as the basic ingredient in the production of one of the gnome’s favourite drinks, Gnomezade. The gnome valley bottling plant that bottles and market’s tap water, obtained from tap plants that are especially grown for this purpose on a nearby nursery, process and supply Gnomezade all over the valley. As can be seen the gnome valley railway have a very profitable looking feature, as so much of the traffic will be freight. As can be seen from all this traffic the line side buildings will mainly be industrial. A barley sugar ore mine and waste tip. A barley sugar pudding factory and settling ponds. A tap plant nursery. A bottling plant and storage/dispatch department. A goods yard with warehousing. The over all plan then is first to lay all storage roads in the shed and the full loop so running can commence as soon as possible. The junction station is next closely followed by the Barley Sugar Pudding Factory and the Tap Plant Nursery. The Barley Sugar Mine complex will, it is hoped, be constructed in the old barn when it has been renovated and made suitable. So please watch out for more updates as they become available. HAPPYSTEAMING.