Sturminster_Newton

Fremo standards indicate the joins need to be made well clear of a module edge. I assume you make up a piece of scenically dressed track around 100 mm long. 50 mm to each side of the gap. With soldered connectors that mate with the layout main line using something suitably solid to ensure alignment so that it slips into place as you connect the modules together. This would move the 'knife edge cut' inboard of the base board edge and out of harms way. There is a LOT to be said about muddling portable/modular lines in 100 section rail to put the most robust track at the most demanding place and adapt down to finer track where it is less likely to be damaged.

Put Mitre Box into Am Azon aka The Brown Box Corp and you will be spoilt for choice... This looks useful: Wolfcraft 2228000 250 x 73 x 60mm Aluminium Mitre Box with Clamp https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolfcraft-2228000-Aluminium-Mitre-Clamp/dp/B0002YYUWS/ref=sr_1_29?dchild=1&keywords=draper+mini+mitre+box&qid=1596803391&sr=8-29 or 14inch Saw Mitre Box, 0° 22.5° 45° 90° Four Angle Slot Types Saw Box Craftsman Tool with Clamp. https://www.amazon.co.uk/14inch-Mitre-22-5°-Angle-Craftsman/dp/B07P94RSVW/ref=sr_1_22_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=draper+mini+mitre+box&qid=1596803391&sr=8-22-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUVlFTTJPOFJTTzdLJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTAwMDczM1BHMjBFNjhaREdINiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDk4ODExMUVTQ1ZMR1FXQ01YQSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Sorry for the huge addresses

Nothing inspires more than actually running something and a roundy roundy session boosts the ego and desire to get it all finished! Been down that route a few times. Signals are fragile and easily broken given the other uses the garden may have I'd have a simple S&T set-up in the comfort of the indoor spaces and put a few of the Dapol signals into a modest box and use some of those very special DCC levers to operate them. Possibly a set of points or two with DCC point motors to switch then you can interlock and play to your hearts content or use the DCC's ability to operate volt free contacts to switch automatically. In my past I had a chain of electro mechanical timers set up to switch and reset a bank of units in my office. I had replaced the electro mechanical items with more modern fully electronic and there i something of a fascination if watching the dial indicators on a chain of units switch each into operation then reset. all great fun and very off topic... My line featured in Garden Rail fairly regularly when I reviewed the latest offings. So I set up lots of cameo scenes in different places to illustrate the model. My line is effectively a test track with a gentle gradient and a variety of curves although my ruling radius is LGB R3 I have some areas with 20-30 radius. Its appeal lies in the length of run and watching a train retreat into the distance and those that have visited have had a good afternoon's exercise chasing trains... There is a certain pleasure in seeing twin metals disappearing into the distance even with nothing running. I joined and have lapsed my membership of the 16mm Ass. I've had one open day and tried to set up a regular calendar, posted dates and catered for...no-one... BUT I got the chance to review and write for the magazine and used that to get pleasure from my line. I was at the time a 45mm loner in the midst of a 32mm heartland but we all derive pleasure in different ways. Writing put me in a position of knowing the 'trade secrets' so not being a sought after venue played very well into manufacturer's needs. I wish you well with your project and the planting up that will be needed to incorporate the line into the garden. There are a few books on the subject and from time to time articles appear in the magazines. I'll drop a list to you but cannot say if they are still in print as it is a rare and unusual topic. Once the line has been in 12-18months nature will have toned down the stark rawness and anywhere that traps water and is shady will grow moss naturally.

Reverse curve can trip up the unwary and perhaps you need to ease things to make a longer flowing curve with less of a right/left/right or vice versa or you will need to insert a piece of straight track between the changes of direction; ideally this piece of straight needs to be as long as a wagon to keep everything tracking as it rolls along. Smerty-Two is available down to 768 radius which seems impossibly tight but small loco's and short stock will go around. I had some 32mm track templates custom cut to ensure the tighter radius I need for an O-gauge indoor line. They are cheaper then you might imagine and it is also possible to get infinity radius cut too which is always helpful. Being narra gayge it needs to be a little rustic so a bit of off level is permissible UNLESS you intend to run at high speed. (a trip on the IoM always used to be an eye opener given the way the stock used to sway and pitch about) as too much undulation will have stock 'on the deck' which is a frustrating activity as couplings floppy 3 link chain set as rigid as welded steel... Unfortunately you have designed in a host of operating problems for yourself which will reveal themselves as you move into operation. EVERYONE does this it comes from thinking BIG railway and transferring it into narrow gauge. Look at the Leighton Buzzard line or any of the slate railways away from their freight sorting/transhipment yards. Narrow Gauge apart from Lynton and Barnstaple were scrimp and save operations and this should always be uppermost in the design process. I got it wrong too just to prove the rule has a basis...

Always liked the Fendyke and IMP combination. From the days when a battery diesel and small train could be bought for £180. I had my own version using a similar small Diesel with plasticard body and white metal frame O&K along with some Perfect World woodpecker stock. My version of the Rye and Camber but to 32mm not 45mm. The little diesel and consist used to orbit the BIG TRACK at GMES (equal to around 7scale miles) and took an hour, so the loco ran at a scale line speed. Whilst the garden railers argued over their "corner of the plot" garden line with considerably less running line and time 20-25 minutes of non-stop roundy-roundy at a scale 40mph. All horses for courses. BUT all great fun in their way

Well at least you'll remember why you once had knees... Looks to be a grand plan I'd suggest that you use something less friable than Rowlands Mix given the multiple occupancy use of the space especially where it is likely to get wet or be walked on or used as a cycle track. The most vulnerable track is pointwork and it gums up in no time where ever it is sited. And is expensive to replace. I used LGB brass girder track, 150metres of it, as I needed to be certain that it would survive chunks of oak falling from 40' up which it has. My garden is in woorland. Plus I know that I can walk along it with a broom to clear the line prior to applying the hand brush ahead of an operating session. (LGB used to run an advert with an elephant standing on the rails... I do not recommend walking on streamline.) I designed the line to a common level on a very gently sloping site, at one end it is at knee height at the other, 30 metre distant, about 8" above the soil. You mention camber = super elevation most narrow gauge lines run slowly so have a flat earth approach it is difficult to maintain in an outdoor scale of less than 10.25" and will eat into your operating time so be very careful if you introduce it. It may be more trouble than it's worth. I assume you will be planting the smaller areas of grass so that the plant life breaks up the trainset nature of the line as installed. This allows models to come in and out of view and provides a sense of journey. Practically it also saves trying to mow/strim fiddling patches of grass. (Time for a garden vacuum.) I wish you well with the project expect to fail and smile when it all works first time and keeps on working. But don't cuss too much when you spend a week end on your knees easing a length of repairing track into the grand scheme. Been there done that and still doing it...

PVA added on making the mix it is then spread through out rather than a thin skin.

Can you ease the gradient? Reduce the consist length/weight. Does the loco have the same issue when light engine or does it get progressively worse as the load rises? The various universal joints adding to the backlash of the gear-sets which may cause some oscillation back and forth along the transmission. As the loco 'brakes' and frees and the consist runs free and is braked. I assume the loco has a worm drive somewhere in the system which 'loads' and 'unloads' to start the problem. The live steamers don't do it as they are a more direct drive at around 4 or 6:1. The electric might be an overall 40:1 by the time it gets to the foremost/rearmost drive point. The transmission is trying to drive the motor worm faster but all it can do is force the drive gear into tighter mesh with the worm. As the worm leaves one tooth for the next the whole system unloads the motor spins up and then the weight forces the gear hard against the worm track providing some braking until it disengages for the next tooth. Eventually the worm will chew through the drive gear as at some point a gear tooth will fail, if the pins on the universals don't fail first. Steep grades and high worm gear reductions are poor bed fellows and surging is the outcome. There won't be a problem going up as the load is fairly constant but down, whole new ball game.

LGB uses 18-22v so be careful you do not put a 12v unit in place as the motor will not run at it's most efficient speed. IF you want to use radio control this is feasible you'll need a 6S LiPo of about 8-10 amp/hr capacity plus a charger/balancer also a suitable speed controller with forward and reverse (surprisingly) this will give you about 4-5hours of running time. This will be expensive to put in place but a 240v mains power LGB controller is not a cheap item due to the track power needed at the terminals, on a long line you'll need to lay in some 4 or 6mm bus bar feeds to help with the voltage drop. IIRC the average LGB motor motor needs about 2-2.5amp to drive it down the tracks, hauling a small train. Power demand rises on tight corners and climbing gradients. Onboard power is a good idea as it saves all the "£$%^&* when cleaning track which if it is more than that supplied with the loco can be an arduous pass-time. Fortunately LGB provide a power socket that you can connect your power car to and the only mod used to be the removal of the power pick-up sledges so the power from the battery does not feed into the rails. Other have fed 30-50v AC permanently to the rails and provided onboard electronic to convert to DC for the loco motors the higher voltage saves on the cleaning required but it is likely to give many a 'sensation' of electricity if they touch the live rail. At least you would not be too troubled by cats... If you intend to run a mainline service then the economics work back the other way and the power plough pickups will burnish the rail if you run intensive Bekonscot style services but you will still need to clean and check problem areas at least weekly. Finally be aware that LGB radius 1 corners apart from their admirable braking function are worn down by the loco wheels so unless you need tram style curves. The loco wheels also wear but are harder than the rails, LGB rails are notoriously variable in the quality of the brass so you can have pristine shiny rails and flangeless loco wheels... R2 is the minimum you should use and ideally R3, R4 or R5 if you have space. Much of the more modern stock is set to go around R1 but it looks more at home on R3 and above, Accucraft US outline bogie cars out of the box must have 4' radius as a minimum NOT LGB R3 as R3 is around 3'10" radius and as with all matters in life those 2" can be vital. I know of LGB section 45mm R0 curves which IIRC are 16" radius but again are for loco's in the slow creeping thing stable and only if they are a demand led option due to lack of space. Enjoy playing in the garden there is nothing quite like it.

Bespoke is expensive but be careful with the description as some councils get very excited if they see it described as a workshop... Permitted development allows a degree of fexibility to what you can put up. If I were starting from scratch I am inclined to go with an 'alpine house' on dwarf walls, because: It does not get too hot being an open sided green house. It provides easy shelter allowing operations into the late Autumn and from early spring and any showers or rain don't stop your operational enjoyment. I'd have some custom stainless trays constructed and build the line along thermalite blocks filling the lineside with real plants. Alpines are naturally small and do not require much in the way of soil depth, you could even use Bonsai if you plant into shallow stainless planters plunged into the horticultural grit. I know it sound an expensive option but a neighbour has a desert house for his collection of small cacti and his stone outcrops feature a range of plastic animals from the schleich. A green house is not secure so I'd bring all the high value fittings inside at the end of operations. A shed in the garden is one option in many and by their nature a compromise in more than one way as are shipping containers and other non-standard forms of accommodation.

Rowlands is only the start. If you are in damp or north facing spot it may not be the best form of 'ballast' as the peat will retain water which will freeze and break down the mix over time and you will have sections, every spring, to renew. If you track is in a sunnier spot it will fair pretty well and only break down over time. To make it more robust some EXTERNAL PVA can be added this will stick things together more fully and give a more resilient 'ballast' it will still grow a covering of moss. It will last about 15 years before it all breaks away seemingly overnight... I have used micro concrete which is a 4:3:2 mix of 3mm grit, silver sand and cement, into which I have added a good slug of external PVA. Laying this with trowel and handbrush tamps it into all the crooks and nannies. This will stay put for years and years. I have sections in woodland which are nicely mossy, areas in full sun that is still as good as the day it was laid but it all greens up into the autumn and until the spring. The only downside is the more impervious nature of this 'ballast' is water retention and I end up with water troughs between the rails. Breaking out damaged sections with micro concrete is a heavy tools job once you have the fastenings out you'll need bolster, club hammer, gloves goggles... Rowlands can be swept away and any stubborn areas a bolster will soon scrape clear. External PVA will take on a milky hue for a few weeks until it is finally settled then it will become transparent, I used LGB track and 'micro ballast' so I can 'walk my length', a scale mile, with a broom and in 30 minutes everything is ready to go even after five or six weeks... So choose what best suits what your micro-climate is like and where it is situated...then lay the 'ballast' appropriate with the time you want to spend on track fettling and that you wish to enjoy running trains.

Nothing wrong with Train-sets on the carpet or a hunk of 6x4 (metric sizes are available) green painted 3-ply to run the collection of puff-puffs on imaginary trips on the WCML. My first baseboard was put together by my father all built wrong and anything but square BUT it survived three house moves. With a train-set no one can say the riveting, livery, motive power is all wrong. You don't even need to fix the track down. My great nephew gets huge fun from my collection of MyWorld sets. Named the Wilton and Axminster it is as ethereal and insubstantial as any integrated transport policy. There is a LOT to be said for just watching/listening to the trains going by...

Guys, Hornby/Peco standard set-track centres are 67mm so for most items of 0-16.5 this will be enough. The addition into all legs of special straight R610 of a passing loop using left and right or left/left right/right pointwork will spread the rails a little wider & make the loop a little longer. for more detail perhaps: https://www.Hornby.com/media/pdf/Track-Geometry-PDF.pdf will help the grasp of the basics of geometry. Not much in the narrow gauge world is standard and, as most here as has been observed, single track lines so centres are mostly academic.

Not being a physicist I am not sure this is all together a practical solution with a conventional Mamod steam plant. Fixed stationary engines will work in compressed air but you have the problem of lubrication to consider. Steam is an expansive product due to its latent heat released as it expands and cools and 1cc of steam will expand 16000 times when released to atmosphere. 1cc of air at 100C will be less expansive due to the much lower density of the air molecules. Water has about 20 times the density of Air. So you'll need a very strong and large reservoir to drive a mamod any more than a few feet on compressed air and 10 minutes of run would need a resevoir that weighed more then the the mamod could haul. You might consider a small coreless motor driving a small compressor powered by a li-po battery and the compressor set to deliver power to the cylinders BUT NOT VIA THE BOILER, unless things have changed mamod boilers are soft soldered brass tube so should not be used as an air pressure vessel due to the variabilty in the alloying metals used. It also wastes engery to charge the boiler rather than drive the cylinders direct. This would drive the mamod but very inefficiently due to all the energy loses in the system. Compressed air storage is being investigated for commercial power generation where the air drives a turbine to give near instant power to the grid to absorb the power dips caused by commercial breaks and power stations by their nature tend not to be the most mobile of items. Small hot air engines can be made to work via the Stirling principle where heat is transferred to and from the driving air but to get real work from a stirling required a booster to super-heat the charge air. Philips petroleum amongst others were developing high power external combustion engines in the late 1960s and early 70s and did have a 100hp test rig but the practicalities of the engine made it less fuel efficient than existing oil fueled systems. Enjoy your experiments but for most 'on the bench testing' of the principle is about as far as it is practical.

Looked at the original and the pic with the pink houses, as has been notified it's not the same venue. However take yourself to 86 High St Caerharris you'll see the original two up two down cottage somewhat extended and what was the post office under the modern rendered exteriors. The biggest clue is the telephone pole positions. BT/PO were very keen for their line plant to remain in place for decades. So are fairly reliable pointers for accurately placing pictures in an area that may have changed it's appearance. The trackbed now leads into Muriel Terrace, the aerial view on Google earth also shows the track of the alignment through the area as various structures have a railway sized gap between them for no apparent reason. Sometimes tracing old railway routes is easy following twin lines of trees across farmland etc. Or the way the road geometry suddenly smooths into graceful curves etc when the highway took over the track bed. In the Caerharris case you can trace the original mainline along Station Terrace and hedge lines to what is now the Brecon Mountain railway. There are a few clues obtained from projecting from the Caerharris crossing to indicate it also made it's way to the Brecon Railway site. As the years pass some of the clues are removed by development but some remain in the shape of 1970s homes in the midst of Victorian villas. Exmouth Viaduct is a case local to me that I have been able to correct on a local website which placed the viaduct 300 yards too far into the town centre from its original foundations. It can be interesting and informative to use Google Earth and its revelations to illustrate where a line once ran. Certainly helps initial surveys.

Playing devils advocate Build it like a train-set, roundy. Flat boards no scenery, just the track layout, as BR might have to train signallers. But do put in ALL the signals and points. Then you only have to run the locomotive(s) with correct headcodes but no stock. Loops compressed to a loco length.

Just a quick heads up on this Plymouth Based company. I commissioned some O-gauge track templates from them. The commission was accepted, designed, cut and delivered within an extremely short period. First a standard template of O-gauge R2. Then two non-standard templates to suit R1 and R0 alignments for a wharf based Micro-layout. Amazingly when 'racked' together the difference in the largest and tightest radius is almost imperceptible. Laid out side by side the difference is more visible as the templates 'nest' at 80mm centres. When working in restricted space a little extra clearance between lines is important with tight radius. Designed for O-gauge they will suit those laying SM-32 in the garden. I also had two infinite radius templates one of 150mm and one of 300mm, the shorter of these being ideal for maintaining alignment across baseboard joints. The 1020mm template dropped straight into the section of Peco O-gauge set-track. No rattle and no tight spots. My thanks to Rail Model for the exemplary work and service. Rail model also have a range of buildings and modeller assistance items for scratch builders. A visit to their website https://railmodel.co.uk/ is a revellation. Other than being a satisfied customer I have no connection with Rail Model.

Why not buy two more boards and arrange them to provide a 'well' in the centre? Assuming you have space to put down a 6' x 6' railway. You get a full circuit of R2 and R1 set-track plus a the option of some HOe or 009. Being a small layout only part of the circuit is easy to see which retains interest for operator and viewer. If you can live without the roundy-roundy scenario one baseboard could become a non-scenic stock fiddling yard. The other three baseboards could be three different scenes. I recommend 60 Plans for Small Railways by CJFreezer or Peco STP-OO Setrack Planbook 4th Edition both show you what could be feasible for OO in a modest space. Although the former has a few tricks that the latter has missed probably because trainset roundy layouts are 10 to the penny, and a model railway layout is not a trainset tail chaser. Remember the plans do not need to be slavishly followed, it is the principle you are after. A surf of the net will find companies that will laser cut 10" and 13" radius track templates allowing you to make the most of the space. Use small locomotives and private owner rolling stock. On a layout this size you need to think outside the usual box. Not having passenger transfer can play to an advantage on a small layout. Although with the proposed Hattons generic 4 and 6 wheeled coaches becoming available could work in a bit of passenger transport. Off-set track to a station by using same hand point work or use Y points and think Haven Street. Don't build a standard BLT with buffers and dead end, do something different perhaps with a detached yard or industry beyond your minimal platform. Final rule less is more so don't pack in too much.

Rather than worry about what won't go around a R1 curve consider what will. We all have space constraints and too many say this or that cannot be done which puts off those who do not use a bit of brain power. Most of the newer small locomotives and, GOK we are overrun with small four coupled models at present, will trundle around R1 all day. There is a certain Muddle shoppe in Newton Abbot BEKRO that has in the window a modernish Diesel running slowly around R1 yes it has been modified BUT it does it 8 hours a day 6 days a week... Elsewhere on this site there is comment on the Hornby DS48 running happily around a 7" radius curve. Bachmann's Wickham, the Hornby Pug and Pecket, the Dapol Sentinel and much else besides will run around R1. Unfitted private owner stock will also go around what modern bogie stock won't. There is a plan of Yarmouth South Quay somewhere on this site which dates from a Wailway Toddle of 1970s vintage and that proposes a 9 or 10 radius corner with small tight radius point work all squeezed onto a 4 x 2 baseboard. A working exhibition model was constructed and ran successfully using short 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 locomotives. So before stating it can't be done, it most likely can but with a few constraints. All it needs is a proper design and also a prototype that never ran at high speed. There is something very satisfying about setting a small loco with 6 or 8 open vagons or wans into motion and watching it rattle over points disappear into a tunnel to reappear and potter about the layout appearing and disappearing in the landscape clambering up gradients to descend to the level before returning to the start. Providing a sense of journey to the viewer and operator. If you are happy to settle for an industrial layout then currently the world is you mollusc... There may not be the glamour of mainline high speeds, sometimes we sell out to the glamour of the "Race to the North" and ignore the operation of dock, quayside, gasworks and quarry railways, places where the real money was earned by small busy locomotives.

Longmoor Military Rail Training Centre is the answer. A circuit, two branches and MPD and a few yards to canter back and forth in to shift the stock about. I'm sure there were other camps with workable scenarios for muddlers to pursue. (Bisley springs to readily to mind.) Longmoor also featured in at least two films location work, the Great St Trinian's Train robbery being one of them. Greatest loss to railway hertitage in the history of greatest losses. It was a heritage line in its own right simply because of the age of the rolling stock employed. Probably the closest to a 12" scale Hornby Trainset ever built with a practical purpose. It has much to commend it even built as a series of scenic modules, linked by non scenic sections. It also has the potential to absorb the activities of several operators.

Move the computer desk under the window or behind the door. The window is tiny and building the layout across it, even 5' off the floor, will reduce the natural light into the space and increase the hemmed in feeling of a small room. Putting the desk behind the door which is a pain from the reflection on the screen but puts all the movable obstructions on one wall. Also puts the layout beside not across the desk, so you are less likely to head butt it...until you want a guitar. There is power behind the door, useful for powering the layout etc. I'd strip it all back to an end to end shelf style layout make a virtue out of N-gauge's ability to twist and turn in small spaces and tuck everything into the minimum intrusion of a shelf set at 5' this would of necessity need to be quite narrow 200 - 305mm certainly not more than 400mm wide. It might limit the layout to a section of branchline/light railway but would make more of a virtue of the room's profile and reflect it onto the track design. Otherwise it has the potential to be claustrophobic to live under/with. It will also be arm archingly head bumpingly painful to build with broad sweeps of baseboard to cover at shoulder height which is very tiring action to repeat for hours at a time. As a shelf line it could be sectional, and thus demountable which would ease things down to a more comfortable working height for construction.

A few of us have enough space to 'get in' a couple of scale miles of run so muddling a section of a small mineral line is possible. Equally a small quarry line is possible in a much smaller space. And there was/is a model of the Leighton Buzzard line based on Mamod cast metal track and featuring small locomotives just life the prototype...which would please many.

Atlas 3 rail is available as 0-27, 0-31 and a whole raft of other radius that would need a small public hall to set up a simple circuit plus some heart-stoppingly expensive and fairly complex track packs, for those that like 'out of the box' lines. Meanwhile my experiment with modular construction using derived R0 and R1 geometry continues. I have had some custom cut track templates produced, details to follow, to make laying decent curves a possibility for this 10-thumbed muddler.

I'm not suggesting you might take a CJF "rabbit warren" layout plan and build it in your garden. BUT the basic principles of the design would work without having to build your own version of the Cambrian Mountains across your garden. Although duplicating the basic design in mirror image would allow one to 'design out' the hidden roller coaster links between levels and build it a space of 16 x 16 probably more the preserve of those with G-scale leanings and electric traction. The key to all the design books it to take elements mix match and rearrange them rather than slavishly copy them. There are a couple of CJF small layouts built on four modules 3'3 x 15" with a ruling radius of 15". All of which should be manageable on four modules of 1000 x 450 mm with modern R2 in OO. My slight improvement is to add an additional module as fiddle yard to the design and make far better us of an 8x4 space than a flat slab of ply on a frame the usual basis of a train-set railway.

Remember that CJF plans can adapt to other scales N, TT, O by dint of his grid resizing to 6, 9 and 21". Indeed you can continue to 'up scale' by multiplying the base board dimensions to your chosen scale. When I was setting out my garden line I multiplied a few of the 009 plans by a factor of 4 to get a handle on how much space I needed for a reasonable size station in the great out doors at 16mm/ft. Where a 4 x 2 layout becomes 16 x 8 patio line with the railway built up on dwarf walls etc. Similarly some old plans designed for no longer standard radius track. Might be can rescaled by using the next radius up from your chosen setrack radius as the grid pitch... i.e scaling at 438mm (R2) will give adequate space for R1 (381mm). Vintage grided plans can operate outside their design scale if you do a little pondering and thinking outside the constraining box.