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I'll keep you posted on progress on my line as it develops -it's my first foray into the outdoors, so I'm sure I'll learn a lot along the way. All advice is welcome!
The route is a double loop figure of eight, about 30 metres long, and the intention is to go for live steam and battery haulage -not track power. Within those constraints, I intend to base the line on the former MNR route somewhere between Ramsey and Kirk Michael ('the boring bit', according to some!); and roughly in the late 40's or 1950's.
Here goes...
The pegs show the alignment...
Although not very clear, the trench on the right may well become Lezayre station..
The groundworks are coming along: the heavy soil cuts easily when it is wet...
The line falls quite rapidly here; I may need to modify the alignment. The cherry tree (middle distance) may have bloomed its last; the daffodils will get one last go.
The recent decent weather has seen a bit of progress -blocks have been levelled in the trench, with straight sections 'bridged' in softwood.
I've made a bit of a schoolboy error surveying the line. I thought there would be a level crossing here, over the path -but keeping the track fairly level means that it is about 6 inches higher than predicted! The good news is that I wanted to model the Basket Bridge but couldn't find a location and this gives a reason. The bad news is that the line crosses the path further up the garden -and the height difference is even greater there, and it's on a curve! I'm thinking of 'borrowing' another Manx prototype -the Laxey viaduct- albeit on a smaller scale.
Both bridges will be removable to permit The Great Black Wheelbarrow passage...
With all the blocks in place -but requiring concreting- it was time for a morale-boosting temporary track lay. F40 stands on the bridge...
...and curves and clearances are checked.
Apart from one 'sticky' buffer pivot (too much glue!), everything goes well. I'm hopeful of completing the track in time for Peveril's arrival. As is the works train, by the looks of it.
Quite a while has passed since the last update. A cement mixer has helped to speed up block setting and mortaring, timber 'bridges' have been fixed and felted...
The spoil heap is looking more like a raised bed, too...
The (removable) Laxey-style viaduct lies on the curve across the path; or it will, once it's finished. The bridge at the far end is scheduled to be a wrought iron affair, but a rendered masonry item has been built for the time being.
The block wall in the previous picture has been clad with log roll, and track has now been laid; with perfect timing, the sun came out just as I was checking clearances. The 'spoil heap' in the background is being planted up, too: there has been a balance to strike between 'garden' and 'railway' work!
A couple of dry weekends, and the arrival of a dual rail bender, has pushed progress along. The final panel of rail was laid this afternoon, completing the 'running line'; the spur to the steam-up area is yet to be completed. I've hit a couple of snags: despite checking everything 'dry', a couple of the blocks have shifted slightly when concreting them in, and I've had to pack the rail to accommodate this; and the tighter radii curves don't quite follow the blockwork foundations, so I'll need to pour a bit more concrete.
The final insult is that, having avoided actually calculating the necessary width required for the curved viaduct, I guessed incorrectly; so whilst it is passable to four wheeled stock (above), the bogie stock can't get round. I'll cut down the walls so the running boards clear -luckily I hadn't started to apply a finish to the curved ply!
I had a bit of a disappointment mid-week; while the bogie coaches took this curve perfectly, the four wheeled stock derailed. This highlighted the big difference in garden railways: that the 'baseboard' isn't flat! Despite taking care to level the blocks, there are some dips, so I've had to loosen off the screws holding the track down and pack it with ply to level things up. The good news is that the stock now runs as it should -all except H2, which is fine on its own, but clearly doesn't like company!
With an Accucraft 'Peveril' due for delivery, the 'steam up' spur needed building; posts were concreted in, and decking boards laid on top. As the garden slopes here, the line continues on the level, ending up about a metre off the ground, which is a good height.
The arrival of the loco uncovered some defects in the track: one short section will need relaying and the alignment changing, whilst in other spots a change in gradient causes the rolling stock to uncouple itself! And the 'Manks Bridge' (shown below) has warped; it required some hefty planing to get the trackbed level with the abutments.
Gradually the other pieces of rolling stock were tested...
And then the sun came out. What could be better?
Which sums up what it's all about, really. So with the line complete, and plenty of work ahead to create stations (Lezayre and Bishopscourt first: I like quiet places!), this is the end of this part of the story: the line is born.
Update: 2017
Five years after laying my line, a few faults had appeared. Some were my fault: I'd created a couple of tight curves which led to occasional derailments and buffer-locking, while the 'block and bridge' construction gave straight runs with sharp curves, rather than wider meanders. And finally, the blocks had been laid on edge which made the trackbed unrealistically narrow, while the concrete holding them in place was over-engineered. So further a re-lay was required, following the success of last year's work on Bishopscourt. Blocks were laid side on (less digging required!), bedded on sharp sand and then concreted in place: I was much more careful to get the levelling right, with the result that most of the line is flat. So, to conicide with TT fortnight, it has been possible to run eight-coach trains...
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