New garden layout

Hi Allan,Dewey, well the weather had better pick up some time soon for its keeping me back and the forecast for the next few days isn't good either. Can't get my flat river stones because the river level is up over where I usually gather them by a number of feet.So I'd need to snorkel for them right now ! Anyway,today I've been trying to get the engine terminal tracks in place between downpours. A couple of bits to do but the general layout is complete now.Just need a few good weather days to get it ballasted and titivated up. heres the lates pic I took two minutes ago. Catch you later guys    DAVY 

Lad,

Bollocks! Aye, ya may go arse over elbow a wee bit if the rivers raging, but isn't that part of the adventure... the fun. Don some goggles, tie off one of your legs to a nearby tree and dive in, man! If you've got a water proof camera take it with ya and get some underwater shots of the river bottom, and the flat rocks that you're after.

It would be like doing your own National Geographic type thing. Now hurry up, lad... we're waiting!

Davy Crockett would have gone in... raccoon hat and all.

So far, you've battled the ****ed midges, drove a spike into your toe and burned the skin off your hands. What's a little rushing water....?

Make Scotland proud, Davy... makes us all proud!

BTW, I sort of like that green engine.

Rick

You've no doubt heard of the famous Scottish Bell Rock lighthouse, built by the world famous engineers, the Stevenson family.

I read an excellent book years ago called "the lighthouse Stevensons" by Bella Bathurst. The Bell Rock lighthouse is a great engineering feat and a brilliant example of human perseverance.

It blows me away... how they built the Bell Rock lighthouse in that unbelievably challenging location... Creating a stable base, that would withstand the test of time, in an area almost always under water; and that is subject to the most brutal weather conditions...

That is just brilliant!

Don't let the Stevenson's capture all the glory...

Rick

The age of Enlightenment - Scottish Enlightenment(18th century Scotland)

Scotland's Golden Age.

An impressive period...

Rick

Davy,

Is it possible for you to capture your entire layout... in one  frame? A picture showing your overall layout. I've been waiting to see the whole thing.

I was looking at a picture of a real Pennsylvania S1, recently, and I think a well-done model of the 6-4-4-6 would look quite good, on a layout like yours.

Rick

Hi Rick,

         Aye it's possible...... but no yet ! Weather permitting I'll be startin the right hand side of the garden this week ,in the meantime heres a UP FEF on the turntable 

Aye, keeping the best for last...

You're pretty much at your limit with the FEF, re: your turntable, a 6-4-4-6 probably wouldn't fit. That's when your wye could reverse larger locomotives.

It just dawned on me, as I am typing this, that appropriate trackside lighting(i.e. signals etc.) would probably look quite good in the evening. The trains would look cool running with their lights on... as well.

See ya,

Rick

Hi Guys ,not a lot to report as wet weather and other commitments have kept me back the last few days. However got the back left hand corner of the trackbed pushed on a bit and got the back run along the fence prepared for cementing.  Also bought a few cheap and cheerfull British outline O gauge models. They will be getting re-painted in late British Railways colours as they are in pre-1947 colours scheme at present. I intend to have the US outline water columns /coaling dock etc interchangeable with British style ones so's I can chop and change as the mood takes me.   DAVY

Hi Davy

I am sort of surprised you did not have drainage "ditches" on either side of the track in that depressed cut as shown in the last photo. Won't that channel rainfall directly onto the track?

Hi Bruce , hasn't been a problem so far,bear in mind that that whole area is rubble underneath. If I do get any puddling it'll be a simple case of drilling a hole/holes thru the cement with a masonry drill wherever required but so far no water has gathered anywhere yet.  The next part of the railway along that back straight,over the stream and down the  right hand side is where I am hoping to make things quite scenic and interesting .I'm hoping to "over and under" the lines twice single track style and return to paralel running towards the station area along the lawn. Don't know exactly how it will pan out yet,still kinda visualising it in my head,but I have a fair idea of what I want to do.  Cheers   DAVY  

Hi Guys, well nothing doing right now on the garden due to rotten weather. However heres a wee interlude to warm the hearts of any of you with Scots or Irish  blood in your veins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l2A8av9srE&feature=related I think you'll enjoy this Rick.  The scenery is the Isle of Skye,Scotland the, music and langauge is Gaelic.  ENJOY

Davy, thanks for posting that video...beautiful scenery and music! Skye is on my bucket list. I also want to take that rail line to Kyle of Lochalsh.  I have roots on both sides of the Irish Sea, but have no facility with Gaelic, alas. I have been enjoying the updates on your garden railway. Thank you!

Hi John, glad you liked it, heres a slightly different slant musically  ,I recommend a good set of earphones full up or crank up the sub-woofers and bass !  A wee tune called "Sleepy Maggie", live concert in Germany by the Scots band Celtica last year...enjoy.  (This island here ISN'T ALL ENGLAND !)   ha ha ! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPcKudXY8LM

Cracking! ( or whatever adjective comes to mind.)

Aye, I've always Liked the look of rock, rolling hills... and the sea.

The music... very emotionally powerful. When I'm in a reflective mindset, that type of music can be almost too intense. In me, it can produce a beautiful melancholy...

Thanks lad,

Rick

Hi Rick,

          Aye I know exactly what you mean. Glad you liked it.    DAVY

Sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but sometimes melancholy is the richest, most pleasurable experience... when it comes to emotions.

A good pipe man, such as yourself, would likely know this...

BTW, there is a great knowledge-type TV series called "Planet Earth". Recently, there was a good bit on the Earth's weather.

Here, in south western British Columbia, we're finally in for some good weather.

Take care lad,

Rick

Hi Guys,well hasn't stopped raining since I last posted,however hopefully the rain has to abate overnight so hopefully will get some work done at last. Anyway found this short clip on you tube. Rick you'll like this.

The location is Comrie Miniature Railway in Highland Perthshire last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mxTzrClsRA  enjoy !! 

Hey Davy,

Great video, which one are you? Nice looking steam engine.

Hi Chuck, No ,I'm no in that video. I actually just found it on you tube. I have been to that railway in Comrie though and its quite a set up .  Cheers  DAVY 

Do you do anything to protect your trains from the suns UV rays?

Hi CEV, the quick answer is no. When I had G scale my rolling stock remained outside most of the time and paintwork on it did fade as per the real thing. However G scale stuff (and most of mine was Aristocraft and Bachmann) is usually made in UV resistant plastics. This time round with O scale I have a direct run into my shed so trains won't be left to the elements. Most of my locomotives are brass .So bottom line is exposure to the sun won't affect them and the plastic bodied rolling stock won't be in full sunlight enough to affect them in a major way. Plus here in Scotland we don't get anything like the amount of hot sunshine of the likes of some places in the states. As for my track ,its all Peco and as far as I know the plastic used in it is all UV resistant as per their G scale stuff. I am lifting Peco G45 track that has been in place for years and the sun doesn't seem to have affected it at all.The same can't be said for what Aristo track I had. The plastic in it seems to have deteriorated to an extent. So UV isn't a big concern, my trains won't be sitting in hot sunlight for hours on end.

Ya got me laughing with that video.

Too bad you haven't been able to get on with your layout... The friggin midges are probably building up their ranks for a massive assault on ya, lad; once you emerge after the rain lets up. Loch Rick is probably midge central.

My scale wheels CNW Dash9-44CW arrived at my dealers today. They just have to check it out... I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Today, I ordered a couple of Atlas O (Master) 53' Evan double plug door box cars. I'm trying to get them in the Georgia Pacific livery. My second choice is Grand Trunk, and my 3rd is Boise Cascade. Nice looking cars.

Hopefully, good weather is Glasgow bound.

Take care,

Rick

Davy,

I was just thinking... Bob Dylan's "knockin' on heavens door" might sound good with some pipes?

Dylan and Guns N' Roses... maybe, Cafe Royale? Not kidding around, here... it might work? Great song!

Rick

here's an'ther vid clip by Celtica, featuring one of my fav'rites.... oy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4aUPC0zMok&feature=related

Hi Guys, aye the Scots and Irish stuff's good fun eh ? Anyway,suns out today and I'm back into the garden.Been shifting buckets of crushed rock from the front of the house up to the back left hand corner to get it finished. However decided to take a wee break from that and ballast some of the track in the engine terminal area. made up a dry mix of fine crushings and mixed it with cement powder. Spread it over the tracks brushed it in carefully levelling the track as I went then brushed it all clear of the rails and switch blades etc.,etc., then gave it a very fine spray of water using a bottle with an atomiser on it. Now just leaving to set. Looks OK.   

You've given it a well used, heavy traffic look. Well done, lad.

Rick

How do you control those turnouts Davey? I see an oblong piece of material over the throwbar on each one, is that some sort of a control setup?

This is nice railroad building Davey...keep it up, and appreciate your sharing and the music is good too...

Bob

Hi Bob, I will have no automatic switch control at all. Just a long thin snooker-Q style pole to push or pull the switch bldes and everything will be manual. However when I have my grandkids about I'll get them to run about changing the switches. As for the switch mechanisms heres a close up . Pretty straight forward. Peco switches have very simple but effective mechanisms using a very simple spring wire. 

Hi guys ,well here's todays progress. I'm now working on the back left hand corner patio ,been filling it with crushed rock most of the day. I will be finishing it as per the  patio around the paddling pool with flat river stones,however with the local rivers running so high right now with all the rain we've had it'll be a couple of days before the water drops low enough for me to get access to the stone bed where I normally go. Other than that I've laid some more track fixing timbers along the back fence  towards the wee stream and have started to lift whats left of the G scale track down the right hand side of the garden. I was hopin/thinkin  to split the parallel double track running and do up and overs a-la-single track look style but I've chnged my mind. I'm instead thinking to fan the double tracks out to four track (ie,a passing loop on each line as I bridge the "river" and part way along the right hand side of the garden . This would let me hold 2 longish trains in the passing places and it should look quite good as it will mean trains sittin parked over the water as trains on the other tracks run by. With the passing loop in the station too which is planned for this would let me hold 5 trains on the main circuit. Umptten locos in the engine terminal area and even a couple of trains on the wye. I've given up on the up and over idea because I think the grades would be too severe in the space I have though I probably will take the rear line up in height a bit before coming back to the same level at the station. Anyway thats the rough plan. (at the moment !) Anyway some pics attached. 

Me son,

I've just finished up running some nice looking teams of oh-so-fine North American diesel-electric motive power. Today, was mostly eastern US power with a Canadian CN team thrown in... an ES44DC leading a SD70M-2.

After I finished with the trains... I felt like hearing that Skye-Quirang music you recently posted. For me, the first piece, when the strings kick in with the pipes... that is magic. I think strings and pipes complement each other... extremely well.

I checked out a number of different pipe sites, after seeing/hearing the Skye site; and I like what's on Skye site, the best.

The Australian(from Perth) " the Badpiper" has some fun...

BTW, I can picture castle Rick, high up on one of those grassy escarpments. I'd be wearing a flat black kilt and sporran, high top black combat boots, full beard... the works. Maybe, even listening to some war pipes, eh... to keep those intruders away.

Re: your masterpiece... I forgot, how are you going to control your trains?

How well/smoothly do brass pieces run? I heard brass looks good, but...

Cheers lad,

Rick

I forgot to mention, in my part of the world, mountains are everywhere. Just a short 20 minute drive from downtown Vancouver... we have our Coastal mountains, including: Grouse, Cypress and Seymour.

Plus a little further out... Whistler. On the way up to Whistler, you pass by Garibaldi Provincial park. The extinct volcano chimney, Black Tusk, is found in Garibaldi park. You can almost drive to the base of it... the actual chimney.

I spent a night up there with some friends, when I was in my early 20's, one summer. We were camped off to one side of the chimney base. What a cool place to kick back and have a few brews... We were on dry/clear ground, and the glacier was only a short distance away.

The view was spectacular... you're on top of the world. The Skye music would have fit in great.

I used to frequently fly(for work) from YVR(Vancouver International Airport) to Prince George. The route went up over the coastal mountains. What a view, once you're airborne, leaving Vancouver. Snow capped mountains for as far as the eye can see.

I was blown away, when I saw that for the first time.

Rick

Hi Rick,you just caught me before I headed to bed. heres another beautifull melody for you. A Gaelic song ,in English it means "leaving the place". The last part played on the sax is being played in the Mausoleum here in Hamilton where I live. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGMR3yX630k&feature=related

Thanks for the music, Davy. The Skye piece is still my favorite... so far. It's got a melodic, powerful, deep haunting feel to it... you feel it. It's unsettling in a good way.

The right setting sure adds to the experience, too.

Rick

Off on a wee bit of a musical/melody tangent -

have you ever heard "Stop The Cavalry"... a 1980 song, by Jona Lewie? Apparently, it  somehow became affiliated with Christmas.

The horns melody, is what sticks in my mind.

Later lad,

Rick

This is like building the real thing! Sheesh. I wish I had an excavator.

It would be nice if you could get a species or two of extremely small, real, evergreens. Pretty much everything else could be made to effectively mimic reality.

Some well-placed real trees would add remarkable visual impact... Not much could duplicate that look.

Rick

Hi Joe, great stuff, you've been making progress eh ?. Now I'm guessing but I'm thinkin that that concrete support is in the intended pond ? Or at the edge of the pond ?. If so how are you going to tackle the pond liner ? If its actually  going to be in the pond I'd put the liner in that hole first and the concrete support in cement within the liner. Your intention isn't to go drape the liner over the support ?. I'm just guessin of course Joe , but if  was you I'd definately put the liner in place first. I could of course be reading your intentions completely wrong ???? Anyway plenty progress there since the last time you posted. Go for it !! Good stuff      Cheers DAVY   

 Well Davy, the trouble is I don't really know what I'm doing! Someday there will be a pond there. I need to dig it down 30 to 45" so the fish don't freeze??  For right now, just a rock garden? I heard that concrete will kill fish and I'm not sure even if I want fish? The liners were going to be expensive(to me) and then the pond store told me all the equipment I would need (filter, pump, etc.). I don't want to put out another grand on this yet. I need to get the track beds built around the yard. The price of track is crazy.

 So, should I drop the bridge abutments in the holes for now and remove them later for a liner? How would I hide the liner around the concrete so the fish don't get killed? Should I just say the heck with the fish?

 Too many questions have kept me from even getting started til now. I'm just getting anything going forward and I'll fix it later!!! I would just love to run some trains. Someday a water feature like the pic I copied of yours, Joe

Hello Joe,

I am sure Davy will answer your questions.  I just wanted to say that I relate to your comments.  Davy's posts indeed inspired me to start a garden railroad, and he has been a tremendous help to me.  Like you I have run up against the cost of a water feature and the crazy cost of track.  I am personally focused on the water feature at present and have been picking up bits of track here and there as I can afford them. 

There is a group in Colorado that set up a garden track at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.  I have not seen the track, only videos of it.  The comment that struck me was from a member who suggested starting with a modest layout and letting it build from there.  I had great plans for a complex layout, but have since simplified and decided to do a piece at a time.  They started with a circular track around a tree.  Now it is much more sophisticated. 

Also I realized that I couldn't afford even a simple layout all at once, so I'm doing it in stages.  I don't know your situation Joe, but if it is like mine, breaking it down into manageable (and affordable) pieces may help.

Good luck.

Craig