Ambleside

In the mid nineteen fifties my father and I would visit an extensive 3 rail garden railway based on the New South Wales Government Railways. My locomotive was a streamline 38 class Pacific, painted green which unfortunately was misplaced. The extensive track system was probably about 200 feet long as it circled the garden.

I had always thought about a garden railways but my desire to build my own outdoor line never came to fruition until recently. My main model layout is “HO” scale based on the South Australian Railways system, which is regularly operated to timetable and fast clock. My other diversion is some British “OO” models recovered as souvenirs after a few holidays in Britain. The sound of a Sulzer diesel leaving Highly on the Severn Valley lead to the purchase of a Bachman diesel with sound. In the mid 1950’s one Christmas I was given a Trix Twin set with a Midland Compound loco, and later a not too successful Meteor diesel set. This led to the purchase of the Bachmann Midland compound a few years ago.

A recent cull of surplus “HO” models was too successful and led to my sudden plunge into the world of the garden railway. As we had downsized our home about eight years ago the back yard for this diversion was rather limited in comparison to some. At one of our local exhibitions, about eight hundred kilometers from our home I was tempted by some live steam locos, and after too short a deliberation purchased an Accucraft Ruby loco, a circle of track and two flat wagons. Luckily a friend had a commercial display at the exhibition and was able to bring my purchases home as I wouldn’t have been able to get the items on the plane easily. A friends son, who is heavily into garden railways, and has been arranging my EBay sales said when I told him what I was doing reckoned I have had more mid life crises than hot dinners. At least I am enjoying them.

The next thing after the dust settled was where in the garden the track could go, and then what form the layout should take. After reading a number of articles in Garden Rail and reading internet articles I started to work out how I would lay track so that it would stand the extremes of the Adelaide summers. After four days of temperatures over 40^oC the track seemed to pass the test. The basic area for the fixed track section was planned out and the track bed dug out. A friend had recovered 30 tons of stone from the platform face of Ambleside Station in the Adelaide Hills, so a number of these large pieces were used to form the garden edging. Hence the layout name. The trench for the track bed was dug out and the track placed in it so that the paved edge could be measured out. The paved edging was laid on a bed of rapid set concrete which didn’t take long to set in the 40^oC heat. Weed mat was laid under the paving and where the track was to go. This area was then filled with 10mm crushed limestone, which was tamped down to a reasonable level surface before the track was laid. Once the track was down, finer stone was used as ballast to level the track. A triangular spirit level was glued onto a balsa base that fitted into a one plank wagon. This was used to check the level in both directions as the finer crushed stone was used to ballast and align the track. I was hoping to use some smaller stone, but 5 mm crushed stone was all that was available. If I wanted smaller I would have had to buy 1 ton of stone which was a little excessive. I also built up a clearance gauge that fits into the wagon so I can propel it along the line to check clearances as the track was laid into place.

Track is Accucraft code 332 flex track (45mm gauge) and preset curves, with Piko points. The first few cuts of the code 332 brass rail were a bit of a challenge compared to Peco code 75! A bit of careful planning meant that the two cut pieces for the loop were able to be cut from one 3 foot length. To make operation into the passing loop less problematic a short straight section was inserted between the curve and the entry points of the loop. Because the garden area isn’t very large part of the track is fixed in the garden and the return loop and triangle is on the concrete patio. Some of this track work has been routed around some garden pots so it can stay is situ, with only a small section of track needing to be removed when the line is not in use. I don’t understand why different manufacturers of sectional track put the fishplate on different sides instead of standardising on one rail.

One of the challenges of a garden railway is keeping the track clear for running. The track soon gets covered in leaves from a 50 ft gum tree next door. I have found that my battery powered leaf blower does a really good quick clean of the track and it only takes a few minutes to clear the debris & get things running.

To make life a little easier I have set up the points at the yard entrance operated through parts from model aircraft controls. Pieces of wooden dowel, about 10mm in diameter, and about 30 cm long were hammered into the ground adjacent to the track. At the point a 90 degree nylon bellcrank was mounted and a wire connection was then bent from brass wire to connect the bellcrank and the point throw. The other end of the bell crank was then connected to model aircraft nylon GOLD-N-ROD which was then threaded through small eye hooks screwed into dowel hammered into the ground about every 20 cm. One rod can give an operating distance of 90 cm, but other pieces can be joined together for longer runs. The beauty of this type of product is that it will not rust, but the colours of the inner and outer rod are a little bright. The cost to operate one set of points is less than AUS$8.00 or about GBP4.00.

The world of garden railways is a whole new world compared to “HO” indoors with some interesting manufacturers of loco, wagon & coach kits. My first addition was an IP Engineering Dan diesel kit which is made in laser cut MDF. It takes a bit of getting used to the different materials these kits are made from, but they do go together well. After reading an article in Garden Rail Magazine on 2.4 GHz radio control using a radio control car, a car was purchased on EBay and after a few laps was dismantled for its intended use. My wife was that impressed by the car another two were purchased for the grand children and another one for a future project.

Detail parts for this scale aren’t very readily obtainable in Australia so a search of model boat parts uncovered castings for a headlamp and two air tanks. Further searching for diesel horns turned up some from a UK mail order store.

I particularly liked the Accucraft W & L wagons and therefore have fitted the new locos with Accucraft chopper couplings to match a few wagons I purchased. The 2.4 GHz control in one loco will only give me forward control, so I fitted a DPDT centre off switch to turn power off and also change direction. The Houston Gate Locomotive Works diesel however is controllable in both directions; just another marvel of modern electronics. The two wagons went together well and I am very pleased with the result. I have since added 3 HGLW laser cut MDF wagons and a brake van which have assembled very well. Swift Sixteen make some nice wagons in resin and these have made up into some attractive pieces of rolling stock. I have been impressed with the prompt replies to my emails and the very prompt dispatch of my orders from these suppliers. One of the great mysteries that arose from the kits was the coupling arrangements. While each kit had a bent wire post for the coupling, there was no chain included. Searches of their websites never revealed chain as a spare part, but a reply to my email to HGLW provided the clue, so a visit to our local hardware store uncovered watch chain which will have to suffice.

The garden railway has been a big hit with the grandchildren, and they are getting used to changing points, and controlling the trains. I just have to convince the youngest one to let the trains run, and not try picking them up!

The biggest learning curve is to get used to operating a live steam loco. One of our Monday night operators is a member of a local model engineers club, which has a large elevated 45mm gauge outdoor line. It was good to visit and learn a little about preparing and running a live steam loco before I fired my own loco up. I have built a small stand to rest the loco on to give it a few firings to get used to the controls and settings before running on the rails.