Sheehaun Light Railway

[LNERW1]

17 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Sounds like my Garden railway which lives in boxes and wasn't out at all last year!

Laois is a long way from the Oxfordshire / Berkshire border, so we'll forget the running session!

Oh well, suppose so...

[LNERW1]

Seriously though, please tag any G scale modellers you do know if you think they'd be interested

 

[LNERW1]

Great news- the rest of the G scale collection has been retrieved! The items that have been brought onsite are:

LGB Stainz, No. 2.

LGB Stainz, No. 3.

LGB "150 Jahre Deutsche Eisenbahnen" 4WL coach with articulated axles

Modified Bachmann bogie (baggage) coach, dark green (heavily damaged, one bogie deattached, couplers broken off, door broken, coupler stems snapped)

Modified Bachmann (ordinary) coach, maroon (missing one coupler, but can easily be replaced)

3 rudimentary open wagons, using LGB flat wagon as basis, with scraps of wood composing sides, with load of assorted bits of wood and coal (one missing coupler, but can be replaced)

2-4-0T locomotive, inside cylinder, outside framed, dark green (think its a C&L loco, but I honestly don't know enough about the C&L to be sure) 

0-4-2T locomotive, maroon (has NCC lettering so I assume it's a Mid-Antrim loco)

Aristo-Craft 0-4-0WT, PRR lettering (damaged axle or axle housing)

"Green River" station building

There's also plenty of Preiser figures, along with a couple Bachmann ones (which my 6-year-old brother wasted no time in using to recreate his favourite John Wayne movie, El Dorado).

If I can find time to photograph them on the layout today, I will.

[LNERW1]

So close- the main circuit and both passing loops are cleaned (although still not very reliable), all ballast has been sorted out, and I managed to run an LGB Stainz almost all the way around the layout. If I knew productivity felt this good, I wouldn’t be in as much trouble as I am over the roughly 250 pages of missing homework my teachers won’t shut their gobs about…

[LNERW1]

 

 

And so begins a new era of garden railway operation… maybe RC would be better, though.

 

[LNERW1]

OK, there is a plan going on re the main railway- the “harbour line” was taken up and the premises reclaimed by the “Landlord” (Mum), so tracklaying on the main line began out of necessity- I’m not going any length of time without any outdoor running space in this weather! I don’t think I’ve at all outlined the plan for the actual railway, so I’ll go over it in a video that I will post as soon as I can film it. As of yet, though, one station has been built- Ivy Road, one end of the U. Additional elements of Sheehaun’s history have emerged (peat, potatoes, another railway line, a large power station in Sheehaunmore) after more inspiration has reached me. Watch this space.

[LNERW1]

Jesus, so much has happened. Right now tracklaying is beginning on what is intended to be the permanent trackbed. It consists of a roughly 10in wide roadbed laid on two bricks, staggered and parallel to the track. Something like 9mm ply will be layed on this, then track in the very centre, then ballast. The reason there is so much clearance around the track is that I want to eventually add signals, and control these, and points, by basically a wire-in-tube method-similar to actual point and signal rodding, but made of steel wire and running in a plastic tube. There is intended to be ~3 "boxes", consisting of small lineside buildings that have a removable wall to access levers. The roadbed currently being laid is, IIRC, the FIFTH time I have begun tracklaying (anywhere on the railway), each time for what was intended to be the last time in that area. This is frustrating, but one of the side effects is that most of my track is quite clean, as I clean it every time I lay it down again. This may be the first time I have actually managed to get something actually visually nice going. Wish me luck, and I will share more progress updates in the next few weeks.

[LNERW1]

Ok, here are some pictures of the new roadbed, although it is incomplete as 9mm ply still needs to be added between the bricks and track, as well as ballast.

[LNERW1]

Just two quick thread plugs- BnM preservation as I’m trying to organise a trip, and Ardree Quay because I need positive interaction to motivate me to work on it. Thanks!

[DJ Dangerous]

Will look lovely with the ply laid!

[Metrovik]

really getting somewhere now lad, lookin forward to seeing the place develop!

[LNERW1]

Run out of bricks now! Will post picture(s) of ~5m of track sown so far. Any questions/suggestions/criticisms? If you feel there's any obvious problems then please let me know. Thanks.

[LNERW1]

Ok, so I didn't get around to posting any pictures, but thought I'd share some news regarding progress on the railway, although it is progress which since the last post has been entirely conceptual. Firstly, I decided on an RC system for control. This was always a concept I had floating around, but I have more or less decided on the system to be used now: a 4-channel system reccomended by a very talented modeller on RMweb, with lithium-polymer (LiPol) batteries being used inside the locos. This, however, created a problem with my smallest loco, an LGB Orenstein and Koppel 0-4-0. This is absolutely tiny and I could not find any way to fit more than one LiPol, and so I decided to use the locomotive and two damaged coaches to create a steam railmotor with a push-pull carriage attached. The more substantially damaged of the two vehicles is the baggage car, and luckily the 0-4-0 fits almost perfectly in the baggage area, which I didn't consider would be of any use on a line as short as the SLR would be- there wouldn't be enough baggage, frankly. I plan on starting a Workbench topic for the railmotor and other projects, as soon as I get an actual workbench.

The other concept is a new history of the SLR. This incorporates a lot more than that laid out in the initial post (much and all as I hate to disregard it). It adds several new aspects to Sheehaun, such as a line running between Sheehaun Fertiliser Works, Spudpatch Sidings and Sheehaunbeg Potato Products Ltd, which will add sidings to the tramway, BnM-style lines to the potato patch, and a new industry (Sheehaunbeg Potatoes) that I would like to have a small internal SM32 system, running with just a few small skip wagons and a little diesel. Also, I plan to add a turntable to both ends of the line eventually.Finally, a slightly less conceptual aspect, but I'm planning on adding trestles, virtual-level running and embankments to the running line.

Also, does anyone have advice on signals? Obviously they are unnecessary for a line as small as mine, but signalling fascinates me and I would love to incorporate it, but I have very little knowledge on where to source kits, parts etc. As it is my best option seems to be Tenmille, but at 10mm/1ft they will be underscale, plus i'm worried there is too much soldering involved. Any advice would be appreciated.

Edited June 17, 2024 by LNERW1
typo

[David Holman]

No idea 're large scale semaphores, but adapting or even scratchbuilding colour lights might be the way? 

[LNERW1]

That would probably be easier but that isn't exactly what I'm going for- the idea of realistically-operated semaphores is why I actually want a signalling system. I think I'll use Tenmille signal heads, attached to scratchbuilt posts, with the signal light hopefully being an LED (with wiring inside the post and the bulb being encased in resin or glue to prevent any water from short circuiting). As I said, the signal and point rodding will be using a wire-in-tube system, which will run trackside while wiring for LEDs is planned to be from wiring running along trackside power lines. This is so nothing is buried or hidden in such a way it would be inaccessible should something go wrong, it is also easy to identify, and I can say "Even the signal rodding and power lines actually function". The power lines can also power lighting in buildings, and any moving functions like a windmill or point motors on the tramway (I unfortunately can't use wire-in-tube for the tramway, so I will use point motors. I may also use electrical signalling of the type used on LUAS lines to control exit from the tramway onto the main line).

Also, tracklaying is going to have to commence YET AGAIN as my butterfly mind has decided the system I was planning to use for building the roadbed was inadequate and will now be replaced by bricks with soil piled behind them- the bricks are going from being the embankment itself to a retaining wall. Don't worry, I haven't seen any flaws with this system so tracklaying should be final this time. At least for a few years.

Finally, no progress on the railmotor.

Signalling/wiring diagram planned, will hopefully be posted within a week.

[LNERW1]

Sorry for the lack of any updates- I’ve been away for a few weeks and so unable to work on much. I’ve had plenty of time for planning indoor railways, so a couple of projects on that front will have some work done on them soon. The SLR will go through further evolution, but progress will begin again very soon, as I will be back home in just a few days.

[LNERW1]

Needed to test a few things in terms of connectivity as it’s going to be a while before I’m free of track power, so I built a test track out in the garden. This is Der Gartenfeldbahn- more pics and videos coming soon.

LNERW1

[DJ Dangerous]

20 hours ago, LNERW1 said:

Needed to test a few things in terms of connectivity as it’s going to be a while before I’m free of track power, so I built a test track out in the garden. This is Der Gartenfeldbahn- more pics and videos coming soon.

LNERW1

 

Now I get the post in @Metrovik's thread!

Where are the blocks and ply gone???

 

On 8/6/2024 at 4:13 PM, LNERW1 said:

 

 

Are these two seperate lines in the garden, or the same track re-purposed for the temporary test loop?

Looking forward to the videos either way, great stuff!

[LNERW1]

Ok, I've had a bit of a think, and I think now I should buy some materials before I start building the railway properly. Yes, this has only occured to me now.

29 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Now I get the post in @Metrovik's thread!

Where are the blocks and ply gone???

 

 

Are these two seperate lines in the garden, or the same track re-purposed for the temporary test loop?

Looking forward to the videos either way, great stuff!

Same track repurposed.

[LNERW1]

Just imagine how much is going to happen next summer lads…

[LNERW1]

As the author of this thread and builder of the railway it concerns, I am ashamed that there has been so little activity here for so long. I hope you understand that life can get in the way of things and a garden railway is no small undertaking- tantamount to building a real line, in the real world, dealing with nature and a hostile environment that is not predisposed to model railways. Progress on this has been halted time and time again by the fact that I seem to think I am building just an ordinary model railway that happens to be located outdoors. So many times have I given this challenge a model railway approach, and not a real railway one. I see now where and why my mistakes were made, and I will try to build on this to deliver something close to what I promised when I started this thread. Thank you and please bear with me while I try and work all this out.

[DJ Dangerous]

How about some photos and videos of all of the effort and failures you've experienced these past three months?

Giving specifics rather than vagaries will help others in knowing what NOT to do.

One thing I learned very early in my working life:

Every failure is a learner.

[LNERW1]

So, my garden railway is still in the planning stages. Although ideas have been floating around for over a year here, and track has been laid a few times, it’s gone nowhere-yet. As DJ said, failure is an excellent teacher. I’m more confident now in what I want to do, and I have a better idea now of what I can do in the space and with what I have. I now have a good few statements about the railway I’m comfortable putting out there as I am more confident in being able to follow through with them.

1: The railway will be laid at just above ground level, running around the edges of the garden. This was always the plan but I thought I should reiterate it so I can hold myself to it.

2: The railway will run on radio control. Track control is just too temperamental, especially as most of the track I own is 20-35 years old, damaged and corroded, and cannot effectively carry power.

3: The railway will have realistic mechanical point and signal operation using the wire-in-tube method, controlled from 3 signal cabins.

4: The railway, although still set on the island of Sheehaun, as roughly set out in the first post of this topic, will be flexible and will operate as a preserved railway, and so will mainly stick to “accurate” stock, but will still have scope to run anything 45mm gauge if when I feel like it.

5: The construction of the trackbed will be more heavy duty than I have attempted before; I have a basic idea in mind but I’d like to refine it before I decide on it.

6:There will hopefully be a model town in an area at the rear of the garden.

7: I would like to have water featured a lot on the railway.

8: There will hopefully be scope to add some industry in the style of Bord na Móna; I would like to add an industrial feature in the town, incorporated into the potato patch, and at the house.

At the moment I’m kept busy or tired by school stuff from dawn till dusk on weekdays, and occupied by an indoor project on weekends. I don’t want to post about it at the moment but if it’s still going by Christmas then I may start a thread for it. It has also been keeping my attention away from Ardree as well so it has a bit to answer for lol. Until spring and the start of longer days, Sheehaun will be in the planning stages, but I hope to emerge from winter ready to build a railway.

All the best,
LNERW1

[Mol_PMB]

This sounds like a great plan, and it's good to set down some clear goals. I'm excited to see how this develops.

Heavy duty trackbed construction is a good idea for a more permanent layout - you can use things like concrete lintels and fenceposts laid flat to give a strong and flat trackbed.

If you're going to feature water (and I would recommend it, I really enjoyed making my garden pond and watching it develop) then this needs to be planned at an early stage and you might do well to get most of the heavy digging done before the tracklaying.

[LNERW1]

I have mentioned signalling before- this is more or less exactly what I want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsogaiESODw

Mechanical rodding, lever frames, signals, points. Exactly what I want from a signalling system.

One thing- I've seen @Mayner do a brilliant signalling diagram for Metrovik's layout- might I ask what software was used?

Edited January 12 by LNERW1

[Mayner]

5 hours ago, LNERW1 said:

 

 

 

One thing- I've seen @Mayner do a brilliant signalling diagram for Metrovik's layout- might I ask what software was used?

The diagram was drawn in DesignCAD a  drafting programme I have used for about 25 years. 

AutoCAD and other Autodesk software may be a better option, being an industry standard for 2&3D design & free to students https://www.autodesk.com/education/home 

AutoCAD is suitable for 2D drawing/drafting, TinkerCAD & Fusion for 3D modelling/printing

 

Edited January 13 by Mayner

[LNERW1]

A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SHEEHAUN LIGHT RAILWAY

We’d like to apologise for yet another long gap, as large planned development along our alignment has forced a rethink of our plan and drawn resources away from our restoration project. However this development will ultimately allow us new facilities and provide for another project in the area, so we consider it a net benefit.

A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE BORING B*****D BEHIND THE SHEEHAUN LIGHT RAILWAY

Well who could have foreseen another months-long break like this? At least I have at least some reason this time.

Explaining myself:

After Christmas a huge amount happened. Long story short I started getting overwhelmed and stressed and doing poorly in school, and it had a huge knock-on effect on everything until the end of the school year, but things started easing up at Easter as I’ve started volunteering at the Stradbally Woodland Railway and it’s done wonders for my wellbeing- I’m doing very well now. However this took up a lot of the time between Easter and leaving to holiday in the West in June. Since returning, a plan has emerged for a shed/“garden room” at the end of the garden allowing for a large railway room. However this has thrown another spanner in the works of the SLR as it occupies the space meant to be occupied by the town and faux-bog spud patch. As such the progression of the line around the back of the garden has had to be hugely modified, requiring a reshuffling and pushback of the whole line. As such, it’s clear no huge progress with the whole line will be made until installation of the shed, which could be in less than two month’s time! Hopefully this provides new opportunities and an uncluttered space where I can decompress and work uninterrupted on projects. This is a huge step and I hope it goes some way to explaining why I’ve been a bit gone for a while.

Now, why am I choosing to bring this up now? Well, although the whole line cant be worked on for a while, the line along the south side of the garden can indeed be worked on now (the north side of the garden is also slated for “redevelopment”), and the SLR is also planning to start the overhaul of several locomotives to work on RC control, with the whole fleet planned to be converted.

Until then a new smaller loco is planned to be sourced for RC operation during construction, until the rest of the fleet can be converted. I’d like to apologise for being away, and I hope this time I don’t disappoint anyone- I know im good at it…

All the best,

LNERW1

[Mol_PMB]

Good to hear from you, and there's really no need to apologise. Though I do like the style of an official notice from the management of your railway!

Great to hear that you have been working with some like-minded people at Stradbally and have found that helps you. Keep at it! You might even find that working on the real thing is so satisfying that the models take a back seat for a while - that certainly happened to me.

But good to hear you have some model projects in the pipeline and I look forward to hearing about them. Also, it would be interesting to hear what you've been working on at Stradbally. Even shovelling sh!t seems more rewarding when you're working as part of a team towards a bigger objective.

[DJ Dangerous]

Could the shed incorporate two badger-gates that can be propped open, allowing the garden line effectively pass through?

[Mol_PMB]

8 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Could the shed incorporate two badger-gates that can be propped open, allowing the garden line effectively pass through?

It's all about the badgers with you this week, DJD! Have you got yours yet?

 

(with apologies to LNWRW1 for the thread drift!)

[DJ Dangerous]

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

It's all about the badgers with you this week, DJD! Have you got yours yet?

 

(with apologies to LNWRW1 for the thread drift!)

LNER loves drifting, specially dogs drifting.

Don’t badger me over the Class 89. It’s in the post, Sett to arrive in the coming weeks.

[LNERW1]

23 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Could the shed incorporate two badger-gates that can be propped open, allowing the garden line effectively pass through?

Unfortunately not. I've discussed it with d'parents and they seem to agree there isn't much way of doing that without defeating the point of insulating the cabin.

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Good to hear from you, and there's really no need to apologise. Though I do like the style of an official notice from the management of your railway!

Great to hear that you have been working with some like-minded people at Stradbally and have found that helps you. Keep at it! You might even find that working on the real thing is so satisfying that the models take a back seat for a while - that certainly happened to me.

But good to hear you have some model projects in the pipeline and I look forward to hearing about them. Also, it would be interesting to hear what you've been working on at Stradbally. Even shovelling sh!t seems more rewarding when you're working as part of a team towards a bigger objective.

Mainly painting fences on work days at Stradbally, but I've also become reasonably proficient in the brake van and, more excitingly, had some experience on the footplate! And I've met some great people in the process, and it's inspired me to bring in some human aspects of characters around the railway. I'm very lucky to live so close by. As for the SLR notice, well, I like doing things like that, simply put.

11 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

LNER loves drifting, specially dogs drifting.

Don’t badger me over the Class 89. It’s in the post, Sett to arrive in the coming weeks.

Well I love dogs and like cars (If it doesn't run on rails and isn't powered by steam, it may as well be a UFO to me but they're still class)!

Thanks for the support lads. Without this forum I would never get anything done (as it is I barely do anyway, but I might be on ADHD meds soon so that'll hopefully change)

[DJ Dangerous]

Will there be “muchroom” under the shed for the garden line to pass beneath?

[LNERW1]

Archive Wednesday

An artefact from the SLR's archive to brighten up the hump day.

Here we see "Brisbane" the side tank bought from the NCC upon closure of the Ballymena and Larne in 1950, to try relieve pressure on the rapidly deteriorating fleet of steam trams, and numbered 8. However, it derailed at Ivy Road in 1952, taking it out of service for two years as the railway underwent bankruptcy. It was finally returned to service in 1954 to haul the heavy trains dragging the final peat harvests from Sheehaunmona, which relied on the railway and was attempting to stockpile as much peat as possible in Sheehaunmore so as to not run low while roadworks were completed between the town and the bog to allow peat to move by road.

After these duties were finished in summer '55, number 8 languished in Knockadeen shed, only running to haul the 1956 Goodbye Special a week before closure. It remained at Knockadeen until sold to a planned museum in Cork in 1960, however this scheme fell through and she instead went to the Hutton Steam Railway in rural South Australia. This is where this photo was taken of the locomotive, in fresh NCC livery to honour its history.

This footplate view, taken by Frank Scott of nearby Peterborough, shows the loco a few months after she arrived in 1961, and also shows one of the railway's regauged, ex-3ft 6 bogie coaches. However, it was not to be and the HLR went out of business in 1970. Number 8 sat in a shed in Australia for a decade until she was bought for a pittance by a private collector in Victoria, and was moved to a back garden in Altona, Melbourne in 1983. Here she was at least cared for and had some of her more dilapidated parts repaired, but only visually, so that she looked remarkably good but was far from running order. This was an unpleasant surprise for his children, when, after he passed in 2007, failed to sell the engine to a railway in Victoria or NSW, and had to resort to sending her home- to be displayed in the Ulster Transport Museum in Cultra. However, before she was put on display, the newly formed SLR group purchased her and brought her "home" to Ivy Road, naming her in honour of, well, the capital of the state she worked in- Jackie was left to name her and sure you know what he's like with geography. Anyway, here she now is, in running order and due for fitting of new control and safety systems within the next year.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this bit of backstory- I plan on doing this every Wednesday, staging photos around my garden and dipping into old collections from their previous home, Model World in Wicklow, and maing little stories for each picture.

On 11/8/2025 at 12:02 AM, DJ Dangerous said:

Will there be “muchroom” under the shed for the garden line to pass beneath?

I'm not quite sure why the semi-mushroom pun but the line will ideally pass behind the shed, through a "tunnel", sharing space with an access area that can also be used to store bikes. This allows for Knockadeen and Botanical Gardens to be either end of a tunnel, which I hope will add a bit of interest and simulated distance to the line.

Edited Wednesday at 21:35 by LNERW1

[Metrovik]

My god, one engine on your railway has more backstory than my entire layout!