G Scale Garden Railway

Georgeconna · September 24, 2013

Not Strickly an Irish layout but it is in Ireland so hopefully it will fit in. Maybe some T&D or Blackrock and Passage G Scale will come along some time soon!!

I started this with my Dad last year and was at it on and off. It had a long gestation time with the Garden hose being contorted into some impossible and over ambitious track plans so in the end we chose a simple dog bone with one end flipped over if you get my drift.

At first we will be using Isle of Man Rolling stock from Accucraft until some Irish stuff come along!!!

Heres a few pics of progress over the last year, after the plan was laid out we got soap stones and set these proud of the soil so it is easier to strim and cut the grass around the trak without damaging it, Track is all Peco, of course the ground undulates so give it a nice feel as it goes along disappearing in some cases. We will have a pond and bridge and deep cutting. Tracking layout should begin withing the next week or two.

Heres the 1st set of pics.

Georgeconna · September 24, 2013

And heres the Second Installment, bit more done and the track bed has been laid and settled. Pond dug and infill in the inclines and the over/under bridge as ready to be poured.

RedRich · September 24, 2013

Great to see you back George. I am going to watch this with interest as I've been to the Isle Of Man a few times and traveled on both railways. If I show the pictures to my Father he'll say, typical the Father doing the digging and the Son holding the camera. I can't wait to see more. I might be down in Cork next month and if a get a few minutes I'll call in for a chat.

Rich,

Dave · September 24, 2013

Very nice George, keep the pics coming:tumbsup:

Georgeconna · September 24, 2013

Rich, The Pics tell I lie, I did 99% of this, the ol fella telling me where I am going wrong!! LOL

RedRich · September 24, 2013

Rich, The Pics tell I lie, I did 99% of this, the ol fella telling me where I am going wrong!! LOL

I know exactly what you mean George. I've had the Harry Enfield treatment myself, you don't wanna do it like that.

Rich,

Glenderg · September 24, 2013

Holy schmoly george. Any bigger and the RPA will be round with an army of consultants in tow!

Just out of curiosity, is there a lean mix of mortar or so above the blockwork to fix the track to, or is it fixed neat to the blockwork? Just costing out my fantasy layout in my non-existent garden....

Richie

Georgeconna · September 25, 2013

No, Were gonna go with screwing the track down into Rawlplugs drilled into the block and then the ballast. I think it is about 120 feet of track in all.

Mayner · September 25, 2013

Sounds too much like hard work George but the tunnel flyover is a nice feature.

I raised my line up on treated pine framing, its much easier on the back and saves the track from being overrun with weeds. I am gradually planting small shrubs to hide the framing.

Keeping the top of the paving blocks flush with the ground acts as a mowing strip and saves a lot of work trimming borders.

Weshty · September 25, 2013

Roll on more photos George. 120' track? Awesome. If I ever get around to an S scale T&DR (why not use my own produce eh???) there is a little patch of my back garden that would be perfect for it, particularly with some pine framing as JM suggested.

moogle · September 25, 2013

Thats quite a size you have there.

At least you haven't gone mad and filled the whole garden, which is what I'd want to do!

Good thing about that scale is that its easier to scratchbuild in.

Well, compared to N gauge anyway...

GM071 · September 25, 2013

Excellent work as always George.

How much rolling stock have you got, are you building or purchasing or both.

Looking forward to seeing the photos as they progress!

Cheers

GM071

enniscorthyman · September 25, 2013

Looks brilliant George,and thanks for sharing.

Good to see you back here.

Georgeconna · September 25, 2013

Thanks guys, Got a new workshop a month or so ago as I was evicted out of my nice a cosy room so have not got much done in the way of building over the past year and I joined the local RC flying club for a change of scene so the new cabin has given me a gee up. Need to fill it with a layout as well at some stage!!

On the Garden Stuff it is my Dads layout, At the moment he has one Isle of Man Engine, Caledonia, A couple of bogie Coaches and a few 4 wheelers and some freight wagons. which were kits.The IOM stuff only come out once in a blue moon and he is a waiting for some Beyer Peacock loco to arrive. I I sold about 10 of my Murphy locos I might just about get a live steamer!!

Heres some piccys of the Rolling stock we have so far. These are not my shots.

This is the one we are waiting on, They are usually produced in lots of 50 so we have to wait till it reaches the MOQ before work is to go ahead. One of the Pevril locos was sold of by the RSPI making close or over a E1000 on ebay, If you miss the boat on the models there impossible to get. I think this type of loco also operated from Ballymoney in NI.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Georgeconna

Garfield · September 25, 2013

This is the one we are waiting on, They are usually produced in lots of 50 so we have to wait till it reaches the MOQ before work is to go ahead. One of the Pevril locos was sold of by the RSPI making close or over a E1000 on ebay, If you miss the boat on the models there impossible to get. I think this type of loco also operated from Ballymoney in NI.

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Never mind painting that one up in Isle of Man colours... turn it out in Ballymena & Larne livery!

Weshty · September 25, 2013

Wow, the loco is a complete beauty, and a steamer to boot.

jhb171achill · September 26, 2013

The Ballymena & Larne (as opposed to Ballymoney - that was where the Ballycastle Rly started) had two of these IOM-esque locos. One was sold eventually to the Castlederg & Victoria Bridge Tramway in Co Tyrone, and eked out its last days there, still in faded NCC maroon but with a Castlederg coat of arms on it! It had tramway "skirts" fitted on one side, but these impeded lubrication of the motion and were usually not attached, leading to the somewhat ugly sight of the loco with the framework for them only, appearing on most trains it pulled.

jhb171achill · September 26, 2013

Looking very promising!

Lough Erne · September 26, 2013

Yes, very interesting and promising. I've built a few bits and pieces to narrow gauge prototypes for a short garden line. The line itself follows real practice by floating in ballast - however due to other commitments the head ganger and his team will not be receiving any prize length awards due to vegetation that makes the burma road (about 2002 prior to clearance) resemble the GNR mainline in the 1930s!

DartStation · September 26, 2013

Interesting project George,looking forward as to how it develops.

Paul R.

Georgeconna · September 26, 2013

Great to see you back George. I am going to watch this with interest as I've been to the Isle Of Man a few times and traveled on both railways. If I show the pictures to my Father he'll say, typical the Father doing the digging and the Son holding the camera. I can't wait to see more. I might be down in Cork next month and if a get a few minutes I'll call in for a chat.

Rich,

Excellent, I will l look forward to that, Always nice to see ya...

RedRich · September 26, 2013

Excellent, I will l look forward to that, Always nice to see ya...

Cheers George.

Rich,

Georgeconna · October 7, 2013

A couple of hours spent again on the Garden Railway, This time we finished off the flyover and bridge with shuttering and poured the Cement in. Also filled the Gaps in the Block work and eased out a curve I did no like as it was just too tight and put some shuttering around the outside to make it a bit more presentable. Also started work in the Bridge piling (concrete block) and now working out how to make the bridge. To Electric fence post in the piccy will probably do the trick. Loads of Craic to be had Literally!!

I hope to have two days off this week and depending on the weather and If I can get the sprogs looked after by someone else for the day the track will be started.

Cheers

George

Garfield · October 7, 2013

Great work, George. Wasn't expecting to see a builder's smile as I was scrolling through those pics, though!

Georgeconna · October 7, 2013

Don't worry its not me:eek::eek:

Dave · October 8, 2013

Looks great George.

Broithe · October 8, 2013

It's good to see somebody happy in his work..

Keep us up-to-date.

jhb171achill · October 8, 2013

I have a quantity of 2nd hand and new Peco track for G scale, if you want to PM me....

A4mallard · October 8, 2013

It's good to see someone's having the crack

Georgeconna · October 8, 2013

I have a quantity of 2nd hand and new Peco track for G scale, if you want to PM me....

Were ok for now but should the need happen ill be in touch, Do you have Points as well as could do with maybe another 1 or 2.?

jhb171achill · October 8, 2013

Yes, george, I reckon I have about 8 or 10.

Georgeconna · October 20, 2013

Another dit done today, come up for lunch they said!!, 3 hours work and the Fun bit you could say was started. We saw the 1st engineering trains run on the loop to check clearances etc...any excuse. The Coach brought the directors up to inspect the work.