hello from DiamondLady

diamondlady · hello from DiamondLady

Hello- I'm a newbie and complete novice...I've just won a Mamod steam train set on Ebay and have just started on plan's to do a garden railway...I love trains!!
it all started from going on trains to the seaside when I was a little girl...but then I grew up and had a family....one of the 1st presents I bought my son was a train set and I had so much fun setting it all up but not so much fun having to put it away again an hour or so later....I had a problem with space for the board and set up so it always had to be put away....as my son was diagnosed as being autistic the option of putting the train set in the loft was out of the question as he couldnt go up and down the loft ladder's and even now (he's 23) he still cant get in and out of the loft...he too LOVE's going on trains...well last week my husband and my daughter's boyfriend where playing with a Mamod steam roller out in the garden like 2 little kids they had to put down a piece of wood as a flat area for the roller to go along when i realised the railway sleeper's I was going to order for the garden alterations could be used for a Garden railway....now the climbing frame and swings and all other kiddy toys have been long gone from the garden I'd started on altering the garden....putting in 2 Koi Carp pools and wooden archways and other things like statue's and stuff so the garden has now become an adult garden...Of course I soon realised the railway sleeper's though a good Idea where a bit too Impractical as a train base as I'd have problems with curving them...so now I'm looking at using Breeze blocks burried into the ground...So now I'm waiting on delivery of my train set plus extra track and I'm going to order the breeze blocks next week
I've a rough Idea on the layout as its going in my side garden -I have a corner property so have front/side and back gardens....I've had to put a trellis type fence up between the back and side garden to stop the 2 dogs from getting to the side garden and the NEW garden railway!!
my side garden is on 2 levels...but I do have a LAwned area of approx 12ft x 30ft+ so at the moment I'm looking at having the track all around the lawn in a slight figure of eight...with a few modell buildings in different corner's and in the bends of the *8*
I'm just in the planning stage thinking of what hurdles I will cross...I do have the option of having the Garden railway going round a Pond at the bottom of the side garden....and if its possible I also have a raised flowerbed approx 2ft+ high running along the whole length of the garden but I dont know if or how I'd extend the railway so it could go up hill and along the top section of garden....plus if or how I could have a bridge so the railway could go over the pond...at the moment what I'd like and what i can afford is the bigger problem....
One of the questions i have is If I have a Mamod steam train set with extra track- do i have to stick with Mamod track or can I use hornby track to extend the track...I realise it has to be weather resistant...I've got track with the train and I've got 2 extra box's of mamod track...but I know its not going to be enough...and another question is I've started with a Mamod live steam set but realise now I've started what will be a small layout isnt going to be enough for me I'm going to go the whole route of trains going in every direction....and the only experiance I've got is from my "00" Hornby set....
so having one track for the Mamod in a figure of *8* is fine but I'm going to want to do another bigger figure of *8* round the outerside for another train set and then moving on in later years to trains going round the pond and along the top raised bed....
so do I have to plan an area for a shed? can I run other train set's either diesel or Hornby outside without some sort of shed type building ? I'm thinking ahead of outdoor power supply and other obsticale's I may find...at the moment I could fit in a dog kennel size building in one corner to act as a train covering but do i need to build a 6x4 shed and for what reason ?
regards DL

Graham-Jilly

a very big

from the great land down under.
we love trains also so do a lot of others on here and were a friendly bunch

johnreid

Welcome to the forum from a recent convert to Mamod trains, keep us posted as to your progress.

Sandman

Hi DL and a big Scottish welcome.

You've come to the right place here, with many of our members constructing their own garden railways.

I'm sure in a few hours you'll have plenty of suggestions and help from the friendliest bunch you're likely to come across.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Sandman.

Atticman

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a great project.

You may be best to ask the questions in the loco section as well- theres some great links there, one I would recommend for a good read is paulys "the Woodrow railway" that will Im sure give you good ideas.

I try to keep away from locos- too much extra ££ and even less time!!

Dampfmaschine

Another welcome from Scotland

Steamfan

from Illinois!

logoman

welcome from London.
I like your idea of the bridge over the Koi pond, that would look beautiful.

IndianaRog

Hi DiamondLady...great first post, feel like I've already visited your garden as I can picture what you are planning.

As others have said, this forum is a very friendly place where you can ask virtually any question, make input on same, share photos and videos. Hope you stay around, we have a few ladies among the faithful, but can always use more.

Cheers from Indiana, USA,

Roger

Alf

kevininasia · Re: hello from DiamondLady

Dragon

and I send greetings from London.

Sounds like you have some excellent plans and ideas and I'm sure you will have no trouble at all getting all the help and information you need from this forum.

Railway sleepers can be mitered to something close to a curve, and and they could be made into a nice bridge over your koi pond. I'm not sure that model trains manage hills very well, but it might be possible to run your line at an elevated level throughout.

Have fun.

boxman

welcome from Yorkshire

Kevin Klein

How do, from North Dakota USA.

willsy

a big

from sunny somerset

diamondlady · with thanks from diamondlady

thank you for the warm welcome- I've now found my way round the site a bit and see the loco section so thanks for all the encouragment...regards DL

Les

Hi and welcome to the forum from Bournemouth.

pauly

Autistic son eh, Im autistic and love trains with a passion too

alan2525

Welcome to the forum (easily the best toy steam forum on the web

) I hope you enjoy your time here, we're a very friendly and very helpful bunch.

A couple of things to consider, if the railway is at ground level, it makes steaming up the loco's a little awkward, even if it's raised a little it makes it easier, especially meths fired mamod loco's which need to be lit from underneath.

There's a publication available from the 16mm Garden Railway association: "Modelling in 16mm Narrow Gauge", it has some of the basics about track construction and track laying, plus lots of lovely photos of peoples garden railways.

PECO sm32 flexitrack is superb and comes in yard lengths or pre set curves. Go for as large a radius as you can, little steam engines will slow down on tight curves. Also aim to lay the track completely flat, if you aim for perfectly level, you'll naturally end up with some small gradients. Gradients will slow the loco down or cause it to stall if it's too steep, it will also mean you have to drive the loco and keep adjusting the regulator so it doesn't slow down and then speed up as it runs away downhill.

It's worth spending time to get the trackwork laid well otherwise each time you run a loco you will have problems, it's much more enjoyable to be able to grab a seat, and watch the little plume of steam from the loco's chimney as it cheerfully meanders it's way around the garden.

steamyjim

Welcome to the forum

kusuchi

A warm welcome to the forum from Richard and Andrew.

Steve_S

Hello DL and welcome to the forum! It sounds like you're going to have a spectacular railway, but as has been said, I think you'd need to keep it all at more or less the same level.

ozsteamdemon

Hi there DL , another warm welcome from the land down under

Keith S

I like Alan's advice about the PECO track and about avoiding grades. The bridge over the pond is a nice idea.

Don't think too far ahead in terms of electric trains and power supplies, etc. I know some guys like to play outdoors with electric trains but I'll warrant that once you get some experience in your garden with a "real" I mean STEAM) locomotive, you'll forget all about electric powered models.

diamondlady · thanks for the reply's

Today at 7.30am my train arrived!!! to say i went WOW is an understatment!!
I want to get out in the garden NOW...but I suppose I'd better wait for the rest of the family to get up and for hubby to come home from work...
As for the electric trains etc thats only a slight thought....you have to think when your planning a layout what room you have and what you'd like....Steam trains all over the garden would be brilliant!!
I've only got one probl;em -----the GARDEN's not big enough!!!!
HUBBY has now got all excited as I've found him a BIGGER train....5" and 7" ......so the back garden's being altered....PLUS he's also FOUND a sit n ride Steam road Engine so we now have a 2yr plan to buy him one...as soon as I've finished paying for our car in 16mths time were goiing to have a loan to buy a road steam engine...so we plan to go to the steam fair's ....but in the mean time its back to the garden mamod "0" size and back to reality...
I'm still undecided over the track........I've now received the magazine "Starting in 16mm NGM"....I've got the whold of the side garden....with pool and 2 levels....I could do one track on the lower lawn and one track at a higher level....And as I'm still finishing of the Koi Pond I can easily alter the level of it so it come's half way between the 2 level's....Would a steam train manage 2 seperate incline's of approx 10inches?? approx 8ft apart?
so the train would have a large flat track of 20ft or so and then an incline of 8-10 inches then approx another 8ft of track and then another 8-10 incline...?

diamondlady · confused

sorry i ment to put I could have 2 seperate tracks with 2 seperate train set's ...1 on the lower level and 1 on the top
>or<
if the train can manage 2 inclines then I'd have 1 big layout...I do intend to have 2 set's of track on the lower level in the future so i can have trains going both ways clockwise and Anti-clockwise....

Keith S

I still think a family could justify the purchase of a ride-on road locomotive or traction engine in LESS than two years if said engine was put to work in the garden pulling a mower.

prid

GUTMACH

Wow, DL, it looks like the steam bug has bitten you and your family hard !

Along with the steam in the garden approach, you might also consider adding a battery power engine, http://www.ipengineering.co.uk/ , to your roster.

You have come to the right place.

Wayde

Southern Arizona

kusuchi

Just don't forget about the advice to keep it level. Steam Loco's do not have a lot of torque and will stall on inclines. Conversely, going downhill they will gain too much speed and derail.

There is a great video, by Moose, of an SL3 running on his cellar floor. Even though the slope of the cellar is almost imperceptible, you can clearly see the Loco slowing down uphill and speeding up on the downslope.

Couldn't find it tonight, perhaps someone else can post it for your benefit.

Kritika

Sorry been away and just seen your post..... so a big

from Hampshire.

diamondlady

Thanks for all the warm welcome's ! greatly appreciated...
I'm currently busy trying to find things to sell to raise more funds for the steam train track & foundation's so I'm clearing out the loft!!
and in doing that I've decided to let my daughter's boyfriend have train set's up in the loft ...I know I've got 2 hornby set's we bought my son and daughter when they where kids and we also have the box of train's & Track from their grandad's so he will have at least 4 or 5 or more in the loft plus his own...

The garden railway is having to wait a little bit longer as in as much as I have a load of Mamod track I've been advised to use Peco....and then I need to do the foundation's..
I had the train up and running on a tempory track outside on the patio yesterday but the wind got up and then the rain came down so other than 2 trip's round a 8ft x 10ft circuit I'm in the I've got a train set and no where to run it!! phase!
taking in everyone's comments I've slowed down and put a lot more thought into what I'm going to do...
I've got to be a bit more patient and wait a month before I can buy the track and foundations...and in that time I can do a bit more research...I've also realised my garden isn't as flat as I thought and I've an Increase from front to back as well as the difference in height from one area to the other ...so I might have to raise the whole lot of the ground and as the 1st area is already 3ft higher than ground level its not so simple....my house is 6ft lower than street height and the garden has 2 levels each 3ft high....but each level is also lower at one end than the other....so now I'm in the ?????? start all over again !!
I'm thinking of buying some wood and placing it temporarily round the garden on temporary post's to give me an Idea of what it would look like raised completely off the ground....with loads and loads of bridges
My main concern though is for the safety of the train...I don't want it falling off the raised track and getting damaged and if I build up the side's of the track I won't be able to see the train?
and at the moment I'm wondering if trellis would be strong enough to stop the train from falling off ??
How heigh would I have to build up the side's to stop the train from falling? .....

alan2525

Sounds like a lot more work than expected!

To stop trains falling off on elevated sections, I used some hardwood (oak from an old fire surround) drilled three holes in it and run lengths of 1/8" brass rod through those holes, joining the brass rods with little lengths of 1/8" Inside Diameter Brass tube. I'd say it only needs to be approx 3 inches in height. Trellis would be strong enough but would probably detract, thinner handrails look much more scale.

I'd start off with the trackbed that is closest to ground level, bash some wooden stakes into the ground and play around with levels from there, if possible it might be beneficial to make a cutting if possible, and terrace that part with some log roll, if it enables you to lower the rest of the elevated track. Metposts in the gound and 3x3 tanalised fence posts, gravel boards on top for the track bed, covered in roofing felt should do an admirable job.

If that sounds like a long work, what about a smaller semi permanent layout with the mamod track? Atleast being able to run the trains will give you the enthusiasm to spend time and money building a more extensive layout?

barry1946

Hi DL, a warm

from Bonnie Scotland.

hello from DiamondLady

Re: hello from DiamondLady

with thanks from diamondlady

thanks for the reply's

confused