Garden railway work: Middle Section realignment (1)
Recording construction of the Middle Section of our garden railway in March 2009.
This view shows part of the southern side of our garden looking approximately eastward towards the house, showing in-progress reconstruction and realignment of the former temporary Middle Section following completion of newly realigned garden path (L). We had removed the previous temporary track-base. The track passes through the Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge in a tunnel, the wooden entrance to which can be seen R, at the foot of the hedge. A section of the earlier track-base can be seen just in front of it. Realignment of the path made the garden border wider so we had been digging it over, removing a lot of rubble, and preparing it for planting.
RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION NOTES
Construction of this Middle Section posed a set of problems, the combination of which made this section tricky to build: (1) a gradient between the plinth of the Temple of Juno shed (behind us in this view) and the Water Rockery (beyond the Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge, and just visible in L background), (2) the track level here was higher than ground level, (3) there were several plants which we didn't want to move or remove, and (4) we wanted to keep the track fairly close to the path for easy access. This all led to the reverse curves seen here. To get the desired configuration, I used set-track pieces supported on various blocks and bricks.
GENERAL NOTE ON THE GARDEN RAILWAY
The layout is a low voltage (22v), 45mm gauge system where this gauge represents prototypical (i.e. 'true life') narrow gauge, in this case, metre gauge. The scale is approx 1:22. The railway is is mostly based on Märklin-LGB track, parts and rolling stock, with my own garden-sized civil engineering and landscaping. It is not strictly a model of any particular time or place, but is inspired by Swiss and Austrian narrow gauge. It is based on a make-believe history of a border-crossing line which provides scope for running both a modern service as well as excursions by older stock held by a local rail preservation organization. The whole system is single track apart from station areas. The upper part of the system (Upper Loop) runs round the Upper Rockery (Railway Rockery) and is connected to the lower part of the system (the Lower Loop on the Water Rockery) by the Middle Section (seen here) running along the southern side of the garden. (For further information, see description of this set.)
OTHER GARDEN FEATURES
- Path - reclaimed York stone laid in 'crazy' style. This is a recent realignment of an older path, part of our scheme to give step-free access from the house to the Upper Terrace in spite of the garden gradient. This had just been laid by Acer Landscapes.
- Water Rockery - with water feature almost all built myself, and Lower Loop of Garden Railway.
PLANTS
- Buxus sempervirens - Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge, in nearer background, and in need of a trim.
- Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa' - a Sawara cypress, R foreground.
- Cotoneaster frigidus - upper R.
(further notes in process of being added)
ID: CIMG2247
If you would like to use, or refer to, this picture, please attribute.
Garden railway work: Middle Section realignment (1)
Recording construction of the Middle Section of our garden railway in March 2009.
This view shows part of the southern side of our garden looking approximately eastward towards the house, showing in-progress reconstruction and realignment of the former temporary Middle Section following completion of newly realigned garden path (L). We had removed the previous temporary track-base. The track passes through the Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge in a tunnel, the wooden entrance to which can be seen R, at the foot of the hedge. A section of the earlier track-base can be seen just in front of it. Realignment of the path made the garden border wider so we had been digging it over, removing a lot of rubble, and preparing it for planting.
RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION NOTES
Construction of this Middle Section posed a set of problems, the combination of which made this section tricky to build: (1) a gradient between the plinth of the Temple of Juno shed (behind us in this view) and the Water Rockery (beyond the Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge, and just visible in L background), (2) the track level here was higher than ground level, (3) there were several plants which we didn't want to move or remove, and (4) we wanted to keep the track fairly close to the path for easy access. This all led to the reverse curves seen here. To get the desired configuration, I used set-track pieces supported on various blocks and bricks.
GENERAL NOTE ON THE GARDEN RAILWAY
The layout is a low voltage (22v), 45mm gauge system where this gauge represents prototypical (i.e. 'true life') narrow gauge, in this case, metre gauge. The scale is approx 1:22. The railway is is mostly based on Märklin-LGB track, parts and rolling stock, with my own garden-sized civil engineering and landscaping. It is not strictly a model of any particular time or place, but is inspired by Swiss and Austrian narrow gauge. It is based on a make-believe history of a border-crossing line which provides scope for running both a modern service as well as excursions by older stock held by a local rail preservation organization. The whole system is single track apart from station areas. The upper part of the system (Upper Loop) runs round the Upper Rockery (Railway Rockery) and is connected to the lower part of the system (the Lower Loop on the Water Rockery) by the Middle Section (seen here) running along the southern side of the garden. (For further information, see description of this set.)
OTHER GARDEN FEATURES
- Path - reclaimed York stone laid in 'crazy' style. This is a recent realignment of an older path, part of our scheme to give step-free access from the house to the Upper Terrace in spite of the garden gradient. This had just been laid by Acer Landscapes.
- Water Rockery - with water feature almost all built myself, and Lower Loop of Garden Railway.
PLANTS
- Buxus sempervirens - Jelly-Mould Box-Hedge, in nearer background, and in need of a trim.
- Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa' - a Sawara cypress, R foreground.
- Cotoneaster frigidus - upper R.
(further notes in process of being added)
ID: CIMG2247
If you would like to use, or refer to, this picture, please attribute.