|
|
|||||||||
|
Bilbrook Light Railway
Building the railway
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Trackwork-I have used three types of track construction. I started with two types supplied by Maxitrak, the aluminium "Jubilee" track and the plastic sleeper variety. In addition to these I have built my own panels using 5/8" aluminium rail and wooden sleepers. I have used the aluminium sleepers mostly where I have a concrete base and no room for ballast . The plastic and wooden sleepered track is largely laid, prototypically, on 10mm limestone chippings purchased from a well known DIY store. This latter method is the most pleasing to the eye and allows for subsequent adjustment
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Looking back from the loco shed towards location down the 1:50. Old WLLR sleepers keep the ballast under control and provide a footpath. Here I have laid the aluminium sleepered track on ballast to form an embankment. Lawn edging also helps stop the ballast from wandering. This embankment consolidated in about two weeks and was simply packed where necessary.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Above shows where the aluminium sleepers meet the plastic sleepers. First the track is laid on a bed of ballast which is roughly levelled. Then more ballast is added and the the track is lifted to approximately the final desired height. Next check with a spirit level pushing ballast under the sleepers as required. I use a small trowel for this. When all appears satisfactory, top up with ballast to the top of the sleepers. If you have done the job well you should be able to walk on the track without it sinking. After a few days the whole thing consolidates and you can run trains.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The start of the 1:50. I had originally planned a turnout here to allow for heavy items to be collected from the side gate, however as an economy measure I have decided to do without a siding here for the time being. Here the aluminium track is fixed in concrete. I assembled the track panels and supported them with bits of wood stone etc. to achieve a steady 1:50. Once all was set up correctly I pushed cement mix between the sleepers until the track was supported under all its length. A final sprinkling of ballast pushed gently into the wet surface gives the impression of a ballasted embankment.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Drivers view from inside the loco shed. The railway follows the substantial old base of my first 16mm railway. The concrete infill was broken up and then the track supported on ballast . Here my first attempt at building a turnout provides access to the loco shed. The unfinished ash pit can be clearly seen. The next phase of building will involve major earthworks and the felling of a nunber of mature shrubs and a holly tree.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The turnout -I put some thought to the best method of gaining access to the shed. A standard turnout seemed the best answer, however I have never made one before. A kit was too expensive (but in the end would have saved a lot of time) and so I undertook some research starting with a literature search (railway mags) then an internet search. I found an article that outlined the use of stub points (Gordon Hatherill One Man's Railway-The Gardd Tramway in Issue no1 of Garden Railway World 1988). This did include a diagram and some photographs but not much more information on the construction. Fortunately one of my favourite sites came up trumps. Terry Bowden gives a detailed recipe for point construction. After a quick e-mail for advice I set to and built the frog as per the instructions.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Terry had warned me about cutting the rail for the point blades. I had a go but being naturally lazy gave up. So a hybrid point was born. The stub point blades are just cut pieces of track that form the long sides of a parallelogram, the short sides being made from plates of aluminium or stainless steel. The rail is attached to the plates by a bolt that passes through the head of the rail, through the plates and then is held in place by a nut and lock nut. A little bit of filing to make the bolt head match the rail profile and job done. The above photos show the point set in both directions simply locked in place by a piece of wood. Unlike a standard turnout, a stub point will disintegrate unless the sleepers are fixed together. I used the pieces of track that I "butchered" when attempting the standard turnout blades to achieve this.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| page created with Easy Designer |