CONSTRUCTION - GENERAL

One of the main considerations of the site was that technically it is not mine! The residents of the apartments own the freehold communally, so I had to ensure that any construction will be easily undone if needs be in the future. This has precluded the massive and permanent civil engineering seen on many garden railways. In any case, I want to embed this railway as much in the landscape as possible, and the maintenance that this entails will all be part of the scene. (We will see if I still believe this in a few years’ time!)

Track.
Given that I don’t own the land, hefty and permanent civil engineering is ‘out’, and in any case, I want to sink the line well into the landscape. I had thought about fixing the Peco track to sunken bricks, but then hit on the idea of using lengths of copper pipe, about 30cm long. These are driven into the ground, levelled and the track screwed to the Araldite-sealed dowel inserts. Primary ballasting takes place before the track is put down, and it is topped up afterwards. I use pipes about every 45cm.

On the raised section, I have used cedar decking planks, not cheap at Ł5 each, but I only need three or four, set on concrete blocks and edged with timber roll. The grooved surface is very good for holding ballast in place.