The EJ&KLR: Austrian narrow gauge in Cheshire

Hi guys - after a lovely day out today with my father and a trip down through the welsh borders and marches to Pontrilas I've come back home bearing gifts for Christmas and the start of the project. As well as the LGB starter set, station track and Liliput diesel I've sourced some extra stock from kind souls on this forum. I'll use this thread to document our progress so to start here are some snaps of the locomotives - just making sure everything was as it should be (cough cough)!

We also headed over to Llanfair on the way home to get some inspiration and found the Hungarian coaches and the Zillertal wooden stock decorated for the weekends Santa Specials - photos are on my external blog for those interested (click the picture in my signature). 



The starter set LGB Stainz - nice and simple in unpainted black plastic, you can see the shunter in the background and it's relative small size even compared with the tiny Stainz (well tiny compared to a big steam loco, obviously these models are huge compared to my 4mm stuff! - satisfyingly solid):



The cute Liliput shunter, well detailed, heavy and diminutive - perfect for my project:

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You appear to be making a good solid start.

Nice start James - I bet you can't wait to get going!

Mick

No I can't wait!! It was lovely yesterday spending the day with Dad talking about all sorts but also planning where we'll build it in the garden - and we're going to need a lot more track! Paul's parcel of stock is probably either mid-atlantic or landing in Manchester/Heathrow as we speak so I'm pretty excited...

Go for it....

Good luck making a start, an exciting time!!

You're not too far from us; we're in Biddulph.

All the best

Phil

Thanks guys - and yes Phil, Biddulph isn't far from us... the layout is getting built in Chester though - still fairly close!

Keep the thread and blog going james. Love your nice new locos. I have never had a brand new one, they looks so lovely and clean!

Welcome to the forum/mad house!!!! A good start, and good products should start you off in fine stead.  Alyn

Your off to a good start.  Cant wait until you start laying track.  Its a great feeling whe you get that first train running.

Good luck with your new project. Don't forget to take lots of pictures as things move along.
 
Great choice of locos, too; that little diesel looks as if it could almost double as a Davenport, if you ever went American. 

jameshilton


No I can't wait!! It was lovely yesterday spending the day with Dad talking about all sorts but also planning where we'll build it in the garden - and we're going to need a lot more track! Paul's parcel of stock is probably either mid-atlantic or landing in Manchester/Heathrow as we speak so I'm pretty excited...

I just tracked it James and it's in foreign customs, well foreign to me that is!! so at least it made it across the pond OK

Detailed Results:
Into Foreign Customs, December 16, 2010, 10:17 pm, GREAT BRITAIN Into Foreign Customs, December 16, 2010, 10:16 pm, GREAT BRITAIN Arrived Abroad, December 16, 2010, 10:15 pm, GREAT BRITAIN International Dispatch, December 14, 2010, 1:22 am, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS) Arrival Processed through Sort Facility, December 13, 2010, 12:47 pm, PETALUMA, CA 94999 Electronic Shipping Info Received, December 13, 2010

Hi Paul - no sign yet, still showing as in customs!
Jonathan on here sorted me out some coaches as well, they arrived today - very well packaged and in excellent near mint condition!






I've updated my blog with a few posts recently if anyone likes to read about others projects and endeavours... it can be found at http://ejklr.blogspot.com (or by clicking my signature image )


Thanks guys - this is the friendliest and most helpful forum I have joined for a while

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Well guys I've not had a chance to crop down photos for upload on here - but I've updated my blog with snaps of todays inaugural running which went smoothly and was accompanied by the BIGGEST smile on my daughters face I saw all day, even bigger than the Sleeping Beauty dress up dress she's been asking for for about 2 months!

http://ejklr.blogspot.com 

Today the parcel from Paul (minimans) arrived and the Postal van is already a big hit with my daughter. We're taking them over to Grandpa's and the railway tomorrow (although the coaches and van will be coming back over to be re-sprayed in the coming weeks).


A few extra photos on the EJ&KLR blog as well...


http://ejklr.blogspot.com

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nice parcel from paul - top geeza

Glad they finally arrived mate................So much for express mail...................

It seemed a good time to update this thread since I'm getting closer to breaking ground in the garden.

Plans evolve and we're on to version 10 of the track plan (the evolution of which is described on RMWeb and my blog http://ejklr.blogspot.com. So this weekend we started clearing some of the bushes from the patio and surveying the size, and then today after disassembly of the indoor line I took some of the track outside to size things up! It's good to get an idea of the physical size of the line and how things will fit, even at this very early stage.
 

 

 
Due to the space initially available I'm using R1s in the apex of the curves, which reduces the space - the points are still R1 (cost) and the loop is long enough for a U-tank and 3 4-wheelers or 2 bogie coaches.
 

 
I'm trying to give a small station area (for shunting), shed for photo opportunities, a decent run with flowing curves, a small halt in the 'country' and a bridge. I'm thinking a continuous run is more important here, as I really enjoy just watching the trains run - so this will give me a chance as the figure eight gives lots of scenic potential, using small bushes and trees to give the chance to loose sight of the train as it weaves around the line.
 
The bridge will cross over at about 20-25cm clearance giving a gradient of less than 2.5%.
 
I may incorporate an isolation section in the shed area for now, but long term it will be a digitally controlled system.
 
What are people's thoughts? Some advice or ideas are welcomed!

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James, if you possibly can, do consider LGB R3/Piko R5. It will look better if you can. Eventually, you or a visitor will have bogie stock... bear in mind also that you won't use as many sidings as indoor modellers do (though I do realise that your plan isn't exactly awash with them), so that may be trade off.

Looking good James.
Dont fall into the trap of thinking R1s are cheaper. You need more straights to connect them.