Ash Vale Light Railway

The arrival of a couple of IOM 4-wheelers from eBay (a steal at £45 each!) proved a good opportunity for some further testing.
 
Only a couple of my locos are fitted with choppers, so after a quick run over the with the track cleaning loco, first out was the Accucraft Baguley.


Given past problems with this loco, it ran surprisingly well, even on the R1 curves.
Video
Next up was the Bachmann Lyn, which has had its rear knuckle replaced with a chopper.

She ran fine on her own but wouldn't haul the coaches around the R1 section. This wasn't much of a surprise, and shouldn't be an issue when the railway is complete (the main line will be all R2/R3, the R1s are only to give me an initial loop for 'testing')
 
Finally, as darkness started to fall, out came the LGB Feldbahn loco and some open coaches, which of course had no problems on the curves.


 
Work has been going on behind the scenes to clean/prepare the track for the next phase, hopefully I might make some further progress with the upcoming bank holidays and weekends.
 
 

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Bit more work today.
I wasn't happy with the R1 curved section that connects the two sides of the loop, so re-aligned it to remove the nasty dog-leg at the point. It's still not perfect, but a lot better than it was.

I will need to modify the baseboard so that the track isn't hanging in mid-air quite so badly.

I also replaced the R1 point, as I'd discovered that the previous owner had cut out all of the plastic base from the frog, which was causing stock to jump off it.
 
Also did some work preparing the next extension. Each section of track had its ends cleaned, and then it was clamped together into sections and laid out in the conservatory. This will allow me to start measuring out for the baseboard.

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Not even an inconvenient thunderstorm could halt the head of steel moving forward today.


The loose boards/track in the front are tomorrow's project, though I'm going to need some more supplies.
The guy at the local garden materials centre looked surprised enough when I told him I was going to carry 6 metposts home, I dread to think what he'll say when I do the same with 8ft of fence post!

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Lots more progress today:

The frontmost track is now installed (compare with yesterday's photo).

And the rear track now extends across the back gate and over the pond!
I'm going to 'bridgeify' this section a bit more once both tracks are in, at least putitng some parapets up to stop stock going to a watery grave (as several of my tools did today!)
 
I'm now debating whether to do the inner track with LGB R2 (which I have lots of) or Piko R3 (which might fit better, but I have none of).
I plan to continue with the rear track tomorrow and go from there, though I may be limited by the fact my fibreglass track cleaning brush is out of refills!

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And finally... after a trip to the shops, it was out in the garden to put in another bit of baseboard. Unfortuantely, it got dark before I could lay the track.

I've left lots of odd bits of wood jutting out, in case they come in useful to support the second track. I can always chop them off if not.
 
Hope you are finding these updates interesting. Hopefully more to come over the next 4-day weekend.

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It's great watching a railway start from nothing. I am just disappointed that I never took the time to record how my line progressed. Never mind I am enjoying watching yours

A bit more progress this week.
 
I've put in the R3 reverse curve section along the fence. Thanks for everyone who gave advice in the other thread, it really does look better with R3s.
 


The next section is laid out loose on the ground. This will probably be a plywood top on timber frame, as with the other station.
However, I expect progress to be slow as I'm running short on decking & timber, and I've no longer got access to a vehicle suitable for transporting large items back from B&Q

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LittleRedTrain

However, I expect progress to be slow as I'm running short on decking & timber, and I've no longer got access to a vehicle suitable for transporting large items back from B&Q

Daniel, good work. It's shaping up nicely.
 
One thing I have found which might be worth looking into - rather than using one of the big DIY stores like B&Q, I found that my local independant DIY supplier was a lot cheaper for timber and also offers free local delivery if you spend over £50. No guarantee that you'll find the same sort of deal in your area, but it might be worth investigating? 

Totally agree with you Mel. Try yellow pages for a Timber Merchant.

Good advice and cracking progress

Thanks for the tips regarding alternative suppliers.
 
Generally I try to get most of my supplies from the local garden supplies centre, (Kebur, for anyone local).
They're a bit more expensive than the chains, but it means I'm supporting a local business (and they're within walking distance).
Unfortunately, they don't do ordinary timber and only sell 4" wide decking for some reason (which is too narrow for my needs).
 
I will have a look around for other local timber merchants, but I'll be forced to spend a bit of money with B&Q as my Dad got me a B&Q £60 gift card for my birthday.

Things have been a bit quite on the AVLR front lately, mainly due to starting a new job, and no longer having access to a minibus to transport materials.
However, on Saturday, I was able to take advantage of a van hired to move some 7.25" gauge stock, and pick up some supplies from B&Q on the return journey.
 
On Sunday, I then set to work building the baseboard for the loop/station section at the far end of the line. This is ply/framework construction rather than decking, but will still sit on cut-down fence post mounted into metposts.
After a good afternoon's work, the top of the board and framework were finished, though mounting it up on posts and connecting it to the rest of the railway is a job for another day.  (It'll also require a second pair of hands, as I could barely lift the finished board into the conservatory at the end of the day!)

The track is pinned on temporarily so I could get the alignment and board shape right. Once it's finished, it'll come up, the board will be covered in roofing felt, and the track relaid.
There will also be sidings in the centre of the loop and a platform between the two running lines.
 

This will be the next section, which connects onto one end of the larger board.
 
One advantage of being single is that I can get away with leaving these in the conservatory until I'm ready to work on them )
 
P.S. One word of warning for anyone thinking of getting 6in wide decking boards from B&Q, I had real trouble on Saturday finding sections in good condition. I had to dig down about 5 or 6 layers to find ones without massive cracks or chunks taken out of them.
It's OK to support a railway, but I certianly wouldn't want to make a proper deck out of it!

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Looking good.  The R3 make a difference.

Spent the afternoon today fixing the rest of the framework to the baseboard, then decided that, as it was getting in the way in the conservatory, I may as well get it up on its posts and leave it in its final position!


Final alignment is yet to be done, and then I'll take the track up, put down the roofing felt, and put the track back.
I may also add a couple more posts if I decide it needs a bit more support.

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Progress has been slow, mainly due to working on railways of other gauges, but the roofing felt has now been fitted to the loop board, and the track relaid in its final position.

I checked for clearance between the lines using a couple of recent acquisitions from John Prescott

 
Unfortunately, progress was halted by a lack of Metposts, so the next board has been cut to size, but couldn't be fitted. Also, the bridging piece for the point is still to be done (didn't want to break up an 8ft length of decking just for a tiny section, so will do that when I install the next section of decking across the pond in).

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A very productive weekend on the AVLR, thanks to the exceptionally nice weather.
 
All of the baseboards are now in, and there is about 30ft or so of track to pin into its final place, and that should be it for major civil engineering (bar minor tweaks/fettling). If it weren't for the fact that sunset is still occuring at its normal autumnal time, I might've got it all done this weekend!
 

The second track across the pond, I need to find a way of making the bridge look a bit more 'bridgey'
 

Overview of the whole station/balloon loop area. The last few bits of track need fitting, and I need to lay the sidings in the middle of the loop.
The Newquida stock is again out for gauging. This is great for the pupose as it doesn't matter too much if it gets attacked by passing vegetation or derails and falls in the pond!
 
Hopefully I'll have a complete circuit ready for my Leader on its return from lining out at Berry Hill Works. The electrical work to allow the rest of my stock to run will take a little longer.
- -
Daniel

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