Construction

The 16mm railway was lifted and the track/stock/locos sold to raise funds. The existing 7 ¼" track (10mm by 20mm steel flat bar) was re-welded to 5" gauge.

As part of the run was along a re-aligned pathway the track had to be sunk flush with the new concrete path - tramway style.

The remainder of the line rests on softwood wooden sleepers (soaked in creosote) ballasted with slate chippings, which fits in with the theme of the garden.

The chippings were obtained directly from a local quarry and worked out at approximately £16 per trailer load (my trailer capacity is 1/3 ton).

All the rail was bent and shaped using a combination of rollers and by hand which proved to be hard work.

Where acute bends were required (for check rails etc) I used an angle grinder to half cut the rail then shape with a hammer. This was welded to steel ties before screwing to the sleepers.

The first point was bought from Maxitrak and assembled as a kit for a 10' radius curve.

This was not as easy as I thought, mainly due to the curvature of the departing line having to be formed just right. In the end the point took nearly ½ day to complete.

When a second point was required (for the extension of the line) I elected to buy extra aluminium rail from Maxitrak and machine it from scratch as I have access to machine tools.

Both points have proved reliable in use, however the use of check rails to guide the wheels through the frogs are essential.

The old boundary hedge was replaced with a strong new fence and this allowed nearly 1 extra yard of garden to be reclaimed. Taking advantage of the room the upper station site was improved with a NER railway seat plus porters trolley and a milk churn.

To store the carriages a traditional timber tongue/groove railway station style shelter was constructed across the run-around loop. This houses the Jenny coach on the track itself and the Alison coach on an upper floor level track – accessed with a removable track ramp. Decorative side and front bargeboards were added to the structure along with a traditional sign name “Longcroft station”.

As room on this section is tight, the curves are short and sharp; however de-railments are surprisingly very rare.