This video shows the garden pre-railway, some photos of its construction and a tour of the line.
Friday 11 December 2020
Friday 4 December 2020
The Wychbold and Stoke Prior Railway - The First Five Months
I started work on the railway on the 28th June this year. The 1st December was a rare dry day so I was able to set up the railway for a photoshoot.
Toby at the Saltworks with a train of private owner wagons |
The Saltworks with Stoke Works Station beyond |
Emily in the bay platform at Stoke Works Station |
Tuesday 10 November 2020
Stoke Works Station
I haven't been able to get much done on the railway over the last 3 weeks due to a combination of inclement weather, other aspects of my life getting in the way and idleness. However over the last few days I've been working on the site of what will be Stoke Works Station which, as you can see, will be adjacent to the Saltworks. The platforms of the station will be offset.
Looking down the garden. The left hand platform will be situated on the 3 slabs in the foreground |
Wednesday 21 October 2020
The Saltworks
I've now completed the base for the saltworks area. It amazing how quickly I got this done once I'd purchased a concrete mixer off evilBay. I can now work out where the buildings will eventually go.
I will be making walls to surround the saltworks but not until I've made more progress with the mainline.
Friday 2 October 2020
Progress Update
I've decided to concrete the saltworks area to give a firm level base for the track and buildings. Here is some of the shuttering in place. |
On the opposite side of the garden I've cleared the site ready for the new shed. |
Here's what it looked like before. |
Sunday 20 September 2020
A Little More Progress
The top of the garden. The line will go through a 1 metre long tunnel at the deepest point in the cutting.
The inner track will be made from LGB radius 5 curves.Saturday 29 August 2020
Auto Panning Camera Mechanism
I've been experimenting with a mechanism to automatically rotate a camera to follow the curves on my new railway.
Monday 24 August 2020
The main line has been extended
Thursday 13 August 2020
Harold the Helicopter Inspects Progress
Harold the Helicopter flew over recently and his co-pilot took this photograph. Construction has not progressed much so far this month.
Saturday 1 August 2020
Saltworks Trucks
Wednesday 29 July 2020
The Saltworks Area
The main line is the double track on the left of the photo. The Saltworks will occupy the area on the right of the photo where the 3 sidings are situated. The loop and head-shunt in the middle is where coal trucks will be held after delivery from the main before being taken into the Saltworks. Full salt trucks will also be parked here awaiting collection.
I've put cross-over points each side of the Saltworks loop so that trucks can be taken out onto the main line in either direction.
Monday 13 July 2020
Construction Week 2 Progress
The Main Line |
Monday 6 July 2020
Railway Construction Week One
The Brookside Station Area |
A Dogleg |
This will be a short tramway section as it is the main route from the decking to the lawn. As it's a high traffic area it will be concreted.
Converging Lines |
Sunday 28 June 2020
The First Sod Has Been Cut
The site of Brookside Station |
Tuesday 23 June 2020
Experimental Track Laying
This will be the site of Brookside Station. A single platform will occupy the area between the tracks. The single track branch-line will start at the bottom right of the photo. Bottom left will be a short two truck siding. The double track main line will begin at the dog.
Brookside Station |
The Start of the Main Line |
Monday 8 June 2020
Brookside Station
I've decided to add a fourth station at the other end of the branch line which will be called Brookside.
The original track layout for the bottom left hand corner of the garden was for it to be a large radius curve with the lawn on one side and a planted area on the other. However during the heatwave in May we found that this was where we ended up sitting in the dappled shade of the acer. So the plan is to tighten up the curve to radius 3 and this leaves room for the new station next to the raised bed.
Brookside Station |
Sunday 7 June 2020
Trackbed Surveying and a Spiral.
I hammered in pointed sticks every 2.4 metres along the proposed route and then used a long spirit level to work out height differences. So far I've only done this for the right hand side and the bottom of the garden.
Survey Stations |
Survey of the Right Hand Side of the Garden |
Survey of the Bottom of the Garden |
I haven't carried out an accurate survey of either the left hand side or the top of the garden but I have worked out that there is a significant drop-off at the top left corner. A very rough calculation has shown that the gradient for a ground level line across the top of the garden would be an unacceptable 1:20 or thereabouts.
This means that where the branch line begins at Stoke Works Station it will need to be a quite a high embankment.
I'm now toying with the idea of dropping the line back down to lawn level by incorporating a spiral. I've got plenty of time to make the decision as I will not be starting work on this section of the railway until next year.
Proposed Spiral |
Saturday 30 May 2020
Where Do I Begin?
The photo shows my giant homemade compass. At the centre it pivots around a tent peg. At the outer end I've drilled two holes the same diameter as a pencil - one at the inner track radius and the other at the outer.
Homemade Compass |
Track Template |
I've started stripping down and cleaning the flexi-track from the Sandwell Valley Railway.
All I need now is to borrow a rail bender.
Tuesday 26 May 2020
Incorporating of a Stream and a Pond
Recently we were sunbathing in the garden when our eyes were drawn to a slight natural depression in the lawn and she suggested that it might be the ideal location for a pond and rockery.
Immediately my mind went into overdrive. Could the rockery house the quarry. Would it be possible to run a line around the pond? What a great video location it could be. How could I incorporate a stream? I had always liked the idea of having a line running on bridges over a stream and the design so far had no stream and no bridges.
This is what I've come up with. It's very rough and nothing like a scale drawing - the line would be much longer than shown. Not only would it break up the large lawn area, it would be a much more scenic route for the quarry line and add another diorama with great video potential.
I'm not sure about the triangle as quarry traffic would I assume all go in the same direction along the branch, i.e. to the main line, but I think it would look nice.
The Quarry Branch |
Sunday 24 May 2020
The Garden - Just Add Track
The first photograph shows the part of the garden where the railway will run. The shed in the bottom right was temporarily relocated onto the lawn when the building work was being done. That will be moved to the far right-hand corner before track laying. The hose pipe shows the approximate route that the railway will take on the right-hand side of the garden.
The area that the Wychbold and Stoke Prior Light Railway will cover |
The right-hand side of the garden |
The summer house is not long for this world. It will be demolished when the site is needed for the railway. Behind where the summer house is currently situated will be a woodland area which will provide a backdrop for the line. This will be the steepest gradient on the line.
The top of the garden |
The left-hand side of the garden |
Proposed site of shed |
Track sorting |