The Railway in the Snow

It snowed on 11th December just after I had finished the Thomas Christmas Special film. If it had only snowed a few days earlier I could have shot some great footage for the video.

With sub-zero temperatures over the last few days the snow has stayed on the ground. It's slowly thawing today so I grabbed a few pictures while the railway is still partially covered with snow.

Thomas and the Christmas Lights Train - Christmas Special 2022

Passenger numbers are down, goods traffic has dropped off too.

The future of the railway is uncertain. Can it survive?

Sir Topham Hatt needs to come up with a bold plan to save the railway from bankruptcy. Will it succeed?

Thomas and the Christmas Lights Train

Hopefully a new Thomas and Friends film will be released before Christmas. Filming has begun.

Here's a short promotional video.

Stoke Works Station

 The replacement station for Stoke Works has now been completed.

I'm also making G Scale gabions using 6mm welded mesh and pea gravel.

Autumn on the Wychbold and Stoke Prior Railway

There is now only a small gap that needs to be filled to complete a circuit around the garden.

Also construction of platforms for Stoke Works Station has begun.

The Garden at Twilight

 

The temporary station at Stoke Works has been removed. It will be used as a template for its permanent replacement.

The tunnel (in the foreground) has now been grassed over.

More Work on the Spiral

A little more work has been done on the spiral. All of the viaduct sections have been postcreted in and concrete blocks have been laid to form the basis for the embankment at the rear of the spiral. The blocks will be clad with concrete wall sections.

I also need to make two bridges - one to link the station area to the curved viaduct and another to link between the curved part of the viaduct and the straight section.

A view from the rear of the spiral.

Looking across the garden towards the tunnel.

Showing the woodland area and path.

First Train on the Spiral

Devious Diesel has been granted the honour of pulling the first train up the, still to be completed, spiral. He successfully hauled a test train consisting of seven trucks from the branch line, up the spiral and onto the main line. You never know, perhaps he will become a useful engine after all?

The remaining gap in the branch line.

October 2022 Update

 A short video showing some of the latest developments on the railway.

A Recycled Railway

I began work on my new railway over two years ago and now a complete circuit around the garden is nearing completion, and it's amazing just how much of my previous railway has been recycled. Obviously the track is from my old railway, I've bought very little new track.

The Sandwell Valley Railway (SVR) embankment was clad with concrete wall sections purchased from Garden Railway Specialists.

These sections now line one of the sides of the cutting on the Wychbold and Stoke Prior Railway (WASPRly). 

A curved embankment on the SVR was clad with 'sleeper' walls.

The wooden sleepers have been in store for the last 5 years. They are now being used to hold back the garden behind the Salt Works Sidings on the WASPRly.

I built an aluminium bridge to carry a single track across the pond on the SVR.

This has been shortened and widened to carry double track. It now carries the main line over a single track branch line.

The Cain Howley viaduct sections have also been repurposed. The ones leading up to the bridge have been modified to take double track and the others will carry the branch line spiral.

The Single Track Branch Line

The top of the garden where the single track branch line will leave the main line. It will then descend on a spiral to pass under the main line.

Very much work in progress. Lots still to do but it's getting there.

James' Splendid New Red Coaches

Since joining the Wychbold and Stoke Prior Railway loco fleet poor James has never had any suitable coaches to pull. So he was nearly always relegated to pulling goods trains. Recently two brand new shiny splendid red coaches arrived on the railway and now James' dreams have come true and he can pull passenger trains!

A Milestone

I've reached a major milestone on my railway today. Yesterday I finished the concreting for the next station on the railway and today I've temporarily laid the track.

The double track main line finishes here at a terminus station. To the right the branch line leaves the main line. I've incorporated a loop so that Thomas can run round his coaches.

On the left behind the platform will be the station car park.

The platforms have still got to be made.

The cut-out in the foreground will be planted with low ground cover plants.

Devious Diesel - A Test Run

Diesel has spent several weeks in the Stoke Prior works. He's now been let out onto the main line for extensive testing.

Devious Diesel's Conversion

I converted Paxton to battery power with radio control and sound in April - see April Update. Diesel joined the loco fleet in May but I've only just started the process of carrying out his conversion.

The first photo shows the layout of Diesel's floor. The speaker has been fitted and the holes drilled for the switch (2 holes to right of speaker) and charge sockets (larger hole above the speaker).

This photo shows the template I made for drilling the holes for the speaker cone. The squares are 5mm by 5mm.

The holes are made using a 3mm drill bit. The template has been sellotaped in place.

An underneath view showing the charge socket, switch and speaker locations.

An underneath view showing charge socket, switch and speaker fitted.

Stoke Prior Station Update

The Stoke Prior Station area is nearing completion. The slab retaining walls are complete and I've cut the track which will link the branch line to the main line and also the branch line run round loop.

The area is ready now in in-filling with concrete.

Stoke Prior Station Progress

I've decided to make the elevated area on which Stoke Prior Station will be built out of broken paving slabs, salvaged from the front garden.

The retaining walls will be six slabs high

Work in Progress

A view from the top of the spiral

The Railway from the Air

Here are a few aerial shots of the railway.

A general view. The building site at the top of the garden is where Stoke Prior Station will be situated. The route of the single track branch line is marked by the slot cut in the lawn. The tunnel will be earthed over and turfed.

The branch line will leave the main line at Stoke Prior Station and will descend on a spiral until it passes under the main line. The first part will be carried on a curved viaduct which can be seen on the left of the photo.

Stoke Works Station is still a temporary structure and eventually the Salt Works Sidings will be populated with suitable buildings.

The house end of the garden. The branch line runs in front of the train viewing area and will disappear behind a flower bed before emerging further up the garden. Once the branch line, spiral and Stoke Prior Station are completed the final stage will be a quarry branch running across the lawn and round a pond.

The Railway's Second Birthday

Today is the second birthday of my garden railway.  🎂

It's reached the toddler stage.

It's still not finished but here's a short video of what has been achieved to date.

The Single Track Branch Line

 I've also been experimenting with the route that the branch line will take from the bottom of the spiral to Brookside Station.