Diesel Has Arrived

 Diesel has joined Paxton on the railway. He looks very mean. I do hope that he won't cause any trouble!

Bridge and Spiral

The bridge used to cross the pond on the Sandwell Valley Railway. It was made to carry single track.

Its new home requires it to be both shortened and widened.

Rivets drilled out and sides separated.

The shortened bridge held temporarily together with wood and bungee cords.

The bridge will carry the double track main line over the single track branch line. A short section of the branch line has been laid in order to check clearances.

After the bridge the main line will enter a station, Stoke Prior. The single track branch line will then descend on a spiral before passing under the bridge.

The timber on the right of the photo is where the station will be. I'm then reusing curved viaduct sections reclaimed from the SVR to carry the first part of the spiral.

The lower part of the spiral.

Looking along the main line towards the station site. The first part of the spiral can be seen in the background.

Viaduct Progress

The viaduct project is now well under way. All of the concrete sections were cut down the middle.

Aligning the piers. A temporary pile of slabs was built to ensure that the correct gradient is maintained.

Everything needs to be checked for gradient, width and track alignment. A wooden frame was constructed to ensure correct spacing.

The structure was temporarily put together as a final check before concreting the piers in place.

A final alignment check.

Ready for concreting.

The viaduct sections were then removed and the centre of the piers shuttered before filling with concrete.

The piers shuttered and infilled with concrete.

A view back towards the tunnel.

April 2022 Update

 The garden and the railway.

Paxton's Conversion

This short video shows how Paxton was converted to battery power, radio control operation and found his voice.

The Viaduct

Today I've started work on the extension at the top of the garden. This section is highly experimental as I need to widen a single track Cain Howley viaduct to take double track.

So far, so good.

Hopefully I will be able to make more progress tomorrow.

A New Arrival

Paxton has arrived.

He will be converted to battery power with radio control and a sound unit. I also intend to cut out the cab windows.