The Nursery End Light Rly (fig 1) was a wooden affair, 100mm x 19mm battens on posts sunk in the ground with roofing battens on either side to give rigidity (fig 2), especially for the curved sections.
One side of the garden the line was at ground level whereas on the other side the line was a good 18ins above ground. I didn't much like the appearance and vowed that if ever I built another line, it would not be "on stilts" again. Still, it gave good service, if somewhat frantic at times, and boasted a minimum radius of six feet.
Apart from the locos mentioned earlier, the stock consisted of three four wheel carriages, each about 15ins in length, made from balsa and fully equipped with seats, a few dropped lights, etc. etc. After a while the damp affected them and, as they were of unsprung, non-compensated, lightly constructed design, they added to the excitement of derailments at the worst possible places! I had also tried to introduce some super-elevation on the curves, but hadn't started sufficiently far before the curve with the resultant mess being caused by the loco's leading wheel riding up over the outer rail all set for a tour of a flower-bed. After a while this was cured, but next time "it will be better". Ballast was small pebbles, more usually found in aquariums.
The Foxwarren Light Rly (fig 3) was a 100% ground-level line, virtually no gradient, a long curved tunnel and not at all inspiring! Just a circuit round the lawn, a passing loop and two sidings. But the track, similar construction as before but not raised up anywhere, looked far, far better for being at ground level and also boasted a minimum radius of six feet.
Motive power was my beloved Megan, for all her faults still my favourite and with such superb slow-running she has to be seen to be believed, and four four-wheel coaches modified a little from the Tenmille Tall-y-Llyn kits. There is a small stock of goods vehicles, based loosely on NWNG prototypes, all of which require finishing - maybe next Winter???
So, now for the FLR MkII, or Five Lanes & Launceston Rly as it is now christened. The raison d'être being a narrow-gauge line connecting a granite quarry on the edge of Bodmin Moor to the standard guage railways at Launceston. I have stayed with well-creosoted wooden construction having experimented with a short section of concrete-based line a while ago, only to see the concrete lift in the frost. The idea is for a mainly ground- level line with the station area on a raised baseboard, rather than stilts, where stock sidings, steam-up area etc. will be. The wooden base, after being well soaked in creosote, is covered with roofing felt to (hopefully) achieve two purposes. 1) additional weather protection for the wood and 2) To simulate an embankment for the ground-level part of the route. The line (fig 4) takes the form of a dumbbell-shaped loop allowing continuous running if required, with the train departing in one direction, then re-appearing having either negotiated the loop or visited Launceston.
By using a facing junction shortly before returning to the station the train can run round the other dumbbell loop via "fiddle yard" and steam-up area to rejoin the line from the station by means of a trailing junction. In the opposite direction the quarry branch will be a simple line, end-to-end, leading to the "fiddle yard" (where full trucks can be swapped for empties) and connected to the "main line". The idea being to create the illusion of full trucks being worked down the branch to the station yard and thence onto the "main line", with a train of empty trucks returning. The empty trucks will then be taken along the mineral branch to the quarry, or "fiddle-yard", sidings where they will be swapped for the full ones which will then be taken back down the quarry branch and thence the whole sequence will start again. In true narrow-gauge manner the curves are tight - down to 2ft 9ins radius in places!
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| The wooden base for the return loop at the "Launceston" end of the line in situ. The spur will, eventually, lead to Launceston Station. | |
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| Left, the roofing felt being applied to the creosoted base and right, the finished base, ready to receive the track | |
There are plans afoot to build a push-pull coach to operate an auto-train - I have a pair of "Locomotion" bogies intended for this purpose. When it is built it will operate in an end-to-end manner between the main terminus and Launceston. A further idea is to extend the line from Launceston, down the side of the garden which, as the slope would be too steep, would require the building of a "zig-zag" to lessen the gradient. Maybe one day, when all the other plans have materialised!
I have an ambitious plan for a fully interlocked signal box to control the points and signals in the Five Lanes station area, with the rest of the line unsignalled. I have bought one of Derek Mundy's excellent lever frame kits for this purpose, but to date have not progressed beyond reading the instructions! Further plans include full train and station lighting for night running, other flights of fancy that may never materialise but are nice to plan, etc., etc., etc. Tune into this page from time to time so that you can see what progress has been made.
New home, new garden, new railway!
2006 saw the construction of FLR Mk III (though still the Five Lanes & Launceston Rly) begin. This time I have opted for the "prototype" approach to a ground level line and dug a trench that was lined with a waterproof membrane (actually builders' DPC) to constrain weed growth and to prevent ballast sinking into the ground, topped with a layer of crushed granite and finished with a layer of granite coarse gravel. One edge of the railway runs along the top of a small wall where the station is to be built, together with some sidings and a steam-up area.
The excavated route of the main circuit, with the station area at the top of the low wall in the foreground. The steam-up area will be on the left. Next comes the laying of a weed-proof membrane (builders' DPC), some crushed granite well tamped down, then some coarse grit equally well tamped down followed, finally, by the track.
Return to 1978 and all that!
This page updated by , 17th April 2006