I divided the construction of the railway into 6
separate stages.
Stage 1; runs across the "Back Fence" of the
garden around the "Corner" (via a couple of trestle bridges) then
down the "Side Fence" (which runs the full length of the house block,
but only a small part is used). This
involved bringing the "Upper Level" track down to the same level as
the "Lower Level" where they cross a lift up bridge.
Stage 2; takes the two tracks across the yard on a
"table" which is all flat so that structures and sidings can be built
on it. A lift up
bridge, spans a gap left to allow access to the inside of the loop.
Stage 3; involved extending "the table" and
putting in benchwork across the front of the shed to carry the lower loop after
it runs through a "town area" to close it.
Stage 4; takes the track that came down in Stage 1 back up
to "Upper Level". There is a smaller area to achieve this when
compared to the "Corner" with the high trestle across it, a
Spiral/Helix was considered but eventually one was not required to achieve
this.
Stage 5; was planned to be storage tracks under the HO layout but due to the size of the sugar mill precinct this has now evolved into a second stand alone layout with interchange tracks to the main layout; its progress will be recorded under its own Construction Logs page (link below).
Stage 6; is the planned loops running through the shed from Stage 5, the
track will be on the bench work from the now disassembled HO layout
which now results in a fairly large grade up to the level from outside. The benchwork was not lowered so as to allow for tracks to run through the shed giving a continuous lower loop.
These will allow whole trains to be stored in the shed in a ready to run position or others to be loaded onto
the track so they can run out to the mainline. There will be a passing siding so that trains can continue around the mainline loop.
There is also planning for lines to be built.that will let shunting operations, that can be carried out when the weather is too bad to allow outside operation, perhaps incorporating a shunting puzzle.
All of this is inside the shed in an area 5.3 M x 4M, as it will be out of the sun 3D printed point will be used where possible.
The line built across the front of the shed will be taken up as will the station building and associated trackage and the solar panel that keeps the servo driven points battery charged will have to be moved.
This could turn into a major re-configuration of the whole layout.
As each milestone in the construction is reached I write a new post which summarises what has been done, they will be an ongoing record of developments on the railway.
Stage 1
1. Stage 1- August - October 2019 G The Beginning of the Railway
2. Stage 1-October to November 2019 Supports Construction
3. Stage 1-November to December 2019 Lower Level Around the Corner
4. Stage 1-January 2020 Starting the High Trestle
5. Stage 1-January 2020 The High Trestle Reaches Halfway
6. Stage 1-January 2020 The High Trestle is Finished
7. Stage 1-March 2020 Down Hill from The High Trestle
8. Stage 1-March 2020 The Low Trestle
9. Stage 1-April 2020 A walkway and safety rail is fitted to the high Trestle
10. Stage 1-April 2020 Stage 1 is Complete
Stage 2
1. Stage 2-May 2020 Stage 2 begins with Coleus Corner
2. Stage 2-May 2020 Inside the Loop Landscaping started
3. Stage 2-May 2020 Lattice Fence extended across the yard from Coleus Corner.
4. Stage 2- May 2020 Lift Up Bridge Work Begins
5. Stage 2- May 2020 The Lift Up Bridge is Redesigned
6. Stage 2- May 2020 The Lift Up Bridge is Redesigned Again
7. Stage 2- June 2020 The Lift Up Bridge Rail Decks are Built
8. Stage 2-June 2020 Baseboards Across the Yard completed
9. Stage 2- June 2020 Lift Up Bridge Finished; Stage 2 is Complete
Stage 3
1. Stage 3- June 2020 Stage 3 is Commenced
2. Stage 3-June 2020 Stage 3 Base Framework Built
3. Stage 3-July 2020 Framework is Complete
4. Stage 3-July 2020 Lower Loop Baseboards are Installed
5. Stage 3-July 2020 Lower Loop Baseboards Finished; Stage 3 is complete
Stage 4
1. Stage 4-July 2020 Lower Loop is now Continuous
1 comment:
Looks like you are really moving along with the construction. It looks neat and durable. Looking forward to that moment when the first train runs round the full circuit. 😏
Rik
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