Dave, a couple of points if I may
Do you run with the pantographs up? Without them up, it may not look right.
I know it is subjective, but to me, they run too fast - pity Max or Ian  is not there with their electronic speed detector.

just watched the vid Dave nice one, looks  like you have it all sorted now

time for you to enjoy it yourself.

:doublethumb:thumbs:thumbs:lol::lol:

Wonderful!  Thanks for sharing it with us.

Trust Sol to notice the pans are missing thought I had got away with that one! :lol: As the contact wires will not be going right round the garden (wildlife,etc) I have had to compromise with the pans. These will all fixed in place at the same height. Some have already been done APT, 87101, 86401,86219, whilst 86249 needs doing and 86243 has a damaged pan that needs repairing. The rest of the 86's seen are just body shells at the moment and are an inexpensive way of increesing the fleet. The pan base off the 91 was used to build the pan on the lab coach. This coach is used as a height gauge when building the OHLE. The railway was opperated on the day by rigging a direction switch and a push button to an old PC PSU so no speed control was used. Trains traveling from left to right pick up speed as there is a slight downhill section between the motorway and the new bridge consiquently the push pull trains crawl up the gradent then speed up after going under the motorway bridge. The main garden section of line is slightly overgrown at the moment and where I have dug down to build a round patio is slightly waterlogged! ;-)

Dave, you have explained yourself to my satisfaction so you carry on as you see fit :exclam  The joys of Garden Railways. :thumbs

Dave just tell him its your layout you run what and how you see fit mate

I also enjoyed it.

Phill

Thats why I have a push/pull mk2 pullman set Phill! As the railway is based on the WCML and not of an actual place I can get away most things like my HST DVT conversion in rail blue. The other side has heatherburn garden railway on it in big white letters. Im supprised that no one has picked up on the fact that half the trains are running on the wrong line and the signals are turned off! Garden railways BRILLIANT!!!! :thumbs 

I noticed Dave, :roll: just did not want to say anything you see.:thumbs

Phill

 

Been a while since I posted anything in this thread so just a little update. First I need to fit some guards to the OHLE fitted section of the layout after my big stupid dog tried to climb on to the top of the wheelie bin by using the layout as a ladder! Secondly big changes are planned for the garden section involving a bigger pond and a few more waterfalls so watch this space....

Ever feel like giving up! Took a few piccy's of the garden railway and it's not good.



















The plan of attack is to transplant all the shrubs that I want to keep to the front garden then weedkiller the whole blooming lot! Once done the new pond will be sunk in place and the area landscaped including the new waterfalls under the viaducts. I hope to have it all done over the winter ready for planting next spring.

Oh dear. What a sorry sight Dave.

That must be disheartening, Dave, when your hard work gets swallowed up and "modified" by nature.

I can offer some empathy as an "outsider" myself if not actually in the garden.  The occasional intrusion of livestock is a nuisance (some local cats found their way in and were caught walking along the track recently :twisted:) and being in the wet months of the year means I am currently struggling to keep everything from being flooded again.  Leaf litter and spider webs are a continuous problem.

These things often come good with a day or so of dedicated work - it isn't always as bad as it might appear.

I've been battling with this problem for the past two years now hence the comments a few months back about scrapping the railway. Its not as bad as it looks just a lot of hard work to clear away the weeds. I have a mad plan of building a model town outside eventualy once I have sorted out the garden. My main problem is what the previous owners planted! I have a few plants that spread underground and just come up where please. :roll: Happy days! :thud

It looks bad now Dave but i am sure with the talent you have shown we will not reconise it in a few months. So i look forward to your progress.

Phill

Made a start on clearing the railway with the removal of railway enemy no 1 the big hebe bush! This constantly grows over the line and then drops bits over the track. It has been relocated to the front garden so I just hope it suvives the move ok. With it gone the garden looks a lot bigger….









The bridge could do with a bit of TLC! This was my first attempt at a concrete bridge and is still standing after nearly 3 years. The plan is to cover it with wills brick sheet and then pour in some resin….











Im thinking of building a wall next to the railway so that the rear bed can be raised and hopfully keep the plants away from the track.

Dave

A much better purchase for you with your situation would be a goat. Greenery problems will dissapear quickly:lol::lol:

cheers Brian

This afternoon work continued on clearing the undergrowth from the garden railway. With the trackbed now clear I decided to put a train on the main line so that I could use it as a visual aid.














With the area around the viaduct now clear it was time to dig a blooming big hole out of the solid clay..





With the hole dug it was time for a relaxing bath..



View from the bath!







I have some intresting plans for this area now that the pond is in place involving some resin, plexiglass sheet and some blue led strip lights from ikea. To get the idea I experemented with the lights..



I plan to embed the lights into the base of a modern waterfall that will run under both viaducts. Should be intresting!

It's coming back to life, Dave.  I really would like to run trains outside . . . hmmmm  :hmm

Sounds like a plan Max?

Took another couple of piccys now that the ponds full of water. The reflections of the viaducts in the water look amazing. Will look even better when the landscaping is finished and a few roads and buildings should finish the look nicely.

Dave coming back to life now.

Your soil is extremely clay like.

I think you need a bit more supprt on your pre formed plastic pond on the one corner.

I dont use those things myself when in the past i have had to use them for something if a customer had pre bought them i found them more trouble than they are worth .

You seem to have created a hollow where you have put it i assume you are going to cement stone or slate around the top edge if you do make sure you make sure you dont get ground run off into the pond otherwise it will mud up quite quickly.

cheers Brian