clive_t's Garden Line - The Fall and Rise of the Scampington Chipside Garden Railway

Discussion in 'Members Personal Layouts' started by clive_t, Oct 12, 2016.

  1. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Great progress Clive, now the warmer weather has arrived I can see the S&C going from strength to strength.:thumbs:
     
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  2. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Thanks Paul! Famous last words, though - I believe this spell of nice weather is due to end next week! :(
     
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  3. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    More progress today whilst the sun still had his hat on!

    [​IMG]

    I had to raise the blocks that form the platform a little as they had sunk. But now they're not going anywhere:

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    Then continuing along the track bed:

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    The weather is due to break on Wednesday, which is a pain because it seems my shed has a leaky roof - meaning I have tomorrow to fix it before the rain comes back :(

    Ah well, it's a marathon, not a sprint!
     
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  4. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Great work. Coming on. :thumbs:
     
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  5. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Thanks Toto. Painfully slow progress, and curtailed today because of the rain which arrived punctually!:whatever:

    [​IMG]

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    On the plus side, the shed roof is good for another few months at least, and with today's activity there are even fewer places for weed seedlings to hide!
     
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  6. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    An unexpected bonus today - the prediction of heavy thunderstorms for this area proved wildly incorrect - change of seaweed needed at the Met Office methinks! Added to which, I was excused grandchild care duties so that I might make the most of the good weather!

    So, more blocks down - these are made from a single celcon block chopped into pieces with a bolster chisel and a bit of 'persuasion' from the evil Dr Lumphammer ;)

    [​IMG]

    Then on with the mortar:

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    The private siding also received some remedial attention:

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    Finally, I couldn't resist re-laying the track as far as I was able:

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    Always a feeling of real progress when the track is put back!
     
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  7. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    A bit more progress today after a week or so of diversion on to other things. Usual thing, first in with some lumps of Celcon block:

    [​IMG]

    Had to wait for the threat of rain to abate for a couple of hours, but eventually the sun came out, so I got on with it:

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    So another stretch of track is returned to its normal position:

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    Probably another day's work left on this stretch, at a guess.
     
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  8. SMR CHRIS

    SMR CHRIS Staff Member Moderator

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    Clive the Rejuvenation program is having top results
    The Base is looking great.
    Thanks for the updates
     
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  9. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Thanks Chris, much appreciated.

    Another update, and I am pleased to report the Dewey's End upper line track bed rejuvenation is now complete! :thumbup:

    The last bit was something of a struggle - this was the point I had reached 2 and a half years ago when a shortage of plastic bags to hold the spoil caused me to curtail the operation:

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    The soil here was bone dry, and a nightmare to dig out. It took me the best part of an hour just to do that. But I got there, and the last of the Celcon blocks needed were dropped into place:

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    Again with the mortar mix:

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    I then turned my attention to a bit of the private siding that has long been a thorn in my side. The storage siding for the narrow gauge line was for many years supported on just a strip of wood, which has long since rotted away leaving the line dangling in mid air. Well, enough's enough, That had to change! I chopped a couple of pieces of paving slab to roughly the desired size and stuck it in place:

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    I then used the rest of the mortar to secure it and to bed in the track the same as the rest of that area:

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    All that was then needed was to relocate the track:

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    Job done!
    :cheers:
     
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  10. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Nice work Clive ... is the whole railway system now revamped?
     
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  11. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Not yet Paul, I need to revisit the Water's Edge Branch and the main line that runs adjacent to it - see page 9 of this epic treatise! :lol:

    But, it will be done!

    At some stage I need to think very carefully about what I do with Scampington station. There is a ton of track, not to mention a number of points under the hedge, buried in several years' accumulation of leaf litter etc.
    I may need a Beeching-style review of the siding layout there:scratchchin:

    I want to keep the station, as it gives me an option to run an end-to-end service rather than just a 'roundy-roundy' type run.
     
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  12. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    More work today - not on the Water's Edge Branch, but the Chipside Bank! This is the incline which takes the continuous loop from the ground level up to the raised bed at Chipside. This is the last area where the old 'Sticks n Bricks' approach to track bed engineering survived. So, this is how it looked this morning:

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    Up with the track:

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    The flower pots and rotten wood were removed, and a start made on replacing these with celcons:

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    These will be loose-laid, no cementing. More of the same:

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    Then finally the last one is laid, and the track circuit reinstated:

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    Another step closer to complete renovation!
     
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  13. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Excellent work Clive. You are a dab hand with a trowel. :thumbs:
     
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  14. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Thanks Toto, I doubt I'll be landing any building jobs, but the track bed is staying nicely weed free where the blocks have been cemented and that's the main aim.

    Another big step forward today, I managed to dig out the last of the earth, weeds and grass around the Water's Edge branch line and get a rudimentary track bed down. This is how we started this morning:

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    I had some concrete slabs that a neighbour was throwing out; they are an ideal track bed apart from being too big. Luckily I have an angle grinder on hand to take care of that issue:

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    So about 3 hours' work to get all this done, and I am done in! All ready for digging in and cementing:

    [​IMG]

    But that's for another day!
     
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  15. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    The branch terminus track bed is now dug in awaiting cementing:

    [​IMG]

    Of course, it would be rude not to test the stability of the new bed:



    Edited to add:

    Whilst watching the train pass over the curved metal bridge, I noticed the metallic echo of the wheels going over the rail joints, which was neat! So I filmed it:

     
    Last edited: May 15, 2019
  16. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    A brief step forward yesterday morning, but I am all out of sand now so I need to buy another couple of bags next week. The Water's Edge branch terminus is all done:

    [​IMG]

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    Hopefully more progress next week!
     
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  17. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    A quick PS from yesterday, we had our grandchildren to stay overnight. A great excuse to do some 'testing' of the line, which is of course always invaluable in finding out problems etc :thumbs:

    Here's a pic of the Schoema at the head of a short goods working - probably not far short of its load limit for successfully negotiating the Chipside Bank!

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Another step forward this morning, the branch track bed is all but fully secure now - just a tiny bit still to do where it runs onto the bridge:

    [​IMG]

    Weather permitting tomorrow, I should be finishing off this section of track bed!
     
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  19. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    OK it took me 2 days, yesterday morning and this morning, to finish - but... this section is now done!

    Yesterday I unearthed a pile of old hearth bricks from behind my shed, and widened the track bed leading up to the curved metal bridge:

    [​IMG]

    Real life then intervened, which meant I had to curtail my efforts for the day. Today however, I knew I had all day ahead of me! In truth, I only needed a couple of hours this morning to get this all wrapped up and cemented in:

    [​IMG]

    Then back on with the track, and we are done with this section!

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. clive_t

    clive_t Full Member

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    Hello again all, another landmark moment this week - screwing the track down, and ballasting the Chipside area! This is where Celcons really come into their own - yesterday I was able to drill holes in them quite easily with a cordless drill so as to fit wall plugs and thereafter screw down the track:

    [​IMG]

    The whole of the track in this area is now secured, so today I was able to make a start on ballasting the goods sidings:

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    This is a mixture of 3 parts horticultural grit and one part sand/cement mortar mix. No particular reason for using that, other than it was given to me by a neighbour de-cluttering their garage! Slightly different to when I did the Chipside bay track, which was just a dry cement/grit mixture sprayed with a plant mister. I will leave it a day or so to see how it fairs with the weather and the squadrons of sparrows and starlings which daily visit my garden!

    The last bit of mixture I left for the buffer areas, into which I mixed a handful of potting compost before applying; the hope is that at some point these areas will become a bit 'greener' than the rest of the ballast.

    Here's a slightly moody shot of the results with my first batch of mix:

    [​IMG]
     

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