O Gauge, Eridge in a Norwegian garden

[SR Rich]

We ran out of space inside!

Anybody that had seen our Rotherhurst thread knows that we can only set up the whole layout at exhibitions, so we decided to move outside after buying an O gauge engine each.

 

I needed to make some storage for some scaffolding and the idea of a garden railway blossomed from there.

Eridge was chosen to base the layout on because I have always liked the station and I used to live in the area.

 

This is our first time building a railway outside.

 

We built the storage box at the back and then built in the decking so that the layout is the same height all the way along.

 

 

This is where Eridge will be with a double track going around some of the garden.

 

This shows the frames before the board is put on top, the board we used is 100% waterproof made from rice husks. This area is also more or less waterproof.

This part of the layout is approximately 8.5 meters by 90 centimeters wide.

 

 

Here the board has been screwed down, there are four base boards that can be lifted out for wiring and future maintenance. The hinged section in the foreground is to allow easier access to the door of the storage box

 

The next part built was the bridge to allow easy access to the garden. The bridge has the same cladding on the underside to match that on the storage box, the piece of cladding on the layout slides in the gap when the bridge is up so it looks like a complete wall.

 

 

This is how it looks with the bridge up.

 

 

More to follow.

 

Any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

Edited June 17 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

The Layout boards were then painted with a grey waterproof paint and I then got on with horseshoe or semi circular curve under the octagonal decking above.

Everything from now on is constructed from impregnated softwood timber.

 

This is a view from the underside, I did not seem to take any pictures of part finished construction.

The construction is fairly simple 2 parallel 4x2 with noggins across and extra pieces across the corners to help support the pieces of decking board (120x28mm) on top. Holes were drilled in the wood as I went along for the buss wires to go through.

 

 

Here is the finished horseshoe curve, the smaller bits of wood in the center of the picture I used to get a nice curve on the inside of the decking board and to mark out where the track will go, giving the best curve possible. The radius of the track around this curve is approximately 1.45m and is the tightest curve on the railway.

There is also a removable section on the right of the picture you will see in more detail below.

 

 

This just shows what I was trying to explain above, the lines on the boards is where the track will go.

 

 

Probably a little over engineered, this rolls into place and secured using the clips you can see here and 4 brass bolts that I fitted later, it can be raised an lowered using the black adjustable decking supports, they can be seen better in the first picture on the right hand side (black object).

I also use track joiners to get the best join of the track.

 

 

 

The next pictures show where we got to at the end of November 2023.

 

 

 

 

If anyone has any questions or clarity on what I have tried to explain above just leave a comment.

 

Richard

 

 

 

 

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

I started laying track for Eridge and around the horse shoe curve next.

I have used Peco bullhead track apart from one set of points for this railway.

 

Here is the track plan for Eridge, I think it is correct for scale length in the station area but have had to squeeze it a bit in width due to space constraints.

The red and blue lines are the up and down lines, green are the goods lines and the purple was not part of the Eridge track plan but added by me to make a line that will go through a window to a future layout project of Tunbridge Wells West loco shed indoors.

I have also lengthened two places that should be catch points.

 

 

 

The track now laid for Eridge and around the horse shoe curve.

The board we used was not as stable as we thought, it is only 6mm thick and seems to react  to temperature and heat from direct sunlight, so it looks more like a roller coaster at the moment, this will be fixed with more noggins when we take up the boards for wiring etc.

The white bits you can see in the track at the bottom of the picture are strips of 2mm plasticard I use to make expansion gaps between the rail on the bridge and various places around the rest of the railway.

 

 

The next couple of pictures are of a spacer I 3d printed to keep the tracks parallel through the station ( scale 6') and around the rest of the railway.

 

 

And when you have track down, you have to test it.

 

 

Any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20 by SR Rich

[burgundy]

Very impressive.

I imagine that the Norwegian winter might require a rather larger snowplough than those used on the Southern. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

[SR Rich]

Hello Eric

 

Thanks for your kind words, there is more to come.

 

Yes even at the beginning of the 1900's they were using steam powered snow blowers over the mountains, I live on an island just outside of Bergen on the west coast so I think I can get away with a Southern style snowplough.

Do you know of any LBSCR snowploughs, the only one I can find in any of my books is a Southern snowplough of 1929, maybe they just used snowploughs that attached to the buffer beam. I may have a go at drawing out and printing the SR version one day.

 

Richard

[burgundy]

Richard 

The only photo that comes to mind shows a Terrier with some rather twee little snow brooms attached to the guard irons. I don't think that is going to be adequate somehow!

I imagine that there must have been something bigger, as I think Stroudley built some pretty substantial ploughs when he was on the Highland.

Best wishes 

Eric 

Edited June 21 by burgundy

[SR Rich]

Hi Eric

 

I presume you mean like this, on a Norwegian steam engine, usually at Gamle Vossebanen, our local heritage railway.

 

 

This engine is a little larger than 'Norwegian'  at the Kent and East Sussex Railway, unfortunately this engine is not running at the moment due to damage to the tender after pushing a van into a tunnel.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

Now we begin with the rest of the railway, as you have probably guessed this is an above ground railway.

 

First we concreted the galvanized shoes into the ground, the uprights are two pieces of 4x2 screwed together, then 4x2 between the posts, noggins between these pieces to try and make these stronger and a little more stable in the future, then a support from the leg to a noggin to try and prevent sagging in the future.

I used decking on the top as you can see here, I laid them from the center of each section to the legs with a wedgeish shaped piece to finish.

To make nice flowing curves I cut the boards longer than needed and then used a piece of electrical conduit to draw a line on before cutting with a jigsaw.

 

 

This is a closer view of my use of the electrical conduit to get the nice curves.

 

 

 

This is quite a good picture of the construction of the legs that hold the bridge when it is down, this area I wanted to minimize any movement so used two legs for the supports in this area to stop sideways movement.

 

 

A view of the same area from the top with the bridge down.

 

 

The same area with the picture taken from above and from the bridge end.

 

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

Edited June 22 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

Track laying is now complete, Eridge station laid out on the grey boards undercover all the rest is double track around the garden. The railway is approximately 70m around each circuit.

The track was laid using the method I described in a earlier post.

I have attached a selection of photos of the railway around the garden.

 

These two pictures were taken from top floor windows.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a simple line drawing of the railway, (definitely not to scale ) with the direction the above pictures were taken from, to try and give you an idea of how the railway is laid out

 

 

Now we move on to the electrics and control panels, which we have not started yet.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

[THS92-GWR-NO]

What sort of powersystem are you intending to use?

 

Really looking forward to seeing this in progress :)

[SR Rich]

11 hours ago, THS92-GWR-NO said:

What sort of powersystem are you intending to use?

 

Really looking forward to seeing this in progress :)

 

Hello Thomas

 

Good to hear from you again.

 

We will be using DCC but today I did use a DC control for a couple of locos without decoders. I know there are people that use radio control outside, we don't mind track cleaning and the track at the height it is makes it not too stressful on my back.

 

 

Using my old controller that must be at least 50 years old.

 

 

The next job will be taking up the grey boards and install the electrics.

 

Richard

[THS92-GWR-NO]

Oh my, a Tri-ang Controller working in Norway, impressive :) 

 

Been a while, have been out of modelling steam for a while, specially since I had to send my 15xx back to Rapido this easter as the electrics went haywire, but at least it is back now. 

 

Those Terriers looks awesome, how are they to work? As good as the rumours I hear? 

[SR Rich]

47 minutes ago, THS92-GWR-NO said:

Oh my, a Tri-ang Controller working in Norway, impressive :) 

 

Been a while, have been out of modelling steam for a while, specially since I had to send my 15xx back to Rapido this easter as the electrics went haywire, but at least it is back now. 

 

Those Terriers looks awesome, how are they to work? As good as the rumours I hear? 

 

Yeah, the Tri-ang controller only comes out on special occasions these days, when I want power in about 140m of track.

 

The Terriers are all working well, I have had four of them out over the last few days along with a Victory, Fairburn tank and the front half of a Clan that we need to build the tender for and paint etc, a project for the future along with everything else.

 

Richard

 

[Nearholmer]

Definitely interesting. I grew up with Eridge and Crowborough as my two local stations, then commutes from them for several years when I started work - it didn’t really matter which one you chose, it was uphill all the way home!

 

I’m interested in all this apparently naked wood; does wood rot not happen Norway?

[SR Rich]

13 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Definitely interesting. I grew up with Eridge and Crowborough as my two local stations, then commutes from them for several years when I started work - it didn’t really matter which one you chose, it was uphill all the way home!

 

I’m interested in all this apparently naked wood; does wood rot not happen Norway?

 

Hi

 

Wood does rot well here on the west coast of Norway, this wood has been pressure treated with a copper based solution and is supposed to have a 20 year minimum lifetime.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

Actually the next job was building boxes for the electrics.

 

The first one could be called the power box, inside are a couple of transformers, an amp-age booster and a command hub, both of these components Stuart has built from MERG kits.

This was built from 18mm softwood boards, the holes around the sides is for ventilating the inside of the box, the lid will be a piece of clear plastic.

 

 

The next couple of picture show the box completed, with mesh over the holes to stop fingers etc getting in there, and the plastic lid on

 

 

The electrics have just been placed inside for now but I am sure Stuart will find a better layout solution than I have.

 

 

All the circuit boards will sit on these 3d printed grey cones, they will prevent any damage that could be caused by screwing the circuit board directly on the base of the box.

 

 

The next is a control box for all the turnouts on the layout.

The turnouts will be controlled using the DCC Concepts ESP wireless system.

Again like the box before made from 18mm softwood boards, the box in the corner is to house the battery, we are going to power this unit with a power tool battery.

 

 

The control box is almost finished, the aluminium frame around the top is to hold the control panel in place, the frame is the type used to hold supermarket advertising posters ( it is in the open position in this picture), the only thing I had to do was file away the lip you see indicated by the red arrow in the picture, so that the corner joints looked acceptable. You can also see the battery holder and the rubber feet underneath.

 

 

A view from the front.

 

 

Here we have the control panel fitted and the aluminium edges folded down to hold the panel securely in place and of course access to the electrics inside is by lifting the panel, I will show more as work progresses.

The control panel is 4mm clear plastic sheet, approximately 60 x 30 cms.

I started making this by using 6mm masking tape to mark out the track plan, then sprayed the whole sheet with the dark sand colour, after that taking the tape away for each section of track I wanted a different colour, light grey for the up line, dark grey for the down line, black for goods lines and white at the top for a line that will run indoors through a window to Tunbridge Wells West MPD ( not the whole station) which will be future project.

 

 

Obviously the next job with these is to get lights and switches installed and the electrics sorted and that's Stuarts department.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SR Rich]

Just a short update

 

Control panel has lights & switches fitted and circuit boards fitted inside the box ready for wiring up, I will post some pictures at some point in the future.

 

I have taken two of the boards into the garage to start wiring those up as well.

I have fitted the point motors, I will then put some more wooden pieces in to support the top sheet a little more to stop the waviness we now have with the board.

 

As you can see here I have used trestles so that the boards are at a sensible working height and laid on one side so we can access both sides easily, hopefully this will speed up the work.

 

 

These are the point motors fitted to this board, I use an extra piece of board under the motor, so that I can use longer screws to hold the motor securely, if anyone is interested in how I fit the point motors then leave a message and I can leave a post here.

 

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

For those that are interested.

There are posts on my workbench thread of 3d printing and building O gauge wagons and balloon coach, starting mid way through page 5.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Short update.

All wiring of the layout boards has been finished and the board put back in place, so it looks like nothing has been done.

Here is a couple of pictures showing the underside of two of the boards before re-fitting them.

 

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

We started testing the boards in the station area and found a couple of problems, so we propped all the boards up and wired them together.

 

 

The first problem was a short from a turnout that had not been rewired for DCC, so that was not a difficult fix and the other was a pair of turnouts that were not working, this was due to not enough power being sent from the accessory decoder to activate the point motors, we just replaced the decoder and now everything is working correctly.

 

Detecting the problem with the decoder.

 

 

The bus wires have been pulled around rest of the garden part of the railway and I have started soldering the droppers to the track ( as weather permits ), ready for connection to the bus wires.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

Edited August 19 by SR Rich

[SR Rich]

Evening all

 

We have some progress both inside and out.

 

First we start inside, Stuart has finished wiring the control box for wireless turnout operation.

This is obviously the outside, a push button system, where there is three lights in a row the button activates two turnouts at the same time ( where we have paired turnouts) and those turnouts with two lights activate individually.

We have used the DCC Concepts ESP system and their dual colour lights. The red buttons control turnouts on the main line and black for the sidings or shunting areas.

 

 

Here we have the inside, Stuart has made a very neat and tidy job with all the wiring.

There is one receiver panel (bottom of the picture), four transmitter panels (the four panels in a line) and a mimic panel (mounted on the back side), the grey cones under the panels I 3D printed, this makes taking the connectors in and out easier, keeps the wires out of the way and the inside looking neat and tidy.

Power is provided with a Makita 18v drill battery.

 

 

And the outside job when the weather permits here in western Norway, has been soldering droppers from each piece of track around the rest of the layout.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

[SR Rich]

Hello all

 

Some surprise good weather today, we have now finished the electrics on this railway.

 

Stuart finished the main electrical box, I think there are two transformers, a receiver to get the wireless signal for activating the turnouts, a circuit board for the controllers and a booster to take the bus to 8 or 8.5 amps, as you can probably tell I am not that knowledgeable about the electrics.

 

 

I designed and 3D printed these boxes to hold the face plates that the controllers plug into. The double box is located at the right end of the station boards and the single at the left end.

The boxes had plenty of sealant underneath before screwing down, to stop water getting in under the boards, the pieces to the right of the control panels are lids that cover the boxes and keeps the worst of the weather out.

 

 

 

 

The last job with the electrics was to finish connecting all the droppers to the bus wires that run around the rest of the garden.

 

Now that is complete, I think it's time for testing session tomorrow.

 

As usual any comments or questions welcome.

 

Richard

 

Edited Wednesday at 18:17 by SR Rich