Finally got the track laying finished.

 As can be seen I managed to get the concreting behind the new station area Laid as this is were I intend the Oily Rage Pub to be located 

As for track laying I usually use a small amount of grease in the fishplate before connecting up

Now comes the tricky bit,   drilling and taping out the hole.

This is done with a 1.6mm drill followed by a 2mm tap.

                        

 

 

 While waiting for my mate John to come over with a few cut off bits of decking I have checked out the next obstacle holding up the running of trains

  

This looks like it could be a problem.         After some extensive pruning.

But just look at the mess we found on the other side. 

So now the work can begin.  A big clean up was called for first, then we could start on the reconstruction and replacement of all the old rotten wood. 

  

As can be seen after a lot of thought and research it was finally decided to replace all the old wood with a steel frame infilled with short lengths of decking. 

   

 Well,  here we are several years have passed with various health problems to contend with.   So I have finally and with the help of my closest friend, John Driscoll, managed to make a start at the renovation of my railway.    As can be seen from previous photos there is a lot of reconstruction to be done.    I have made the decision that the rebuild would be far better if I could replace the rooted wooden part with a steel framework using decking planks inserted to support the track. Hopefully this will last a lot longer than the old construction made of 3" x 2" covered in plywood and roofing felt. 

                    Well only two more boards to go now but I have run out,     John has a few bits he can bring at the weekend so I think that all for now.

Lock down stage 3

Lock down stage 3

Well, May and June have come and gone and all I have to show for them is the completion of the replacement bridge over Gnome Valley Gorge . The first bridge finally gave out last Easter, and as it was only build about 12 years ago I thought it time to make alterations.

The gorge was thought to be a little large so it was reshaped and a new support system was created. As the old bridge was constructed in ply wood and pine the new one is built using hard wood supported on plastic sheet.

So here we are now, some 6 weeks later and finally managed to get the bridge in place. Got track down temperately so as to check clearance and running.

 It was thought Logs would be suitable for edging the bridge thus producing a safety rail.

 These logs where fixed in position with chain. ( Surplus left overs from my secondary hobby, Jewelry making )

 Looks OK to me and that's all that counts.

 So there you have it, The new bridge just waiting for the next train.

  The track inspection crew have finally pasted the bridge open for traffic.

Lock down boredom Stage 2

Lock down boredom      Stage 2

So I moved round the loop and having all my tools already handy in my mobile tool shop I carried on.

So here's before

and this is after

I managed to finish the rest of the loop and it looks OK but will be better after lock down and I can get on and give it a coat of fence care

Now I think it's on to the mountains, they seam to be in a sorry mess.

Lock down boredom

Boredom

I think after about 5 year's layoff following heart and lung problems I think it's time to try and do some repair work and tiding up the layout.

I started with repairs to the return loop that had suffered considerably from wood-root had had collapsed, so here we go.

All we need now is some tubs of fence care to finish off with.

So lets move round and tackle the rest.

Bridge Day 7

Bridge Day 7

Well I started today by fitting bridge into position and  finally fastening it down.Then a start was made on the tedious job of track laying, and of course making sure the bridge did indeed work as planned.

The next thing was to build in a fail-safe dead area in front of the open bridge to prevent valuable locos and rolling stock from plummeting to the ground when the bridge is in the open position.

With this done it was time to test run some trains and see if every thing was indeed running right as this has not been done since last December when the accident happened that made all this effort needed. So what's next, well I think it's time to spring clean, repair and renew items to try and revitalize the Gnome Valley Railway as it has, for reasons of bad health and lack of enthusiasm been left, forgot and neglected for well over 6 years now.

                      So here goes