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The Extension, Phase Two

Planning

The planning of Phase Two has begun.  The outline plan being that the railway would run down the garden close to or through the boarder, and around the back of the seat arbour.  Unlike Phase One, which was planned in detail to fit in a defined space, Phase Two will be more fluid, meandering as the Existing garden layout.

The start of Phase Two are the tracks in red, to lead down the garden
The red line shows the path that Phase Two will take, and the seat arbour in the distance

I will be able to take you through each stage of the developments, with live updates.  It is now June 2021 and work has started

Having determined and agreed the route of the extension, my first step was to add a hard standing for the point to sit on, ensuring it was level across the point and in line with the gradient it was fitted on.

With the pad dried the point and track leading to to onward route was fitted to ensure everything was viable.

Pad for the point Point in place

The point and initial track work which runs behind and below the siding was then tested with loco and carriage to ensure the required clearance was available. 

Verification that the loco and wagons fit is always important before proceeding and allows you to play test your trains.

With confirmation that the new route will work the foundation for the track is put in place, for this extension I am using 450mm X 450mm paving slabs, cut to fit.

The trestle bridge fit over the the existing paving and provides the link to the extension 😊

 
 

The cut slabs are places in position running along a string line, ensuring the correct route, and the "first sod" is lifted.

With the initial slabs in place at each end and level transversely a straight edge (length of 2" X 4" timber) is used to check the level and determine if a gradient is required.  Over this initial 4 metre length it was determined that there would be less than a 25 mm drop.  Confirmation shows the drop to be less than 1:50 (2%), which I consider to be acceptable.

 
 

With the initial slabs in place at each end and level transversely a straight edge (length of 2" X 4" timber) is used to check the level and determine if a gradient is required.  Over this initial 4 metre length it was determined that there would be less than a 25 mm drop.  Confirmation shows the drop to be less than 1:50 (2%), which I consider to be acceptable.

The upper patio, where the blue arbour seat can be seen in the first photo has now been extended to allow a loop to be added:

Cat inspecting new patio and seat
Cat inspecting bamboo

Work has now started on laying the track:


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