The Isle of Westland Railway

Why put up with the discomfort of a bus when you can travel in supreme comfort by train  ?  Frequent services throughout the island.                   Isle of westland Railway Company

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

 Track/site planning (or ...............how to get a quart into a pint pot)

 The line exists on a garedn site about 30 x 30 feet and, to start with, all I had (about 20 years ago) was the usual oval around the edge. i baecame disatisfied with this and over several 'incarnations' the line has altered and grown to what exists today..........................but is still changing and a planned move of house may well mean that this 'version' will not exist much longer. Will I be sorry to break this up ?..................yes of cousr a it holds so many memories..............but there is the chance to start again learning from past mistakes (and making new ones) and this line is far from perfect ! Of course I plan the next one to be better than perfect.....................:-)

 If I can work out a way I will add a trackplan .........................but the line is basically a 'folded loop' plan meaning one loop inside another but connected at one point. The use of a crossover has the effect  that the trains take first the outer then inner circuits.

 This means that there is a lot of track in a small space but I had permission for this from my long suffering wife Val as long as I left a bit of grass for the use of my daughter's Guinea pigs and some where to sit out in Summer. There are two 'spurs' leading to the terminus stations at Tamacandy Junction and High Westland. This plan means that there is a continuous circuit which allows trains to 'clock up the miles' between the two termini. The fact that little of the line is visible from any one point means that trains seem to undertake a journey and do not give the impression of running round a circle of track. By moving just a few feet i find that the previously viewed sections of track disappear behind foliage and new views open up which fools the eye into thinking the line is much bigger that it really is. I feel that the fact that the trains keeps covering the same length of track on its journey is not so obvious and I am very pleased with this way of making the line seem much longer than it really is.

What would be a very limited 'viewing stage', by concealing most of the area, now becomes a collection of 'views' which can only be seen in full by spending quite a bit of time moving around the garden. I find that interest is maintained this way. It also gives the background for a wide selection of photographs. I am pleased with this approach and, like many confess with regard to their own lines, get pleasure from viewing the line whether or not trains are running. the track wending its way through the scenary looks just like the prototype does the vast majority of the time.............................no trains!The track sitting in the scenery in itslef can be quite satisfying I find a walk out around the line is a great way to 'unwind' when things have become too hectic in life. Pull out a few weeds, trim back some plant encroaching on the trcak and somehow the world cares just seem to disolve. Maybe a garden railway should be prescribed by Medical Practicioners as a cure to stress.

The track itself  is mainly Peco 32mm Nickel Silver, but there is one section remaining of Tenmille track which is what I started out using some 20 years ago ! The Peco points are a far superior design hence the change in track used. Terminus stations are laid on concrete slabs bases while the  'running line' is laid on bricks cemented together side to side. This gives a pretty solid base and far better than the wood base which i started out with......................which soon warped and it did not last long!

The brick/slab base is very solid and this is necessary as at some sections of the line the only way of carrying out pruning to lineside vegetation is by walking on the track itself. In some places I have cemented small pieces of wood into the mortar between the bricks to allow screws to hold down the track but these seem to rot pretty quickly and drilling where necessary for the use of plastic wall plugs works better.

The track is 'ballasted' with a variety of 'Rowlands mixtures' tending towards a stronger cement content where it gets walked on. This has the dual advantage of holding the track firmly, allowing the clearing of debris by the use of a brush and looking like ballast. As you will see from the pics we get a good crop of moss which gives a neglected 'Light railway' look. I have not done anything to promote this but I think that the shade created by all the small 'scale trees' (aided by our neighbour's full sized ones) gives a good shady growing condition from which we benefit. In fact, it is necessary to clear back moss regularly as it builds up in the flangeways and can derail the trains. Running a screwdriver along the flangeways affected does the job!

 Winter weather  can cause a problem as the moss expands and freezes derailing the trains...................a case of 'the wrong kind of moss'?!

 The foliage

One of the best features of garden lines over the indoor version is the fact that we can use live plants.

 But then........................one of the worst features of garden lines over the indoor version is the fact that we can use live plants !!

 They can look good but to make that so I find that they need constant attention due to the close proximity and desire to spread of the ones I use. Overall though I will invest the time to get the satisfying effect I have manged to achieve because when you look particularly at a photo it looksm pretty good !

Because I place my line on an imaginary island in the South of the UK I can go for lots of green foliage reminiscent of pictures of lines oin the Isle of Wight for example. In addition, I just do not have the room for more than a few small buildings and without the scenic breaks provided by the 'greenery' I would have a very good representation of a tabletop line from my youth. OK ..............................so give up on the idea of modelling villages clustered around a station ....................go for a line wnding its way through a coutryside setting I decided.When you think about it, the vast majority of lineside seting in the south was of lines running through rolling green areas so this fits in well with the limitations imposed by the site of my model line.

Because the tracks run very close together I needed a way to seperate them visually so around 100 miniature trees and other plants were added over time. These provide 'scenic breaks' and help to mean that only small sections of the line can be viewed from any one point in the garden. This means that the trains seem to make a journey through a miniature landscape as shown by the photographs.They, in the main, are cheap specimes from diy stores where the label indicates that they are slow growing. They are all pruned endlessly which does not seem to kill off too many.

Groundcover is 'mind your own business' which spreads like mad but does restrict weed growth and creates the effect of.........................well all those types  of plant that grow beside real railway tracks quite well. It is also very good at suppressing weed growth.

 By adopting the use of bricks laid side by side a 'verge' is created either side of the track where plants such as the rampaging 'Mind your own business cannot root. Mind you...........it spreads its growth over the bricks and, if allowed, over the track.................. but can be cut back easlily by sliding the ege of a Builder's trowel along the brick. This acts a bit like a knife and trims the MYOB easily back to the required line. If it gets into the track then boiling water kills it easily.....................and produces a very strange smell. My Peco track seems to suffer no ill effects by the use of said boiling water.

Film by Ian Stock of his 'Linda' and train running on the line during a visit..

These in the main are plastic although a few plywood and cement ones exist. Both those in these pics are plastic kits. I do not have room to store indoors other than a few particularly fragile structures so most live in their lineside position all year round.

The bridge is metal and I do not claim to have built it myself , I was fortunate enough to buy it at a 2nd hand stand at a local show. I have adapted and painted it  and the supports are made from cement using the 'Jigstones' mould system ( available from Back2bay6' in the UK).

i have attempted to maintain the idea that this is the South of England and use wooden or stone buildings avoiding the many 'slate' ones aimed at the Wales area. A corporate green and cream  paint scheme is adopted throughout which I feel ties together all the buildings in the same way that the overall scheme does for rolling stock.

More pics to follow...........................

 _________________________________________________________________________________

On market days take advantage of reduced rate travel for  your pig !                Tickets must be purchased before boarding the train and pigs are precluded from occupying seats that other passengers may wish to use !                 Isle of Westland Railway Company