A Maxitrak Blog

Just after Easter on 2007, the line was started. We decided on a relatively easy section to begin with, this was the curve around the pond, nothing difficult to start but after just a couple of track panels we were into the rockery on the far side of the pond. This rockery was aptly named, it proved to be about ninety percent hardcore, including brick, concrete and stone. No wonder it only grew weeds! Each piece of hardcore was greeted with equal enthusiasm knowing how useful it would be for the track bed. I decided not to excavate too deeply for the track base as the soil was pretty hard. I dug down about 100 mm, then laid a weed inhibiting membrane as sold to go under decking etc. This woven material allows drainage but stops weeds pushing through. On top came a layer of hardcore hammered into small lumps to give a firm base to the track. We had some work done on the roof of the house and as a result, had a large pile of broken Kent peg tiles to dispose of. This was “good stuff” when broken into small pieces and levelled to take the track. Once laid on the tile bed stone was added to fill the last voids, giving a good economical track ballast using as much available material as possible. 



This has been down nearly a year now and has proved serviceable, though as the excavation is shallow I have had to do a reasonable amount of re-ballasting especially on embankments which are always inclined to settle. This is particularly noticeable where an embankment joins a bridge as the bridge stays firm while the embankment settles. As a test track, I have been keen to try different types of sleepers, the first section is softwood on ten foot radius curved panels. This was originally a portable track to be used on open days at the factory but the uneven nature of our car park proved unsuitable. I anticipate a short life for these sleepers and expect to replace them with plastic sleepers when they become unserviceable but it will be interesting to see how long this takes. The next sections were laid in hardwood sleepers using my old Cromar White portable track. This is over thirty years old but has to date been kept in the garage most of the time. We shall see how much better they fare than the softwood ones! I also have a few lengths of aluminium sleeper track panels. Though these sleepers are no longer obtainable they were too good to be left out! All this is used with standard aluminium rail but on the trestle bridge steel is used throughout the rail being the main structural member of the bridge.




As we come off the curve around the pond we start down the gradient, the first section of track was laid by working gradients out with a stout piece of timber and a spirit level. This is the time-honoured method and is best done by hammering pegs into the ground and working the gradient from the tops of the pegs. This can be a bit hit and miss and so was pretty soon superceded by the use of a laser level. These are quite cheap nowadays and mean the pegs can be spaced much further apart. Do not be tempted to do levels by eye, even when things look flat you will be surprised how out of true it will turn out to be. 

I would not like a completely flat line as I feel you have to really drive a line with gradients, as a rule for maximum loading you should stick to no more than one in one hundred (1%). If you are looking for a more interesting drive and do not mind reducing the train loading then one in fifty is a good maximum (2%). I have a difficult location so have gone for one in forty (about 2.5%), this reduces loading to half the normal number.

Adhesion is the main problem and on occasions may be sufficient to prevent an ascent, though a little sand sprinkled on the line usually gets the job done even in wet weather. The steepest grades should be on straight or gently curved sections, the tight ten foot curves on my line are mostly on the flat. I wanted to establish how the line would run on the steepest grades so laid the first section quite steep. This is now the most difficult section, not helped by the fact that the panels were not all laid to the same grade. There is a great temptation to get a track panel down and try it out, this is not really the best approach as it is easier to grade a longer section of say five to six panels at a time with the laser level. As this section is laid with softwood sleepers I am looking to re-grade this part of the line when the sleepers need replacing, this will not be before the rest of the line is done!

© Maxitrak Ltd
10-11 Larkstore Park,
Lodge Road,
Staplehurst,
Kent,
TN12 0QY
Email: Info@maxitrak.com

A Maxitrak Blog

When my children were small we had a 5” gauge garden railway, the garden was long and narrow and the line was built on quite a slope. The kids had a push along engine, which they used to ride down the line at great speed. There was a curved bridge over the pond half way down which admittedly, caused a few heart-stopping moments. Somehow and to great relief, no one ever ended up in the water. It was a simple up and down line but it gave great pleasure.

Inevitably the children grew up and their interests shifted to exciting new things. The track was taken up in preparation for the move to a larger house with an even hillier garden, and with no one but myself to enjoy it there was no incentive to relay the track.

In '2006' however, the motivation presented itself as I became a proud grandfather to Maddie. I knew I would always enjoy making the line, that was never a concern that delayed the beginning of this new project. More concerning was the prospect of the line going unused and thus all my hard work being in vain, Maddie's arrival accompanied the plans to reinstate the garden line. I remember when Maddie was one, my daughter asking if the line would be complete by the time she turned eighteen. Thus the challenge was set!




Needless to say it was far easier to obtain planning permission from the domestic authorities when the work was for Maddie and her friends rather than just for myself. In addition, a garden with a railway always seems to gain more attention from myself than a garden without, even when the railway passes by at a distance.

A closer look was taken at the available garden area, and with planning and thought the possibility of a line emerged. The bottom end of the line had to go round a large copper beech tree and as the ground level here falls away any spare soil had been dumped here to form an embankment. This had been going on for quite a number of years in the hope of one day having track on it, now it looked as if it was going to happen.

The line had to work on several levels to be worth the effort. It not only had to give rides to the children in the family it also had to be interesting to drive and to serve as a test track for Maxitrak products. Obviously to function as a test track it had to be 'testing', to fulfill this and to fit in the contours of the garden I decided to work on ten foot radius as a minimum curve and one in forty as a ruling grade. Even this necessitated a lot of embankment making and a large trestle bridge at the lowest level on the bottom loop. The line then climbed up from this loop along the line of the garden wall, and round the pond. This was to be stage one and kept me busy for the first season. From here the line was originally to form a loop on the lawn. Once the first section was up and running, and the grades proved practical, the route was extended across the bottom of the lawn, through another particularly thick bit of undergrowth and up on to the higher lawn where a top loop would be made.
All the lower section was through a wooded part of the garden with a number of well established trees, this meant a lot of careful planning as well as a lot of bush and ivy clearing.

The line is built to represent a simple industrial type railway and is intended for continuous running rather than prototype timetable working. We have a mixture of both standard and narrow gauge locomotives so line side features have to be in keeping with both scales. To please the younger generation there is also the odd gnome and woodland creature lurking in the bushes. The line has been planned to retain the maximum number of existing bushes and trees, being laid and then the undergrowth trimmed to suit rather than the other way round. The more changes of view the greater the interest in riding the line. 

This blog will detail the proesses of building the Maxitrak Line start to finish. Perhaps it will inspire you to plan your own garden line.
 

© Maxitrak Ltd
10-11 Larkstore Park,
Lodge Road,
Staplehurst,
Kent,
TN12 0QY
Email: Info@maxitrak.com