Progress Report 63

Another milestone has been reached in the history of the blog! The number of hits to pages on my blog just passed 250 000! I just wanted to say thanks to all those who, over the years, have been following my meanderings and posting supportive comments.

When I started on the business of blogging developments on my railway (just under ten years ago), my intention was to provide snippets of information for others who might be thinking about starting out with building a railway in their garden. Over the years, I  have learned a great deal - but I have also come to realise how much more there is still to learn.

So, this progress report will be more of a retrospective than an account of developments since my last report. Having reached this particular milestone, I want to look back to see where and when I reached other milestones in the history of my railway.

Milestone 1 - Getting Started (July 2004 - March 2005)

  It probably took me about three years to plan my railway before I actually laid my hands on a spade and started digging. The dream of having a railway running in the garden had, however, been gestating for somewhere around 50 years (see Railway Modelling and Me).

I well remember the day I finally settled on the track plan, took a tape measure in hand and spent a good couple of hours knocking pegs into the ground defining the route of the railway. Here's how the garden looked before I started landscaping - basically, a sloping lawn with a small lawned terrace at the back of the garden. This corner is where Beeston Castle Station is presently situated.

And here's the first bit of earthwork (2 July 2004), marking out the loop which is where Peckforton Station is now located. If I had been more astute at the time, I should have held a ceremony for cutting the first sod.

By March 2005, the landscaping was finished - around 2 tonnes of soil had been barrowed from one side of the garden to the other and two large skips had been filled. Some of the retaining walls had been built and the layout for the railway was beginning to take shape.

If you compare this view with the first one above, you will see that the lawn area has levelled and the terrace cut back considerably. The lean-to porch had also been constructed (from scratch using recycled window frames and a door bought through the local free-ads paper).

Milestone 2 - Laying Track (April 2006)

By April 2006, track was starting to be laid. At that time, there was only one terminus (now Bickerton) .....

..... but the upper and lower loops were taking shape.

..... though work was brought to a halt while funds were raised to buy more track.

As can be seen in the immediate foreground, the track has not been laid at the railway's only through station at the time (now Bulkeley), though the loop on which Peckforton Station is now situated was laid (in the middle distance).

 

Milestone 3 - The Opening Ceremony - July 2006

By July, 2006, the trackwork was finished, the first trains were running, and so a few friends and neighbours were invited round to mark the occasion.

The range of rolling stock was severely restricted - basically the LGB Starter Set loco and coaches, plus a Bachmann Jackson Sharp coach and an Accucraft Lynton & Barnstaple van.

However, I was running trains - and the stream was working!

Milestone 4 - UK Rolling Stock - December 2007

By the winter of 2007, I was beginning to accumulate rolling stock which was more appropriate for a UK-based railway. My reason in choosing 45mm gauge had originally been taken because, at that time, there was very little ready to run UK based stock available and as I had a fairly time-consuming job, I wanted models which I could buy off the shelf and run. However, it had always been my intention to bash, kitbuild and scratchbuild UK based models as time permitted.

My first foray into this aspect was to construct some UK-looking open wagons and a brake van

These were all based on Hartland 4-wheel wagon chassis ......

...... with plasticard or (in the case of the guards' van) lollypop stick bodies.

The other great innovation at this time was the construction of a UK style locomotive - an 0-4-0 Peckett loco, from a Garden Railway Specialists (GRS) kit on an LGB ToyTrain motor block. (see How I constructed a Peckett loco from a GRS kit)

 

Milestone 5 - The railway is extended and gains an identity - August 2008

Until 2008, the railway comprised a terminus station, a circuit with a through station, and a reverse loop. During 2008, two more through stations were added and the line was extended down the side of the garden to another terminus - the Peckforton Light Railway was born. I had been trying to decide on a context for the railway for some time and whilst on a walk along the section of the Sandstone Trail from Beeston Castle to Burwardsley, it suddenly hit me - why not use this area as the location for the railway? A quick look at the map and some fieldwork exploring footpaths in the area, and the previously unnamed stations adopted 'real' locations (see The line gains an identity and A tour of the hypothetical railway).

The new main terminus became Beeston Market, beside the Crewe to Chester mainline railway sited in what used to be the goods yard for Beeston & Tarporley  mainline station

The narrow site on which the station would have had to be built suited the restricted space which I had available for it

The next station was located near the village of Beeston, not far from the entrance to Beeston Castle. It was therefore named Beeston Castle station, to avoid confusion with Beeston Market and also other Beestons around the country.

This gave me the excuse to model a (pale) representation of the castle behind the station, allowing sightseeing passengers easy access to the castle.

The station in the centre of the railway was now located at Peckforton, which gives its name to the hills and the railway.

The station was originally going to be little more than a halt, but it soon developed into a more significant arrangement, with a goods siding and a siding serving a timber yard.

The fourth station along the line was now located at Bulkeley, just behind the water mill (to the left in this picture). In my imagination, I could just see a station yard on this site with the railway winding its way through the fields beyond.

My station comprises an island platform and a single siding (much like most of the intermediate stations on the Southwold Railway and the Welshpool and Llanfair).

The final station was located at Bickerton, where it was felt the line would terminate. Again, there is a perfect site for the station leading to a cutting and an overbridge for the lane in the far distance.

Again, the facilities here are minimal at my station. A couple of platforms and a single siding (though there are storage sidings in the lean-to which could be pressed into service).

The branch to the Copper Mine would, in reality, be located between Bulkeley and Bickerton .......

...... but for convenience it is actually located on my model adjacent to Beeston Market. This enables trains of full skip wagons to be exchanged for empties, thereby providing realistic industrial traffic for the line.

And so, from 2008, the line started operating as a real railway (see A Typical Running Session). A timetable was devised (based on that for the Southwold Railway) and freight operations were managed through the use of a simple computer program (see Managing Freight)

Milestone 6 - My first scratchbuilt loco - April 2011

Having constructed a couple of loco bodies from GRS kits (Garden Railway Specialists), I decided that building a body from scratch would not be beyond my modest capabilities. I decided to start with a diesel outline as I figured this would basically comprise two cuboids - one for the cab and one for the bonnet. I wanted something which would be in keeping with the location and period of my railway which by now I had decided would be the early 1930s, to enable me to justify running stock from the Southwold and Leek and Manifold which closed in 1929 and 1934 respectively. I chose to base my model on a Fowler diesel mechanical loco. Being unable to find a prototype for a 3' gauge model, I used photos of standard gauge and 2' gauge locos to produce a compromise between the two.

As it turned out, construction was a little more complicated than I at first envisaged (see How I constructed a Fowler diesel loco). The upper surfaces of the cab and bonnet were curved, the radiator was a quite intricate and the LGB ToyTrain motor block needed to be modified to include a layshaft and fly-cranks.

 Despite (and maybe because of) these complications, I gained the confidence to construct increasingly more complex models. I have now gone on to scratchbuild a further three locomotives - all steam outline. I opted to construct locos which were not available commercially - two Southwold locos (see How I constructed a SR Sharpie and How I constructed a SR Manning Wardle),

and a Manning Wardle which ran on the Davington Light Railway (see How I constructed a Manning Wardle 0-6-0T).

Milestone 7 - Battery power and radio control - August 2012 - May 2013

 The next milestone was reached gradually, in easy stages over a six month period. By 2012, I had built up a large collection of UK inspired rolling stock and my loco roster had exceeded that needed for a full operating session. I was enjoying running my railway to timetable with realistic and purposeful freight operations with shunting at each station (eg see A typical running session)

 However, I had become increasingly frustrated with the drawbacks of track powered locomotives in the garden environment.The track needed to be kept scrupulously clean, I was constantly having to trace breakdowns in electrical continuity around the line and my diminutive 0-4-0 locos would falter over pointwork with plastic frogs or when they encountered uneven track. As the greatest joy I get from operating a railway is slow running and realistic shunting operations, I needed to find a solution. I started dabbling with battery power and radio control.

My first venture into this world was the construction of a Ford(ish) railmotor which was bashed from two Andel coach kits (see How I constructed a Railmotor).

After experimenting with various cheap and not particularly effective radio control systems, the mention on a forum, of a relatively new r/c system specifically designed for use with model railways turned out to be my epiphany - Deltang Radio Control entered my life and transformed the way I was able to operate my railway (eg see - An evaluation of Deltang radio control equipment).

With this compact transmitter I can control all of my locomotives (I now have twelve battery powered locos) and the quality of control which can be achieved is really impressive - eg.....

I have never regretted abandoning track power. I now use my railway much more frequently. As the fancy takes me, I can take a loco out into the garden, hook it up to some rolling stock and run a train with a minimum of track clearing. Sheer bliss!

Milestone 8 - Battery powered locos - May 2015

 After being won over to the delights and rewards of battery power and radio control, I set about a loco building and conversion programme so that by the Spring of 2015 I had a fleet of eleven locos powered by batteries and controlled by radio - the one remaining track powered loco in this video was converted to battery a month later.

 I had also ventured into 32mm gauge, building a short SM32 line to serve the Copper Mine workings. One of my twelve locos was therefore 32mm and another, a plate frame Simplex, was dual gauge.

 Milestone 8 - RC Trains is born - January 2016

Having been a great fan of Deltang Radio Control, I noticed that ready-made transmitters were no longer being offered for sale on the Deltang website. Having made a few transmitters from kits and experimented with Deltang equipment fairly extensively, I decided that I could offer a service to fellow modellers, making a range of transmitters and offering accessories to accompany the transmitters, drawing upon my experiences.

 After some deliberation, I decided to call my new venture RC Trains (Radio control for model trains). Although Deltang equipment is also used in model cars, boats and planes, I felt that I was only qualified to offer assistance to those who wanting install radio control into trains.

It is early days in this new venture and at present I am focusing on two versions of the Tx22 transmitter and associated accessories, but I plan to extend the range as I become more established.

Conclusion

 Over the past ten years, my life has changed. I have gone from being in full time employment in a fairly time consuming job to being a full time retiree. I started the railway as I knew I needed something which would occupy my time as I moved into retirement - I am not someone who is happy to sit still. What I love about garden railway modelling is that it not only focuses on my lifetime interest in railways, it enables me to explore new areas of interest. Through my hobby I have engaged in:

• Surveying
• Landscaping
• Gardening
• Water gardening
• Plumbing
• Bricklaying
• Masonry
• Metalwork
• Working in plastics
• Woodwork and carpentry
• Electronics
• Mechanics
• Radio control
• Electro-mechanics
• Computer programming
• Desktop publishing
• Blogging
• Website development and construction
• Local history research
• National history research
• Photography
• Videography
• Audio editing and sound manipulation
• Spray painting
• and now - business management

I am also in the process of fulfilling another lifetime ambition of visiting all the passenger carrying narrow gauge railway sites (past and present) in the UK - see Narrow Gauge Railways blog

Now I am retired, I am increasingly wondering how on earth I managed to find time for a full time job. Such is life!

How I constructed the mine buildings

After building the extension to Beeston Market and the Copper Mine (see How I constructed the extension), the Copper Mine Sidings were used without any kind of buildings for a couple of years, but it was always my intention to provide some sort of backdrop giving the impression of the mining infrastructure.

As the sidings are built into the hedge bordering the garden, there was limited space and so I opted for a set of low-relief buildings. I had already constructed a wooden loading hopper from a kit which I had acquired through eBay (see How I constructed a loading hopper) and so this was used as the starting point.

Planning

 After searching various sources for inspiration, I stumbled across Ian Peaty's Moving Mountains by Rail (2006), which includes several useful photos of quarry and mine buildings. The one on the lower section of the cover proved most interesting to me. This turned out to be a photo of Penderyn Quarry near Aberdare in South Wales.

Drawing upon the images in the book, I drafted some sketches of the buildings which I felt would be appropriate. I divided the buildings into three sections: the crusher shed and waste loading chutes plus manager's office:

...... the conveyor for loading the crushed ore into the loading hopper:

....... and the messroom and workshop:

I decided the buildings would also provide me with an opportunity to experiment with a range of building techniques.

I had already gained ideas and inspiration from Peter and Kes Jones' excellent book, Making Model Buildings for Garden Railways (2011) and so I was ready to start construction.

The foundations

Having a stock of 12mm exterior plywood to hand, I used this for the framework. The rear outline of the buildings was marked on to the ply and then cut out with a powered jigsaw.

 The side walls were then added, using various widths of 1" (24mm) thick timber to provide some variation in the depth of buildings. The manager's office was given no additional thickness as it was assumed this would stand back slightly from the other buildings.

Next, the front walls and roofs were added, using 6mm thick exterior ply.

The structures were then given a couple of liberal coats of wood preservative.

Next came the stage where I clad the frames with suitable materials to represent timber, corrugated iron, dressed stonework and coarse stonework.

Cladding - timber

 A box of 1000 wooden coffee stirrers was purchased via a well known online auction site. These were squared off with a pair of scissors and then glued to the plywood base with exterior grade PVA.

The joints on the rows were staggered to give a more realistic finish and gaps of around 1mm were left between the 'planks' to exaggerate the distinction between the boards.

Once the front and sides of the base had been clad, the upper surface was planked with lollypop sticks. These were thicker and wider than the coffee stirrers to give the impression of more substantial timber work.

These were cut to be wider than the shelf to provide a 40mm overhang.

Cladding - Corrugated iron

From the book, it was clear that many buildings on quarry and mining sites were constructed from the ubiquitous corrugated iron sheeting. I managed to source two supplies of large-scale embossed corrugated iron plastic sheeting - Back2Bay6 (now unfortunately no longer trading since the untimely death of its owner, Steve Warrington), and from eBay (after a search for G Scale corrugated plastic sheet).

The sheets were cut into 'sheets' of around 45mm x 100mm and then glued into place on the base with Wickes Instant Grab adhesive. 

Initially, I opted for a tube of their 'solvent free' adhesive as I figured the solvent might attack the plastic, but when I went back subsequently for another tube, there was only 'solvented' available - which turned out to be fine (and didn't attack the plastic). Strips of uPVC trim (off-cuts from the swing bridge - see How I constructed a swing bridge from uPVC trim) were then glued into place to act as eaves and to tidy up the edges of the buildings.

Although the adhesive claimed to be 'instant grab' and was glutinous enough to fill the corrugations, I left the buildings for 24 hours to make sure the adhesive was fully hardened.

Inevitably, I ran out of plastic sheeting and so when it came to cladding the roof of the mess room, I resorted to another approach. A thick foil baking tray was flattened out and smoothed as much as possible.

This was passed through a paper corrugator (again bought from eBay).

 The corrugated foil was then cut into sheets, roughly 45mm x 100mm .......

...... and glued to the roof of the mess room with Instant Grab adhesive.

Cladding - dressed stone

Yorkshire stone slips were bought through eBay. I think these are intended for dolls house construction but they seemed ideal for the stonework on the manager's house and the base of the workshop. They were glued in staggered rows using exterior PVA.

As with the timber cladding, gaps of around 1-2mm were left between the blocks to represent the mortar courses and to exaggerate the stonework effect.

Lintels were cut from 3mm thick balsa wood for the manager's house.

....... and the frames for the windows (from Jackson's Miniatures) were fitted into place during the gluing to ensure there would be sufficient space for them.

Cladding - Random stone

I decided the mess room alongside the workshop would have been constructed from random stone blocks - possibly thrown together by the workers using waste material from the mine. The blocks were roughly cut from 4mm thick balsa wood and then smoothed with fine sand paper. They were then glued into place using exterior PVA.

Stonework - grouting

Once all the stonework had been glued and the glue had set, some cream coloured tile grout was mixed to a thick paste and smeared over the stonework.

A rubber tiling squeegee was pushed and pulled diagonally across the blocks to ensure the grout flowed into all the mortar courses.

The excess was then wiped off with a damp sponge to leave the stonework proud of the mortar courses.

Detailing

Canopy

The framework for canopy over the feeder line for the crushing shed was constructed from 8mm square section stripwood.

The 120mm long cross-members were mortised ........

..... to fit into slots which were cut into lateral beams, with cross members 95mm apart.

The slots being cut using a razor saw and chiseled out with a craft-knife blade

A piece of 8mm square stripwood was glued beneath the overhang of the balcony with exterior PVA.

The cross-members were glued into place in their relevant slots.

 The frame and its supports were not fitted into place until after the corrugated iron cladding had been painted (see below). Corrugated plastic sheeting from Jackson's Miniatures was used for the roofing material as this resembled asbestos sheeting.

Loading chutes

I decided these would be made from coffee stirrers as I had seen some wooden loading chutes constructed in this way in photos on the internet. They had also been lined with steel sheeting which I felt could be added later.

Card templates were cut out, to ensure the geometry would be correct and also to make sure the chutes would fit into the spaces between the supports for the awning.

 Masking tape was then stuck down to the workbench, with sticky side facing upwards.

 Trimmed coffee stirrers were then stuck to the masking tape

 ..... and the template placed over to enable the outline to be marked.

The centre-line was also marked.

Suitably trimmed coffee stirrers were then glued into place with PVA.

The 20mm high sides of the chutes were similarly constructed.

and when the glue had set, the base and the two sides were glued together.At this stage, I realised the chutes needed to be pared down to ensure they didn't foul the roof of the loco as it passed beneath. The chutes were trimmed to 50mm depth, 100mm wide at the top and 75mm wide at the base.

Support struts were cut to length (70mm) from 6mm square stripwood ......

..... and glued into place beneath the balcony, with the sides of the chutes glued to the vertical supports of the canopy. Cross-pieces were cut to size and glued between the struts for extra strength.

Staircase

I felt there should be some means for the workers to reach the balcony externally and so I decided to construct a staircase. The staircase was made from plasticard and 8mm square section Plastruct. The main support beams (100mm high and 75mm wide) were joined with 50mm extensions for the banister rails.

Short (35mm) struts were added ......

and the 90mm cross members were glued into place.

 Two more legs were added to form the platform for the landing half way up the staircase. Plastruct G Scale staircase sections, 150mm and 165mm in length, were added below and above the platform and handrails cut and fitted into place made from 2mm thick plasticard

A small platform was constructed from cocktail sticks, stripwood and coffee stirrers to link the staircase to the balcony.

The staircase was given a couple of coats of grey primer from a Halfords rattle can .......

...... and then painted with dark brown acrylics before being fixed into place after the buildings had been painted (see below).

The trestle

To support the 15" (16.5mm) gauge feeder railway for the crushing shed, three trestles were constructed from 8mm square section stripwood.

The dimensions (185mm high, 110mm wide at the base and 45mm wide at the top) were marked out on paper and the timbers cut exactly to size using this as a template.

 For added strength, the uprights were joined to the cross pieces with glue and cocktail stick pegs.

The frameworks supporting the the track were made from 6mm stripwood (45mm wide and 50mm and 67mm long)

 These were glued together .....

 ...... and then covered with slats made from coffee stirrers

 Cross members were attached to the uprights, made from coffee stirrers.

 And then the track supports and trestles .......

..... were joined together and painted, when conveyor was constructed (another two trestles were constructed when I realised more were needed). The trestles are actually vertical in the photo below- the camera does lie!

 The conveyor

 For the main structural component of the conveyor, two pieces of 730mm x 10mm uPVC offcuts from the swing bridge (see How I constructed the swing bridge from uPVC trim) were superglued to a piece of 25mm wide stripwood.

 A piece of 6mm square stripwood was then glued along the centre line on one side of the stripwood.

Two further pieces of 6mm square stripwood were then glued along the edges. The stripwood 'beams' were then marked at 25mm intervals ......

 ..... and semi circular notches were filed on each of the side members, angling down from the outside to the inside.

A piece of 6mm dowel was then cut into 12mm pieces and sanded smooth.

 The dowels were then glued into the notches so they angled upwards from the centre. The main support beam for the conveyor was then given a couple of coats of red oxide primer. Plastruct 'I' beam legs were cut to support the conveyor at the end and the middle (the uppermost height of the conveyor being determined by the height of the loading hopper mentioned at the start of this article.

A 10mm wide strip of damp course plastic was then cut and glued with Bostik Clear adhesive to the rollers on the main beam. This was held in place with clamps to ensure the belt had a dip along its centre-line.

Once the glue holding the belt had dried, crushed local sandstone was glued to its surface with more Clear Bostik.

The supports were then given a couple of coats of red oxide primer and the whole structure weathered with black and mucky brown acrylics.

Painting and weathering

 Before starting the painting and weathering, I toured the locality looking for examples of sandstone, wood and corrugated iron structures which might give me some inspiration for painting and weathering my buildings.

Weathered dressed sandstone

Dressed sandstone

Weathered corrugated iron and wood

Weathered corrugated iron

 For more examples of weathering see (Weathering photo gallery)

 Corrugated iron

 The corrugated iron sections were firstly given a couple of coats of red oxide primer from a Halfords rattle can.

 This was given a day or so to harden off .......

....... before being given a wash browny black acrylic, making sure the dark streaks ran from top to bottom.

 Using the photos as a guide, I then dry-brushed various shades and tones of brown, green, yellow and silver.

Sandstone

 The areas of sandstone were first given a mucky wash to tone down the grouting and provide a base for touching up the blocks.

 The blocks were then picked-out with varying shades and tints of yellow ochre, burnt sienna, maroon and burnt umber acrylics. I found that a more watery mix was more effective than a thicker mix as this soaked into the blocks.

 The random stonework was also painted using the same approach.

Timber

 The timber sections were firstly given a liberal coat of dark brown acrylic.

 This was then dry-brushed with increasingly lighter shades of grey.....

.... finishing with a very light dry-brushed layer of grey which was almost white, following the grain in the wood.

Fine detailing

The buildings were mounted on strips of 12mm exterior plywood, the width of which was determined by the buildings and their location behind the Copper Mine sidings (once the laurel hedge had been trimmed back).

 Once the buildings had been screwed to their bases, the exposed areas of the base were given a coat of PVA and various grades of local sandstone, sand and grit were sprinkled on.

In addition, some piles of rusting scrap metal (plastic off-cuts) were created in some areas.

and pieces torn from a green pan scourer were glued into nooks and crannies where weeds might grow.

Guttering

After doing some research on sources for plastic and metal guttering sections, I decided that their cost was too prohibitive and so looked for an alternative. On eBay, I stumbled across some brass U channel section which is used by those making stained-glass leaded windows for mounting their glass sections. I also bought a few lengths of 5mm brass tube.

About 7mm from the end of the U channel, I cut a couple of slots and then flattened out the brass section.

 The flattened section was folded upwards and trimmed off .....

..... then soldered to form and endpiece to the guttering.

Angle brackets were then folded from copper wire extracted from some twin and earth mains cable.

These were soldered to the front edge and underside of the guttering at 100mm intervals.

The excess was trimmed off the upper edge of the guttering and the front of the copper 'bracket' filed flat.

Holes were drilled along the top of the wall below the roofline at 100mm intervals. After painting the gutters and brackets black, the copper brackets were then inserted into the holes and superglued into place

Copper wire was wrapped around the brass tube at 100mm intervals and soldered into place.

The outer faces of the wire were then filed flat. The bottom of the downspout was sawn halfway through around 10mm from the end, bent forward. soldered and filed clean.

After being painted black, two holes were drilled at 100mm intervals and the copper brackets of the downspout inserted and glued into place with superglue.

Final touches

Originally, I was intending that the copper mines would be served by a Gn15 feeder and so 0-16.5 track was laid on the balcony of the crusher shed.

Two tracks were laid side by side converging into a wye point.

Once the track had been laid, the framework for the canopy was glued into place with uprights extended down to the balcony floor.

The track was weathered and coffee-stirrer planking laid longitudinally over the sleepers.

Earlier this year, the Gn15 track was lifted and rails to a gauge of 32mm were laid, as I decided an SM32 feeder line would be more feasible in the garden.

At the end of the workshop section, a fuel tank was added - recycled from a Hartland tanker wagon. This was mounted on stone plinths (balsa blocks clad in York stone slips). Oil spills were painted from the cap down the sides and on to the sand covered base.

The Copper Mine buildings have now been in situ for three years. Despite having been given a couple of coats of matt varnish I am not confident that they would withstand the weather conditions which the North West of England would throw at them and so they are stored in the garage when not in use. It takes less than five minutes to carry them out and position them on the shelf behind the Copper Mine sidings.

As they are low relief, they are better viewed from the front than from the side.

 However, they provide, to my mind, a suitable industrial backdrop to the Copper Mine sidings and they provided me with experience of different construction techniques.

 Since constructing the buildings, the layout of the sidings at the Copper Mine has changed (see Progress Report 58). This was partly to eliminate a sharp curve on the mainline but also to provide more space for shunting operations at the sidings.

The old arrangement of sidings

The new arrangement

  ....... and, as indicated above, the Gn15 feeder line has been replaced with an SM32 line.

The new trackwork at the mine has been re-ballasted and a newly installed fence separates the sidings from the mainline - as you can see, at least one of the local inhabitants approves....

The new arrangement does indeed give more space for shunting operations and the fencing helps to separate activities going on at the mine from the normal running of the main railway.

There is still more work to be done. The trestles leading up to the crusher shed need to be rebuilt for the wider gauge track and some of the detailing around the buildings needs improvement where the new location of the buildings differs from their previous location. Ultimately, the deliveries of skips from the mine on the SM32 feeder line will be entirely automated (see How I reprogrammed a Deltang Rx65b for auto-shuttle mode) so that during operating sessions, attention can be paid to running trains on the mainline.