The Brambley Garden Railway, Wales - Opening Day

It's been a couple of years getting there but today was the Brambley Railway's first day of all tracks in full operation, with a mixture of engines and stock. This is my own private model railway which I have been building in dribs and drabs over the last couple of years at home.

It is 00 gauge with 3 circuits; one small circle at the main 'Brambley Central' station which connects all lines to the storage sidings in an old van box body; one medium circuit of 50m which goes halfway up the garden and loops around at 'Rasbury Junction' (in the thumbnail pic); and one long circuit of 120m which goes right to the top of the garden, including a long incline and two stations / passing loops for overtaking / resequencing of trains (as it can take them 5-10 minutes to cover the full distance with the gradient).

Some teething problems to iron out around voltage drops, derailment spots and expansion of tracks in hot weather... but a good start - More to come as it develops!

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[Whizzer1]

how long is your track becuase it look like it is very long

[craigowen1]

Lol - to be honest, it's a bit too long - got carried away before the practicalities of cleaning, keeping electrics working etc kicked in! The circuit from the shed to the apple tree which includes the main station is about 200-250 feet, equivalent to about 3-4 scale miles. The original circuit is about 6-700 feet right around, takes trains 10 mins to get back, that's if they don't lose current, derail on raspberries, etc. Leaves on the line takes on a whole new meaning...! See later vids ;-)

[soundnicetome]

Hi, what a great outside railway well done.Could you perhaps give me some advice on Power drop?Have you managed and overcome similiar problems.Any help and advice would be great,Jim.

[craigowen1]

Hey there Jim, sorry I've only just cottoned on to the 'replying to posts' function which is quite rubbish of me. Power drop is quite a problem sometimes - though weirdly, I couldn't say it follows a pattern, as sometimes the trains run great around the full circuit and other times the power drops in just a few feet, seemingly with no difference in the setup - Which I guess is where having some electrical knowledge would come in really handy...! Hoping to wire up more fully in 2010 :-)

[steampics]

That makes my railway look miniscule! However, that is a fantastic set up. Looks like 8 coach express trains would be the norm on that line! Main line scale...

[craigowen1]

Cool - have a check out on the later Autumn video, got a few longer trains on there!

[bermudarailway]

How much did this cost ?!

[penninefilms]

Looks a good old run of the model trains.

[jakedcps]

Hi, great video, but im in need of about 35m of oo gauge track! does any1 know where to buy cheap track plz help!

[metadyneman]

I would imagine track cleaning takes you hours! It takes me at least 20 minutes before a running session on my garden line and that is a lot smaller compared with yours! A very ambitious project which seems to work very well from your video

[maxresnikoff]

one of the best garden railways ive seen in my life well done to you all.

one question, what method do you use to keep your track so clean

thanx

[luiscurtolo]

lovely!! is that HO?

i want to see the full trip!!

great job!

[jazzybazzy34]

i am speechless about how amazing that is. my railway is about 2 metres sq.

[Tonytnz]

After watching James May's longest model railway, where they laid HO track along a dis used rail line, wouldnt your loco's motors burn out alot sooner? (like they did on the show) But in saying that I'd love to build a huge outdoor layout like this!

[whitenoise201]

id like 2 c an inside view of the coack looking out of the window on a rainy day

[metadyneman]

What a lovely line.