Cabin Demolition

At our home we had an log cabin or seomra (Irish for 'room') in the back garden that was no longer structurally sound and will be replaced with a new insulated metal-clad shed this Autumn. In order to clear the space and prepare for concrete work for the new shed we had to remove the old wooden structure.

It took about 3 days to take dismantle the roof and walls of the cabin, followed by removing nails and screws to make it safer to handle. Roof shingles and misc rubbish went into a small skip from a local waste collection company. Then about half of the wood was loaded in our van and taken to the farm where I could process it in bulk.

Marisa liked the cleared floor so much it has been left in place as a temporary deck - until the lads are ready to pour a new concrete base

I had hoped to salvage most of the materials, but after removing the felt shingles discovered several areas of water damage and wood rot - especially in back close to the rear garden wall. The wooden double door and window were saved and hopefully will be used on a future project. So instead, the wood is mostly being cut up and donated to the Cavan and Leitrim Railway where I volunteer a couple times a month. The steam engine Nancy uses wood to heat the boiler, and old dry wood from the cabin is perfect for upcoming Irish Heritage Week events (17-Aug through 25-Aug).

Longer lengths of 2.2m - 2.4m (about 7ft - 8ft) are being saved for future projects while the roof slats, smaller pieces and odd bits were cut into 30cm - 45cm (12in - 18in) lengths which fit well in the steam engine's firebox. Roughly two skip bags (roughly 1 cubic meter each) were delivered to the railway on 17-Aug when I went up to volunteer most recently, and another van load brought to the farm and processed the next day for another two skip bags worth ready for the next trip.

Mechanical Failures

They say things happen in threes... we were hoping for some uninterrupted productivity, but it was not to be

1. First the new shredder broke - thankfully now fixed and back from repair, and it works great (again).

2. Our Dewalt DCM5713 cordless string trimmer (strimmer) kept stalling despite fresh batteries, and then it started smoking profusely - apparently the electric motor has a short and needs replacing. Sadly the cost of a new motor is nearly half of the cost of the bare strimmer (without batteries). This model clearly was not meant for the amount of work we require of it so we also purchased a new petrol strimmer to do the heavy lifting.

3. The Honda HF2417 riding mower stopped mowing, and after pulling the mower deck it turns out the jackshaft key between drive pulley and main drive shaft is gone. This is a captive key between the pulley and shaft so it isn't clear what happened to it - only I know it was there after last reassembly and it worked fine for a while meaning it was there. A new key is on order and hopefully will arrive by end of the week.

Trains (prologue)

Since I was very young I've been fascinated by trains of all kinds, and have dabbled in model railroading in past years - primarily HO and N scales. After periods of collecting and building, all that remains now are a handful of locomotives and cars in a box sitting in the attic since our move to Ireland more than 5 years ago. Maybe they will come out again someday...

However, the most enjoyable time I've had over the years has been working on rideable trains. This journey started when I was an early teen - my father and I joined the Goleta Valley Railroad Club (silent video) which operated at Seymour Johnson's Goleta Valley Western Railroad in Montecito, California (USA) which had 7.5" (184mm) and 15" (381mm) gauge tracks. Life was very busy in those days with school and work so we didn't get to attend meets frequently, but the few times we did attend were some of my favourite memories of childhood in the Santa Barbara area.

For several years in the 2000s I was a member of Kitsap Live Steamers (KLS) which operates a 7.5" (190mm) railway at a public park in Port Orchard, WA (USA) - about 1 hour drive when we lived on Bainbridge Island, WA (USA). The club is a wonderful group of dedicated folks who run trains for the public to ride about half the year. In the early 2000s I made up some 7.5" gauge track panels with the intent of building a small railroad at our property on Bainbridge Island, but life has interesting twists and turns - we wound up selling the house and property, and unfortunately our next house in Poulsbo was not suited to a railroad. But while our daughters were still in pre-school I managed to borrow a gondola car with seats from KLS and setup a portable track at their school to give all the kids rides. So many smiling kids that day!

Miniature Railway Planning

Choosing Locations

Ever since purchasing our farm near Millstreet, Co. Cork (Ireland) I've dreamed of building a small rideable railway in one (or more) of the fields. Material costs are the primary constraint so the timeline will most likely be a few years, however, I'm starting to plan in earnest and there are two main options which do not interfere with other activities. Sadly both of these are somewhat isolated being separated by a county road from the rest of the farm and no electrical service. But they are both reasonable sizes for a modest loop of track and don't flood in winter.

The lead option is the field just south of the Spruce plantation which we generally call the 'rush' field - ironic since we have 6 or more fields which are heavy with rushes. This field is roughly 3.5 acres and narrows on the eastern end which may present an issue with minimum curve radius, however, there is an option to take the railway through a small portion of the tree plantation - and running through the trees would be fun too. We had considered using this field to grow saplings for the tree nursery, but the eastern side of the herb field is more convenient. Below is rough sketch of a potential ~500m track loop including a small portion through the adjacent trees, and in theory there could be a future expansion loop around the main Spruce plantation which is another ~9 acre parcel - but would require significant work and there's a bit of bog on the eastern side to cross.

Another option is the 'corner' field - nearly 5 acres situated on the corner (surprise) of the road, and borders a neighbour's property on the other two sides. There is an existing entrance off the road (southwest corner - mid bottom of photo below), but it is very wet due to the convergence of two drain ditches and no culvert pipe at the crossing. I mowed the perimeter of this field earlier in summer and aside from the entrance the ground was dry. A very rough outline of potential ~400m track loop is shown below superimposed on google maps (dated 2009) - the field is nearly all rushes now and will require mowing.

Track Gauges and Scales

Track gauge is the distance between the inside of the rails on a railway (as seen above from Discover Live Steam magazine), and there are many gauges used in full size (prototype) railways. So-called 'standard' gauge is 4' 8.5" (56.5" or 1435mm) and used in many countries around the world. Ironically here in Ireland the main line railways are Irish Broad Gauge of 5' 3" (63" or 1600mm) as "compromise" and mandated by a 1846 act of UK Parliament (which also set the UK standard gauge at 4' 8.5").

If money was not a constraint I would seriously consider building a 24" gauge railway here at the farm. There are plenty of locomotives, rolling stock, parts, etc available on the market and yet it is just small enough to fit a couple of our fields. However, in addition to cost, the equipment needed to handle 24" gauge is also substantial when locomotives are 1 or 2 tonnes and special trucks are required to deliver or move everything. It is also worth noting that in Ireland anything larger than 350mm (roughly 13.75") gauge that carries passengers is considered a regulated railway meaning it would likely need to be registered, have commercial insurance, comply with national railway safety regulations, have regular inspections, etc. I don't think we're up for that much so best to stick with the smaller gauges.

The most common gauges for rideable miniature railway are 5" (127mm) and 7.25" (184mm) used around most of the world or 7.5" (190mm) used mostly in the Western US. There are many other gauges from 3.5" (89mm) up to roughly 19" (483mm). Around 15" (381mm) gauge there is a crossover from miniature to minimal gauge with the latter being purpose built railways instead of models in miniature of other railways (real or imagined). There are even a few 15" gauge commercial railways such as the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in the UK - now a tourist railway which I had the good fortune to visit on holiday a couple years ago and highly recommend. If you are in the Lake District also be sure to make time to visit Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum which runs a 24" gauge line and is also home to a huge collection of vintage cable excavators.

Both 7.x" gauges (7.25" or 7.5") are reasonably close to 1/8th of 56.5" standard gauge used in the UK, North America, and many other places. And there are lots and lots of locomotives, cars, kits, parts, rail, etc available for 7.x" gauge which makes it very attractive for our railway. Sadly that quarter of an inch difference is enough to make them not interchangeable, but living in Europe the clear choice is 7.25".

However, 7.25" gauge and 1.5" scale models (1.5":12" or 1/8th scale) of standard gauge equipment are generally smaller than I prefer. Most rolling stock (locomotives and cars) in 1.5" scale are around 14"-16" in width which is great for sitting on top of, but not sitting inside.

My interests lean more toward narrow gauge railways which generally was anything smaller than 56.5" standard gauge with 3 foot (36" or 914mm) and 2 foot (24" or 610mm) being very common in many countries. There are also a number of 3.5 foot (42" or 1067mm) and 2.5 foot (30" or 762mm) railways in many countries - in fact most of the narrow gauge railways in Japan are 1067mm (3.5ft) gauge. So many options to consider!

A very common option for narrow gauge on 7.x"gauge track is 2.5" scale for modeling 3 foot (36" or 914mm). Also, there are many references and a few supplies of equipment in 3.75" scale for modeling 2 foot (24" or 610mm) on 7.x" gauge. And since most of the US and UK railways that I admire are either 3 foot or 2 foot gauge these seem to be good options for 7.25" gauge track.

But wait, what about larger options?

• 10.25" (260mm) is a fairly popular larger gauge in the UK and a couple other countries, and there are some manufacturers making components and a few kits - not nearly the prevalence compared to 7.x" and 5" gauges. Modeling standard gauge at roughly 2.2" scale and 3 foot gauge at roughly 3.4" scale works reasonably well.

• 12" (305mm) and 12.25" (311mm) are somewhat common larger gauges - primarily in the US and UK respectively, although very little stock equipment is available so most will need to be made from scratch. The main advantage is very simple scale modeling of 3 foot gauge at 4" (1/3) scale and 2 foot gauge at 6" (1/2) scale.

• 15" (381mm) is fairly common as a larger or so-called 'grand' scale, but the weight of equipment, space requirements for minimum curve radius, and higher material costs make it less attractive for our farm railway.

I'm still debating about that quarter of an inch - 12.25" gauge would mean interoperability with a handful of UK tracks, but 12" is much easier for scaling and interoperability with US tracks of that gauge. Although it's unlikely that interoperability would be an issue - imagine transporting a 12.x" gauge locomotive to/from Ireland - the shipping costs alone would be outrageous!

When in doubt, compromise - right?

Dual gauge or triple gauge is also an option. It is fairly common to see 5" and 7.25" or 7.5" dual gauge at many railway clubs and even a mix of 3.5", 5" and 7.x" at some clubs. The advantage of dual gauge in particular comes from adding a third rail and both gauges share one of the outside rails. By making the sleepers (ties) under the rails a little wider to suit the larger gauge it is possible to run two different gauges of equipment on one rail line.

Triple gauge comes in two flavours - 4 rails with a shared common on one side where all three gauges use the same common, or 4 rails with two common outside which is better for wear distribution (assuming fairly even traffic on all gauges). For reference, here is a single point / switch of triple gauge track in Australia:

Sadly there are very few miniature railways in Ireland - a pity really considering the long and rich history of railways in this country. Perhaps once we have a railway built at Shanaknock it will inspire others to do similar, and maybe we could have some visiting equipment from the UK or France eventually. I dream of a day when there are enough rideable miniature railways in Ireland that we could have regular meet ups and people could visit with their engines (locomotives) and/or rolling stock (eg. cars). Perhaps there are folks out there who have miniature railways and equipment but are not listed in common resources (Wikipedia, IBLS, Live Steam Magazine, etc) - if you know someone in Ireland with a miniature railway please let me know!

Initial Plan for Our Farm

I am going to build a small section of test track with triple gauge 7.25", 10.25" and 12.25" for reasons which will be explained in a future post. Whether or not the main loop and yard will comprise triple gauge is a question to settle later - it provides a lot more flexibility, but there is roughly double the cost in rail and substantial complexity for points (switches). It may be that dual gauge is the better option. I also considered two different railways - one in 7.25" / 10.25" and the other 12" / 15". But that will cost too much and distract from building equipment and running trains.

Next step will be some rolling stock for the test track, and I hope to share more news about that soon...

Lots more to consider, but talking and writing about this will hopefully build momentum :)