The Dyfrdwy Tramway: track laying...

Well it might be all a bit heath robinson, and the fairly basic nature of my preparation might come back to haunt me, but I figured, it would be an experiment as I'd not used Peco track in the garden before, and I've not got a lot of space for a much longer line anyway - this will be a 'micro' garden railway in 7/8ths...

So after I'd dug out a little trench I filled it with a mix of gravel sand and cement, tamped down hard but left dry. I tried to make sure this was level, or at least a consistent gradient. I then placed the track back down and 'pinned' it in place with U shape pins sold for pinning down weed control matting.

I then troweled on 'Rowlands Mix', about equal parts cement, sand and peat. This was made quite wet, and then applied liberally to the track, smoothed in with a trowel and finger. As it dried I dug away at the flanges with a blade, to give clearance for wheels, and left it to set.

The last shot shows the tramway in it's raw form, I hope with the addition of some small trees and some slate fencing it will start to come alive a little. It might be a bit limited in operation, but it's lovely to watch trains in the garden and I hope this little bit of a layout will keep me entertained for now. More soon...