Sandy Bay

Railway Description

Sandy Bay Light Railway came into existence in September 2011 when Peter moved to a new location in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The track was lifted from his old address, packed into boxes and transported north with what rolling stock and engines he had at the time.

Planning permission was sought from her in doors & granted and then work began with the laying of the track bed being built up within weeks of collecting the keys.

A large amount of soil was moved with structured walls being built from old railway sleepers at the bottom end, after Peters previous line had what can only be describe as large gradients. It was decided that the new line would be made a flat as possible.

Planned track laying change on a monthly almost weekly basis with what ever Peter saw online or at a show.

Originally there was to be no pond/lake with a center quarry planned in the middle but this soon gave way and a big hole was dug instead with some goldfish to follow. The harbor that was planned never arrived and the direction of the line changed again.

In the end, Peter took the decision of what was really required so he ended up with two large circuits and a steam up area.

Still to happen will be the lakeside halt which will break one of the large circuits into two smaller circuits if needed, also the steam up area will be extended back onto the main line creating a possible larger outer circuit.

All track is laid on a product call Filcris, a type of plastic normally used on construction site hoardings. The Filcris is not fixed down but floats on a bed of stones which seem to work well except with a mad dog you do find yourself clearing the line of stones "and dog deposits" each time you run.​

All track is Peco except for a few Marcway points which is then screwed down to the Filcris base.

As to the future well Lakeside is in progress and a new station at a different level will be created next to it, giving a chance for those who like to drive there locos to do some hill climbs.​

If you have any questions relating to this layout, please feel free to contact us.