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Thurnsfeld

Peterborough, UK

Active

Railway Description

Doug’s interest in G scale started through his friendship with Brian Osborne, when they worked together at Nene Valley Railway as Signalmen. After visiting Glendale Junction on a number of occasions Doug succumbed and brought some track and a tram. The idea was that this would be a project for the Boys’ Brigade Company that Doug was involved with. However the tram didn’t always stay at the church, it would sometimes be taken home for safekeeping (or running in his back garden). Over time more track and rolling stock were purchased from Glendale Junction and a layout was developed where Doug was at that time.

The first layout Doug & Jenny developed was a temporary one, just so that the rolling stock didn’t get rusty. In August 2012 we moved to their current home and plans were very quickly drawn up for the ‘new’ garden layout. Over the winter period some test track was laid to get an idea of what would & wouldn’t be feasible.

In spring 2013 redevelopment of the garden started, with old flower beds being removed to make way for a new path. Next the Windmill Rockery was built which includes a tunnel through which the outside loop runs. Plants were put in and the windmill took pride of place on top of the tunnel. The station area was then developed using paving stones from the old path, this allowed for the new straight section base boards opposite the station to be laid. It was then possible to lay track all around the outside loop with passing facilities at the station for the first time.

In June 2013 the first trains were successfully run. The next month our attention turned to getting the inside loop installed, which involved getting the spare earth which had accumulated in the middle of the garden removed. By the middle of July we had trains running on both loops, allowing four trains to be on the layout at the same time, and this completed the basic track layout.

In August their attention turned to developing the pond and waterfall rockery, which involved a lot more digging and moving of earth. September saw the completion of this stage, which included the fountain, waterfall, planting of the rockery and goldfish in the pond.

During the winter of 2013 the layout was allowed to settle and the plants to mature.

Spring 2014 saw a new lawn laid in the middle of the running loops to replace the bare earth. The layout continues to settle in, with trains running as often as possible. One or two of the baseboards needed some slight re-levelling to ensure no derailments. A few more plants have been added, as well as a plant archway over the bottom of the waterfall. We have been pleasantly surprised at how well the plants have grown, especially on the rockeries.

The name Thursfeld Railway is obtained from part of our previous and current addresses. As we run trains from many countries we used the German for field as part of the name.

Future projects on the railway include: -

1. Installing electric point motors
2. Add more people/scenery to bring the layout to life
3. Installation of signals
4. The extension of the railway into the garage to provide undercover sidings
5. Building a higher level branch line to link the two rockeries.

Those that have seen the layout may have noticed a few ‘Peppa Pigs’ dotted around or even riding on the trains. Why? Well because Jenny and her daughter like them!!!!!!

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

Property Location

Peterborough, UK

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