Barchester
Towers RailwayBarchester
Towers Railway
This is a very rough 7 1/4 inch gauge railway track built through some typical bush on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia. Like the Festiniog Railway in North Wales it is built on a continuous grade to allow for full trains to gravitate to civilization while empty trains get back to the workings by muscle power. The grade, however, is about 1 in 30 which is closer to the NSW main line over the Blue Mountains than to anything in Britain.
The purpose of this page (as written in mid-1997) is to play with some photography to give an impression of travel on the line and also to see if there is anyone out there with similar interests.
The main design considerations were to keep costs to a minimum and to keep construction methods within the capabilities of our main source of labour, children from age two to fifteen. We have been building the line at the rate of a few metres a year for a long time. It is very much a race between us and the termites to see if new sleepers are used to extend the line or just to replace old ones. Aside from a tonne of steel bought in 1984 and some aluminium extrusion used as sleeper chairs, we are building the line almost entirely with cast-off material. In recent years we have found that treated pine off-cuts have a good resistance to rot and termites. Otherwise we use hardwood soaked in sump oil.
Start the ride from the bottom. The pages will be quite slow to load the first time but once they are in your cache you will be able to move up and down the line very easily, give it a go!
For collectors of
animated GIF's who also have patience, try this one ...
... not so good
without the detail.
For a version with more detail click here and then make a cup of tea
(Canon 35mm and HP scanner). Or this (test with borrowed Casio
digital camera). It looks like the film camera wins.
Assorted still photos are here. (How we started, nocturnal trespassers, visiting engine etc.)
The January 1999 pictures continue here (Bridge repair, CCSM outing etc).
November 2001 - digging a cutting for an extension. Click here.
June 2004 - Minor improvements, and having fun. Click here.
November 2005 - A new engine! Click here.
E-mail for more information about this project. The Barchester Towers Railway is not open to the public, however owners of 7 1/4" trains are welcome to visit, provided that they understand the limitations of the line, and that they alone, and not the owners or builders of the railway, are responsible for any misadventure to their person or property while visiting.
For more information on miniature railways and model engineering on the Central Coast ... There is only one club, CCSM at Narara, just north of Gosford, NSW. 5" and 7 1/4" ... public run first Saturday of the month ... between Showground Road (north end) and Narara Creek. Meetings, last Thursday of each month in the club carriage at the same place.
For more information on the bush and its preservation we recommend the National Parks Association of NSW.
For pictures of some American model steam locomotives of similar scale try this site. To learn more about this hobby see Ron Stewart's site, it's the definitive site for those with computers and small engines.
For background on the original long distance gravity railway, see the Festiniog Railway history pages.
This page is: http://dazed.org/btr/old.htm. This site is at http://btr.cjb.net or, without the ads: http://dazed.org/btr.
Guestbook! (sorry, not always working)
This line last edited: 15 November 2005. since 13 November 1997
