G1

Compton Valley Railroad

The realisation of a childhood dream

Max Sexton describes his garden railway, which grew to exploit the potential of a long, narrow, and far from flat plot. Photographs by the editor.

ATSF GM-EMD SD45 #5610 heads a train of tank cars along the east side of the main upper garden.

It was 1964 and a little lad was playing in the garden with some track on the grass, pushing wagons up and down. A seed was sown …

Fast forward to today. Those far-off fun-filled summer days had never left me, and so when I had the chance a garden railway was born. But beware, prospective garden railroaders – it is addictive!

The simple 'oval' of track morphed into a garden railway where plans constantly changed, with moments of head scratching and uncontrollable chuckling to myself over a cuppa on just where I was going with all this. Above all, it has been great fun getting my hands dirty, being out in the open air learning, with 15 hour shifts! It has been absolutely marvellous, and if my example inspires you – well, just have a go.

Construction methods are, let us be honest, physically active: moving bags of cement, mixing, digging post holes. It is all very rewarding and there is no rush. Take time, unless you have a skilled workforce to call on. You will have the satisfaction on the day that it is completed. However big or small, it will certainly complement your garden. Be it a blank canvas or a mature garden, there is always room for trains.