Extension Line Construction on the Barna Railway

"Inner loop extension line"

Most of the Barna Railway is double track, there is an outer loop line, which is a continuous circuit and an inner loop line which joins up with the outer loop to form a shared single line section. This section of single line starts at Barna Station, runs along the fence and through the tunnel behind the large conifer.

Because both loops shared this single line section, it was tricky to run two trains together in opposite directions, as the points at both ends of the section needed to be set each time a train passed. After many near misses and one or two head on collisions, (that never made Barna news..!) it was decided to make the inner loop an independent continuous circuit by adding an extension line.

This photograph shows the single line section in yellow and the planned path for the new inner line extension, shown in red.

The extension line would run at ground level across the front of the swing and then rise 80mm to join up with the inner loop.

This was going to be a steep gradient and I wasn't sure how the trains would handle it.

Before and after.

The first image shows the inner loop line cleared of ballast. This was done with an old vacuum cleaner.

The second image shows where a section of straight track was removed and replaced with a new turnout.

With the new turnout installed it was time to add the curved section of track. This section of track drops nearly 80mm and it's on a tight R2 curve which is not ideal.

We have named this section "The Dip".

The curve is laid onto a plywood base and the track elevation is kept level by inserting packing under the sleepers on the outside of the curve.

"Click on the image to enlarge"

Before and after.

These two images show where the line crosses the swing.

It needed to be just below the level of the matting to allow the children to cross over without tripping.

It joins up to the now extended siding.

There were some anxious moments as the first test trains headed for "The Dip". As you can see from the images below the gradient is about 1 in 18 (5.5%). I can run any size of train down this without any trouble. There will be a limit to the length and weight of train that can be hauled up this gradient.

"Click on the images to enlarge"

Click on the contact me link if you have any questions or comments.

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