All about the Tat Bank Railway
Photo's of the Tat Bank Railway
Photo's of other local miniature railways
All about the Tat Bank Railway
We developed our interest in 5" railways with a few visits to local lines. This resulted in the purchase in March 2003 of a second-hand Maxitrak 'Coronation' battery electric loco. With the addition of some track from PNP railways, a lot of digging and shovelling 2 tonnes of ballast, our garden line started to become a reality.
We then purchased 2 rolling chassis from 'Ride on Railways' onto which we built wooden bodies. The Tat Bank Railway ran its first trains over Easter 2003.
Initially the line was just a 32' straight run, which was good fun, but we soon wanted more, so we joined the Model Engineering Society at Rugeley Power station. We can often be found running there on Sunday mornings (after band practice !!). The superb raised track at the Power Station is 1100 yards long and can handle loco's of 3 1/2", 5" and 7 1/4" gauges.
In 2004 we extended the line further and added a station, engine shed and siding. We then purchased a 'Polly I' steam loco to enable us to run steam and diesel trains at the same time. A 'Ride on Railways' sprung 4 wheel chassis was also obtained and a plywood body constructed to act as a driving trolley, with space for water, coal and oil as well as the driver !!
Early in 2006, we had the garden completely redesigned. This allowed us to add a low level circuit 130' in length. Again, we used PNP plastic sleepers and aluminium rail to build the track, making use of the ingenious gauging system to widen the gauge by 1/16" on a couple of the sharper curves (minimum radius 10').
With the addition of 2 Maxitrak 10' radius points, the original line has been retained and is now used as a branch line. A connecting spur links the new circuit to the original line - with a gradient of 1 in 25, this incline is known as 'Tat Bank'.
Having a circuit as well as a branch line has been the icing on the cake for us - we can now have 1 train running continuously round the circuit, whilst the other trundles back and forth along the branch line.
We have added 4 semaphore style signals on the main line - the rule being that there must be at least 1 signal between trains at all times when more than 1 train is operational.
In October 2006, we purchased a Hercules loco from 'Ride on Railways'. This 4 motored, 24 volt battery electric has proved to have superb power and to be an extremely reliable runner. The kit was very simple to put together and can pull all our rolling stock fully loaded with no problem.
In November 2006, we bought another 4 wheeled chassis from 'Ride on Railways'. We have put a plywood coach style body onto this chassis, which enables us to run 2 passenger trains at the same time.
In May 2007, we built a 'Pullman' style coach body from MDF and put it onto the sprung chassis which used to run under the steam loco driving trolley. This allows us to run a 4 coach train so all the family can have a ride round at the same time !!
To enhance the railway atmosphere, we have added a number of cast iron signs from the range produced by the Miniature Railway Supply Company.
Photos of the Tat Bank Railway
Choose from the links below to view a variety of photos of our railway.
Photos of other local miniature railways
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Lewis takes Katy for a spin round the track at Rugeley Power Station
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A fantastic 5" gauge Class 33
stands in the station at the Phoenix MES ground level track at the
Telford Steam Railway - well worth a visit !!
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Another photo of the Class 33 in action
- I'd love one of these for my line - "Cromptons" were my
favourite BR locos.
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A petrol powered 7 1/4 gauge loco running at Stafford MES
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| Miniature Railway World | Superb site with information about public miniature railways throughout the UK. Also has a very lively and useful forum !! |
| Maxitrak | Suppliers of 5" gauge loco's, rolling stock, track and accessories - good 2nd hand section as well !! |
| Ride on Railways | Suppliers of 5" gauge loco's rolling stock and accessories |
| Polly Model Engineering | Supply kits to build 5" gauge steam locos' like our 'Polly 1" |
| PNP Railways | Manufacturers of aluminium/plastic sleeper system for miniature railways. |
