Rebuilding Brewhouse Quay to 7ft Gauge!

110213_GQ_IMG_9193, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

After much deliberation I've decided to rebuild Brewhouse Quay and relay the track in Brunel's 7ft gauge! The work started earlier in the week when I ripped all the cobbles up in preparation for removing the track. Here is a quick snap showing the layout just before the track was prized off.

For the new track I'm going to hand extrude the mild steel rail through a special jig to ensure the exact correct profile for GWR bridge rail from 1876. The rails will then be hand spiked to miniature Baltic pine sleepers and the of rail length joined with tiny scale flashplates, nuts and bolts. After much looking I have managed to find a manufacturer of bespoke 1/76 scale 4 sided nuts and scale length 1 inch diameter bolts.

I'm currently looking to booking this layout in for its first outing in 2021, because I'll need to build all the stock and back date the layout to the latter half of the 19th century. Then after this show I will extend it by 10 feet to allow a working recreation of Brunel's Atmospheric Railway using Sparklet CO2 bulbs to generate the 'air pressure'. At this stage I'm unsure how to recreate the not so airtight seal so beloved of rats who noshed on it.