Welcome to the Hoginwood Light Railway webpage.
The HLR is a five inch gauge railway based on narrow gauge prototypes and principles. The gauge is the distance between the inner edges of the two rails. 5" gauge (127mm) is a size commonly found in the UK and is often used by model engineering societies and clubs and although the locomotives are only a fraction of full size they are plenty powerful enough to haul real passengers. Way back at the tender age of 17 I decided I would love to construct a locomotive, however did not have (and still don't!) the time or inclination to create a finely engineered masterpiece, so set about making myself a fun little narrow gauge style diesel loco.
Here I am blasting around the elevated track at the local model engineering society. My loco is a far cry from many of the live steam masterpieces owned by club members and being powered by an old lawnmower engine with a chain transmission it is a little "agricultural" in nature. Whilst many members of the club were supportive of my efforts, it was clear that some had little love for my benzene guzzling box on wheels. I decided that my own interests would never really fall in line with typical model engineering society practices so abandoned going to the club after just a few months. Besides, I never really liked the elevated track. It felt too much like travelling along the top of an Armco barrier on a skateboard.
Earlier on in the loco construction project I had been lucky enough to get the opportunity to test out the locomotive chassis on a privately owned track.
In my opinion the difference is immense. The ground level track not only looks like a real railway but immerses you more in the scenery and also opens up possibilities such as the use of points (switches) and crossings. The Hoginwood railway will be constructed at ground level using aluminium rail, wooden sleepers and ballast. So after sitting in my parents garage for 13 years doing nothing my loco will be transported out to my new home in Italy where the Hoginwood Light Railway is currently under construction.
I was born and raised in the UK and have always had an interest in railways of all kinds. The blame for this rests squarely with my Father, although I think the fact that my Grandfather was a civil engineer on the railways probably influenced him, so maybe we could just put it down to genetics?
I clearly recall first having the idea to build a 5 inch gauge locomotive at around the age of 12 or 13. We frequently visited my grandmother who had a petrol powered lawnmower. This was very much a novelty for me and I would eagerly volunteer to mow the lawn on each visit. After mucking around with the mower out of sight of the house I realised that it had plenty of power for not only cutting grass, but also pulling me around the garden on the seat of my pants!
At age 17 I got the opportunity to construct the loco I had been planning, under the guise of an A-Level design & technology project. This was my first ever attempt at creating anything in metal. Knowing that I would be learning to use a lathe for the first time, and that I had only a certain number of hours a week to work on the project, I carefully planned the locomotive to use as many "off the shelf" components as possible. The result is an extremely sturdy but rather "Heath Robinson" 0-4-0 narrow gauge style diesel locomotive, loosely based on a Hunslet design, although an extensive redesign of the bodywork is now planned.
The 98cc four stroke "Suffolk Punch" engine puts out about 1.5 horsepower and this is delivered to all four wheels via a ridiculous amount of chain and sprockets, the original lawnmower centrifugal clutch and a "Sturmey Archer" 3 speed bicycle gear hub. This latter item has withstood being run at 700rpm with up to 15lbs feet or torque going through it surprisingly well! The locomotive weighs around 140lbs (65Kgs) and produces about 35 to 40 lbs of drawbar pull. This is limited by the adhesion of the locomotive, the petrol engine and drivetrain are quite capable of maintaining that kind of tractive effort both at a standstill and whilst moving.
In the year 2000 I got the opportunity to work in Italy for 6 months. I say "got the opportunity" but frankly there was no decision on my part. It was either work in Italy or start looking for alternative employment! Whilst working abroad I decided to try and experience the local culture a little rather than just hiding in the hotel outside working hours. I made quite a few Italian friends, and also met a lovely Italian girl called Stefania.
After 3 years of single handedly covering British Airways' entire fuel costs(!) I decided that it was time to move my life forward a step so took the plunge and moved out to Italy. Stefania and I are now engaged to be married.
Now that the Hoginwood Light Railway is well and truly under construction it seems more appropriate to talk about my hopes for it's future. Clearly as the railway is in a remote location, I am very much testing the water with Phase 1. I want to see if vandalism or theft is going to be a problem before starting any grandiose schemes. Phase 1 is essentially a testbed for construction methods, locomotive hauling capabilities and maintenance of way techniques.
The length of Phase 1 will be about 53 metres (175 feet)
The minimum curve radius will be 4 metres (a shade over 13 feet)
The maximum gradient will be 1 in 34 (3%)
These choices are somewhat arbitrary, but are my best guestimate of what my locomotive will be able to cope with whilst hauling a modest load of 3 or 4 adults. Depending on how it actually performs will dictate how any further phases will be constructed. It is certainly anticipated that Phase 2 and beyond will have a minimum curve radius of 15 feet and the old 13 foot curve will be removed. With these parameters in mind the HLR will continue to lend itself to locomotives with only 4 coupled wheels and of short wheelbase and narrowgauge outlines.
The future? Well, I'm dreaming of course, but one day I would love to own a live steam locomotive. The first one will almost certainly be bought as I have nowhere to put a proper workshop, but ultimately who knows? Five Inch narrowgauge would lend itself beautifully to a geared Shay, or even a 2-4-4-2 Mallet as used on some of the US logging lines.
Perhaps if I ever get that workshop set up at home I could tackle a K1 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garrett. At 2.5" to the foot scale it would be over eighty inches long!!!!!
