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Barchester Towers Railway
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A 7 1/4-inch gauge miniature railway in the bush on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia.
E-mail for more information about this project. The Barchester Towers Railway is not open to the public, however owners of 7 1/4" trains are welcome to visit, provided that they understand the limitations of the line, and that they alone, and not the owners or builders of the railway, are responsible for any misadventure to their person or property while visiting. For information on miniature railways and model engineering on the Central Coast ... There is an established club, CCSM at Narara, just north of Gosford, NSW. 5" and 7 1/4" ... public run first Saturday of the month ... between Showground Road (north end) and Narara Creek. Meetings, third Saturday of each month at noon in the meeting room at the same place. Work days most other Saturdays and Thursdays. Do drop in, they need more members. There are other small gauge bush railways on the Central Coast near Warnervale and Morriset, but you will have to find them yourself.
For more information on the bush and its preservation we recommend the National Parks Association of NSW.
For pictures of a new 7 1/4" railway in New England, USA, try this site.
For background on the original long distance gravity railway, see the Festiniog Railway history pages. This site is: http://dazed.org/btr or, easier to remember: http://btr.cjb.net.
Before we began to lay rails there were several attempts at making walking tracks. These failed because there was not enough foot traffic to keep them clear and obvious, so when people did feel like going for a walk they took a slightly different path each time. Now we have the railway, people have less need to disturb the adjacent bush: the birds, reptiles and small mammals seem to know this and often remain in view. (Click here for a list of creatures.)
Like the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales the line is built on a continuous grade to allow for full trains to gravitate to civilization, while empty trains got back to the workings by muscle power. The grade, however, is about 1 in 30 which is closer to that of the main line over the Blue Mountains in NSW than to anything in Britain.
These days the main focus is regeneration of a large patch of lantana scrub on the hill. Needless to say, going up to the site we always take the train and, these days, the train does have an engine.
Our scrapbook - whatever comes to hand:
Other, older, pages follow:
(If you are new to this site then we suggest that you start at the bottom of this list.)
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New for 2013 Rail
Suitable for small gauge railways (miniature, live steam etc.), display stands and cases etc. May also be considered as an alternative to hollow section for boat ribs etc. Main dimensions: height - 25.4 mm, foot width - 25.4 mm, head width - 12 mm, head depth - 6 mm, head profile curved per heavy rail practice. Ends pre-drilled for joint bars. Material: extruded aluminium alloy 6061 for resistance to corrosion, temper T6 for improved stiffness. Made in Australia. 
So far these rails have been successfully used with the following miniature railway equipment (all 7 1/4" gauge): Now in stock! Individual 6 metre lengths as described are available for sale (near Sydney). Bulk orders of 250 metres or more can be supplied in any length up to 9 metres per piece, ends drilled or plain and shipped anywhere. Available pre-coated if required.
Contact: For more information please see our 2016 data sheet.
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Page converted for mobiles May 2015. This line last edited 16 April 2021.
