Railway Themed Garden Structures
Garden Shed There is a saying that no man is complete without his garden shed! For a bit of fun and driven by my interests in the LB&SCR I designed mine based on an 1872 Stroudley Brake Van. The goods end to be used for garden tools, mowers etc and the passenger compartment for relaxing in. I was particularly attracted to the ducket end. To meet my requirements the reproduction is half the length and 3/4 the width of the prototype. The height is as per prototype. The design is flexible, the length can be increased by the addition of extra passenger compartments (the prototype has three) and an additional panel added to the goods end. The width can be increased up to prototype size. The construction is lighter weight and less complex than the prototype but maintains important visual dimensions, such as door and window apertures. As one side of the Brake Van is against a fence it is plain paneling without doors or windows. The colour is not prototypical but was a compromise to blend with the garden. Representative brass door handles are still being sourced. References The primary source of dimensional data for this project was from Stroudley's plans published in "The Engineer" dated August 15th 1873. I was able to examine these both at The National Railway Museum and Cambridge University Department of Engineering Library. The other excellent source of information was from visiting the Bluebell Railway Carriage Shed at Horsted Keynes where they are in the process of restoring an original example.