2017_06_23 Signals?

2017_06_23 Ah forgot the new signal didn't I?

Departure Homes from Honeysuckle to Alansvale (left) or Trentham (right arm)

Amazing detail on Tony's new signal building from base to finnials on top!

illuminated as well!

 The Lop bracket received a few months back  helps to arrive trains at Honesuckle other sides of points protected by new bracket

Don't remember if I showed this new signal? It departs down trains on the main  out of Honeysuckle. It needed to be added to allow access to the Loco turntable.

Glad to see Tony returning to his signal building. However it is hardly a money making venture for him. The new bracket post took more than 12 hours to build (I suspect much more) And who could pay $60 an hour plus parts to build something so beautiful? (Just noticed the disk is hanging off (proceed) . It wont do that when a Tortoise motor is attached to it ;)

Cheers
Rod

2017_06_22 trying to get back on track....

2017_06_22  Still cold, but a visit to Bunning's to get some wood and a visit from my signalling contractor is worth a mention?

After not having a heater for over a month after my air conditioner failed during power brown outs last January. Long story but I only switched it on again to heat house up when the cold weather set in, to find it had burned out the compressor. Took a month to convince Insurance Company it was a fused motor and eligible for compensation. So asit warms up from -0.02 C last night to 8.5 C at 11.00 am  with aircon set at 20C Economy. I finally feel warm at 17.4 C, after a month of 11.0C days and 8.0 C nights sitting on an electric oil panel heater,

At the same time the shed was 4.0 C just slightly warmer than my fridge which was 2.0 C


Bunnings?

With Graeme's scenery project on the move , we decided to laminate 3mm  craft strips along edges to hold foam, plaster scenery in place. Bunnings actually supplied 2400 x 1200 sheets cut down to 200mm widths for me, enabling me to get it home in the wagon, and saving me the trouble of cutting it all up here :D All for $30. A bargain.

12 pieces of 3mm craft wood sheets  cut in 200mm strips. These will be used to form edges in particular the curved edges linking Honeysuckle to the trestle bridge and Albury yard to The Murray River bridge and on to the tunnel and around to House Creek on the lower level.

 Just adding head shunt towards House Creek, to allow Graeme to add foam

 The craft sheets will be laminated to cover edges of layout where foam ends.

The embankments glued in place and now to add foam ground level sheets and cover with towels. This in turn will be covered in the same paper plaster mix used on the other side at Bullarto wheat silos.
Then a combination of static grass weeds trees and other ground cover will finish it off.
Need to make a road. Going to try painting cork black (Graeme said)

And finally the next signal to arrive for Honeysuckle is this one. The bracket post controls movement of up  trains from Honeysuckle platform and (left to right) direct route to Alanvale  and Bowser Junction mainline access. And the other arm, trains heading to trestle bridge and Trentham
Cheers
Rod

2017_06_14 ok so today I ran a few trains.

2017_06_14  The Car Train by Auscision....


https://vimeo.com/221556609           Vimeo Best Quality (Google just hashes it)

Cheers
Rod

2017_06_12 Trying a few hours in shed today..still cold!!

2017_06_12 New Ballast :)

Thanks to Malcolm, I received a few different sizes of Glenrowan Ballast, recently

No wonder this railway is moving along with such friends :)

Ballast grade

Rock culvert etc grade

Dust grade..  yards roads etc.

Cheers
Rod
(ps lost your phone number M)

2017_06_11 (continues)

2017_06_11 The pictures are here.

In answer to Tim's email, where he asked if my radii were indeed as broad as I thought  😏 I think I have that covered. I use Fast Tracks specially cut radii tools. They were made for me at 44 inches and 46 inches. On the branch, I try to keep the radius at 36 inches where possible, using the green tool.

And so 44 " and 46" and 48" on the Helix. The 48" was laid using peco parallel track tools fixed to a block of wood, and later adjustable tools bought from Prose's in Turkey.

 The "roarer" cars?

 pin heights all adjusted (But something is hanging on left. A coupling hose. Must bend it away as it might be fouling coupler? Also right hand car has a coupling bar looking to be fouling??

 

The shortest radii will be the points and crossovers, all no.6 But seems ok here.

Entering No.6 crossover.

And departing same crossover.

 

clever design by Auscision and their Chinese engineers, don't you think? Pity our 1/87 scale  passengers though!

Cheers

Rod

2017_06_11 Pottering about in snow gear!

2017_06_11  Damn 😬 its cold !! 

I had an hour or two in the Train room today and tested the "roarer" cars some more. One of my readers sent me an email with suggestions how I might overcome the derailments.

First thing I noticed was that all coupling pins were at two different heights, however none actually hung below rail height. But I did adjust the lowest ones to match the higher ones. 

Alas train still derailed.. Hold on! The same three vehicles kept derailing the rest were just fine.

Ok so I ran a mixed train of freight vehicles with RP25/100 and RP25/88 wheels, short 50 footers and long 80 foot flats, some light some heavy. This train circulated with out problem

I followed it with the "roarer" cars which derailed at about 15 locations.

So I started to check the track. 

Yes they were derailing at the same place. Like I said 7 vehicles ok, 3 would derail, but not (all) at the same place.

Started adjusting track. Used packers, adjusted curves and in two cases replaced insulated joiners which were not holding track together perfectly. The joiners were soft creating out of alignment issues in height and line. New insulators fixed this problem. Still working on repairs for other spots.

The track seems to be ok for most vehicles. The Aurora is finding the faults though.

Pictures(to follow as I left camera in shed)  will show the radius tools I use as well as the gaps for diaphragm and buffer plates. They like the 44" and 46" radii but also navigate the #6 crossovers without derailing. Not a good look but congratulations Auscision for building cars that close couple and still navigate through crossovers!!

Cheers

Rod

2017_06_04 Too cold to work the shed but some scenery work continued

2017_06_04 Scenery is spreading...

Unfortunately not greates pictures but they show Graeme's progress. Going to look pretty nice, I think. Must teach myself how to make rock castings!?


On the wiring front?
Well I can run trains around 90% of the track laid.
A couple of dead sections and the BG between coal siding and Wodonga is shorting. Just need the weather to warm a little so I can get stuck into it.
Ran a couple of goods trains around, one with N492 on front, and was happy with the way things worked. Then I tried to run Auscision X32 and 8 Aurora cars and it failed miserably. Seems to derail every 6 feet or so. No idea why, wheels are in gauge, free rolling, able to twist easily side to side and couplings not binding and carriages almost touching on 44 inch radius curves, but definitely not. Couplers reminds me to check the under pins. Maybe they are fouling the brake hoses and detailing on the cars? Anyone else trying to run them on short shank couplings?

Cheers
Rod