2019_07_22 Diddling about....

2019_07_22  Two days in a row tried to complete wiring of helix..distractions?

Well I bought this and it wasn't cheap. It is a very heavy 4 wheel wagon with both axles suspended on a phosphor bronze spring, which allowed it to rock front to back.
So much so that KD's simply uncoupled, and made it difficult to tow or even push around.

So I decided to fix it!

Too cold to go and get better pictures :(  But here you see the wagon sitting low on left side. Push it down on right side and it will also stay down. Not a really suitable vehicle for my purpose.

It is all glued together and is brittle, and I had to drill out the axle keeper to remove the wheels. I did it wong. I should have glued the coupling bars in first, making sure the vehicle sat flat on its 4 wheels and the coupling bars were horizontal. Once the bars were dried, I glued styrene extensions to the coupling bar long enough to fit KD's to ends and sit on two SEM trucks which supported the device exactly as high as the original two axles did, thus applying correct pressure on the sanding disk, or the polishing disk fitted to the vehicle.  I did it the hard way, but eventually got there.

Used gorilla glue as it sets hard and expands to fill all gaps. I just need to cut away excess and lightly sand before painting. Notice the coupling on left dropped. Easy enough to fix.

I used U section styrene which was two light and allowed body to sag. So I filled the U section with Gorilla glue which stiffened it up. It does not bend now.

 .
 Just needs filing and cleaning up of the U beams where gorilla glue expanded. the wagon is now stable and exerts a solid pressure on rail. Might have to remove a weight or two, as a 442 had trouble pushing it. This is the third vehicle in my maintenance train.

I have a Roco/Atlas powered Track cleaner that power vacuums the track, washes it with solvent or polishes the rail packed away.. and as well.....

This DCC controlled scrubber fitted with spinning polishing wheels. The wheels spin in opposite directions which powers it along slowly, and it does a good job.

Cheers
Rod

2019_07_20 Back from Hols and into it (intuit)

2019_07_20 Who turned the sun off...   brrrrrrrr....

I started a project which was definitely overkill and a waste of good wire!  However I used what I was overstocked with and I am sick and tired of wiring errors on the helix. This will fix it, however it is ugly, but on the other hand, it will be covered and should not be in normal view.

WIRING THE HELIX

Some pictures

Hot glue is simple way of holding it in place, its messy though but cleans up easily. You can even adjust it by heating it up again with glue gun. Older areas have held firm for about 8 years.

NSW Locomotives returned from NARARA shops

Trainorama 32 Class

This one was bought second hand from England and had Tsunami 2 fitted and all the driver tires had fallen off.  All repaired or installed by Gerry Hopkins

Right train in wrong place. Very pleased with this one which will add to a 70's era Albury under construction (yes it is under the branch line presently being built by Al and I  :D  )


Austrains 30 Class

This little engine has a big heart and pulls better than the prototype on 2% grades.

I will make a couple of videos today so you can hear them wheel slip up the hill :)

"Al"day on Friday

Back into branch line. Thought we would pretty it up before Graeme asked us to :D

 So departs the Honeysuckle station past the turntable and heads towards the Terminal Station at end of line.

 Track roughly laid in place to see how it might look. We think a high ground extends where the track almost meets the wall. This will represent a cutting with clay verticals and then flat farmland on the edge closest to walkway.

Home departure just beyond turntable with arrival just this side Distant just in from left hand side of picture.

 The track levels just before the points which lead to a terminal station on a bend. Should be able to fit an nice working yard here with coal/ briquette yard, grain silos Fuel depot and stock race.

Trains will be able to run round the back and re enter the main. This will be disguised to represent something like a dairy or meat works or maybe both?

And so time table operations will see the reverse loop out of use. The turntable will need to be accessed at Honey Suckle which was the Terminus before line was extended to new station.
And so operations will see the shed crew take the engines back to Honeysuckle for turning and in readiness from next days operations.

The hill is slightly more than 2% gradient both sides and the climb is about 2m.  Should still manage a nice size train,

Cheers
Rod and Al