Things have been surprisingly busy on the railway and associated areas considering the time of year! Most developments have revolved around 3D printing which, since I discovered the joys of creating my own parts in TinkerCAD, has become an important component in my model making arsenal.
A side issue has been various rescue schemes to help save the Garden Railway Forum, which was under threat of closure unless someone with the requisite IT skills could take over from the retiring previous Administrator. I'm pleased to say that it's closure has now been averted owing to the timely intervention of a fellow modeller with the right sort of skills, but insufficient time to manage its day to day running - more of that later.
Permanent way and Lineside
Level crossing gates
The proposed route of the Peckforton Light Railway would require at least six level crossings over minor roads and two under-bridges for major roads (see A tour of the hypothetical line). At present, there is only one level crossing actually modelled (see How I made a level crossing), so I plan to add at least two more.
Some of the others will be "off stage" (ie in the section which presently lies behind the sheds) and two others will be represented by a single crossing on the section of track which is traversed twice (see A trip along the line).
I decided to draw the gates in TinkerCAD and print them out (see How I made my second batch of level crossings - pending).
At present, I am exploring a way in which I can make the lamps operational with large LEDs and small button cells. The difficulty is modelling a simple switch mechanism which can be incorporated into the design.
Station nameboards
After watching some of my recent videos of the railway (eg see Excerpts from the running session), I realised that passengers might have problems identifying which through station they were arriving at. I realised I needed running-in boards at each end of the platform rather than just in the middle.
One of the features of TinkerCAD is that it includes a collection of letters and numbers in a variety of fonts and so, it was quite an easy process to design nameboards; double-sided for stations with island plaforms ......
..... and single sided for stations with platforms on one side of the track.
These were printed-out .....
..... and painted in the default colours for the railway.
[Awaiting photo]
I usually deploy delicate items such as these at the start of running sessions. I often have to stand on platforms to mow the hedges which lie behind the stations.
Rolling stock
PLR open wagon
Most of the open wagons which run on the PLR were constructed from resin kits which I cast myself, using Hartland Loco Works (HLW) mini series wagon chassis (see How I constructed my third batch of open wagons).
These have served me well over the years but I was perturbed to find out that HLW has now ceased trading and so my source of cheap wagon chassis has dried up. There was nothing else for it, but to make my own chassis - drawn in TinkerCAD and 3D printed.
Having produced the chassis, the next logical step was to produce a body to fit on it.
So, should any of my open wagons bite the dust, I now have a quick and easy method of constructing replacements.
Southwold Railway open wagon
Having replicated the design of the majority of open wagons (see above), I felt that I could improve on the design by making opens which were based on those which ran on the Southwold Railway (see How I 3D printed Southwold Railway open wagons - pending). The first job was to design the wagon chassis.
After which the sides were drawn, printed-out and joined to the chassis.
[Awaiting photo]
I'm trying to decide if I should now start replacing all the open wagons on my railway with these more realistic alternatives.
Southwold Railway van
Having successfully modelled an open wagon, I realised that the early style of van on the Southwold used the same chassis and so, why not draw a van body to sit on the chassis (see How I constructed a Southwold Railway van - pending)?
I am presently drawing the larger modified version of this van and will be interested to see how they compare side by side (something which never happened in reality on the Southwold Railway).
I find the proportions of the vans very pleasing and so am trying to decide whether I should now start replacing some (or even all) of the vans on the PLR with these.
Southwold Railway coach
Of course, why stop at a Southwold open wagon and a van? I have always fancied constructing at least one of the Southwold coaches but have fought shy of tackling the six wheeled Cleminson undercarriage. The beauty of 3D printing is the ability to continually tweak drawings and designs until they do the required job. This suits my way of modelling perfectly - I am more of a trial and improvement modeller than a careful planner, designer and constructor.
The Cleminson chassis is a case in point. This has undergone at least three re-designs before it has reached its present state. I might even tweak it again to make further improvements.
However for now, it seems to be working satisfactorily. I need to give it a more thorough testing over the whole railway to be certain the design is effective but I am pleased with how it has eventually turned out.
[Awaiting photo]
For more information see How I constructed a Southwold Railway six-wheeled coach - pending.
Of course, the next item on the list ought to be one of the Southwold six-wheeled open wagons. Watch this space, as they say!
Other
Garden Railways Forum
I have been a member of the Garden Railways Forum since 2009 and have found it a valuable source of information, ideas and a place to seek advice on specific topics. When it was recently threatened with closure - the previous Administrator wanted to stop running it and, owing to its complexity, would only hand over to someone with equivalent or better IT skills - I explored creating an equivalent alternative. I even got as far as buying a similar domain name and creating a forum of the same design.
Fortunately, a fellow forumite with the requisite skills stepped forward, but only on condition that he would hand over the day to day running of the site to me and a couple of moderators.
So - I've ended-up becoming the joint Administrator of the forum. Fortunately, the two moderators are accomplished and conscientious and so I am hoping the forum will not take up too much of my time. After all, I have a railway to run........
