Progress Report 99

I can't believe it's been nearly nine months since I last wrote a progress report. It's not as if very little has been happening, I suppose it's just that I've been very busy.

Since my last report, three new locos have joined the fleet and another loco is in the process of being constructed. I've experimented with and developed a couple of different powered chassis for locos, I've tried out a couple of new cheap soundcards. I've had a few running sessions and made a few videos. I've hosted visits from fellow modellers and carried out running repairs on locos, stock and pointwork.

 

Rolling stock

 Locomotives

Since my last report, I've become very interested in early paraffin/diesel locomotives and as a result constructed a couple.

HGLW/Gmeinder diesel

I spotted a Houston Gate Loco Works (HGLW) kitbuilt loco being offered at a bargain price on eBay and so decided to invest in it.

I've constructed an HGLW loco previously (see How I constructed an HGLW loco from a kit) and bashed another (see How I added radio control to an HGLW loco) and I like their robust construction and bulletproof powered chassis.

Once it arrived I set about enhancing it, but when it was nearing completion I had a change of heart - it somehow didn't look right.

 I scoured the internet for a centre-cab diesel loco which could inspire a scratch-bash, and stumbled across what turned out to be a (poorly) preserved narrow gauge Gmeinder diesel loco which looked promising.

I moved the cab so it was off-centre and designed and 3D printed the additional components, most notably the two curve-topped bonnets.

The loco has now been completed and joined the fleet as Gmeinder loco No. 26 James.

 For more information, see - How I enhanced a basic HGLW kit loco

Ruston 44/48HP(ish)

The next loco I tackled started off using a pencil sketch of the Rev. Awdry's Rusty loco and initially, using the same HGLW powered chassis as James above.

As there were no dimensions shown on the drawing, I based them on the wheelbase of the HGLW chassis and worked outwards. 

However, once I had finished the body shell and fitted it to the HGLW chassis, it just didn't look right.

The loco sat too high above the track. So, it was back to the drawing-board. 

At first, I toyed with somehow reducing the height of the HGLW chassis - but that would have meant a complete rebuild - and so, I decided it was time to produce my own powered chassis, specifically designed for the loco. After a considerable amount of head-scratching, prototyping, redesigning and tinkering, I produced what I feel is a powerful, workable and (hopefully) reliable powered chassis.

The loco now, to my mind, looks far more realistic even though, as I have now discovered having bought the excellent booklet on narrow gauge Ruston locos from the Moseley Railway Trust, it is not really to scale.

For more information on this build, see How I constructed a Ruston(ish) diesel loco.

 

Ruston Proctor

 Whilst trying to track down photos and drawings of the Ruston, I stumbled across an earlier diesel loco which looked very attractive, and so I felt the need to make a model of a Ruston Proctor paraffin loco.

Once more, I was then unable to track down any scale drawings, but my web searches had unearthed a Gn15 file for the loco on the Shapeways website. At around £16GBP, it seemed reasonable and so I forked out my cash and invested in the .STL file.

Unlike my own 3D drawings, which breaks down a model into a series of separately printable sections, this was a single file of the whole loco. Something I've not tackled before.

I ended up printing it on my resin printer, and scaled it up so I'd be able to fit one of my own powered chassis into it.

A fair bit of tweaking was required to adapt the body shell to take the chassis and provide sufficient room for the batteries, radio control equipment and soundcard. As a consequence, the model is slightly over-scale. However, to my mind it is redolent of the original and I'm looking forward to having it take a part in my next video.

For more information see How I constructed a Ruston Proctor locomotive

De Winton vertical-boilered loco

I have always been attracted to de Winton vertical boilered steam locos and when the 3D printable parts for one appeared on Thingiverse, downloaded them, adapted the chassis for 45mm gauge and put it together.

However, it didn't look quite right and when a fellow modeller on the gardenrails.org forum alerted me to the fact that a three-foot gauge de Winton loco was on display in the foyer of Caernarfon station I took a trip with a camera and tape measure and returned with enough information to draw my own 3D parts.

These were printed out and, after a fair bit of redesigning, tweaking and fettling, I have now produced a passable working model of a three-foot gauge de Winton loco.

For more information see How I designed, 3D printed and constructed a three-foot gauge de Winton loco - pending

Powered loco chassis

Until now, I have avoided making my own powered chassis, preferring instead to use commercially produced motor blocks. Many years ago, I did try making my own powered chassis, but they weren't very successful as I lacked the skills and equipment for turning out precision cut and drilled parts for aligning axles, wheels and gears. However, when it was pointed out to me that 3D printers can produce parts to around 0.4mm tolerances, I decided it was time to give it a go.

Since designing and printing my first chassis for my Glyn Valley Beyer Peacock loco .....

I have now developed a more generic design, which I have successfully used in my recent diesel loco builds.

The de Winton loco has a bespoke powered chassis to fit the restricted space available.

My next planned design will be for a motor block suitable for steam locomotives once I have identified a reliable source of spoked wheels with cranks.

For more information see How I constructed my own motor blocks - pending

Soundcards

Over the years, I have used a range of different soundcards in my locos - Dalee, Phoenix and MyLocoSound. In addition, I have played around with various MP3 players (eg see How I used a cheap MP3 players as a soundcard) and cheap sound recording modules (eg see How I used a cheap greetings card sound module as a soundcard) . I have also  tried using Arduino (see An Arduino controlled MP3 player) 

 Recently, I have discovered some cheap diesel soundcards on AliExpress which work well

However, most of my experiments have been focused on the reproduction of diesel sounds. I haven't, as yet, explored recreating steam sounds other than with the cards mentioned above. At some point, I aim to see what is achievable with Arduino for simulating steam sounds.

 Operation

Running sessions

I've had surprisingly few running sessions since the last update. I don't tend to operate the railway during the winter, but the wettest spring since records began has literally dampened any enthusiasm for running trains.

However, I have managed a few sessions which have resulted in videos.

In addition, I took the opportunity to take a few still photos of the railway in action.

Gmeinder diesel James shunting at Peckforton sawmill

A view of Beeston Castle station with the sand quarry siding in the foreground

The pickup goods arriving at Beeston Market station

Black Hawthorn loco No.14 Burwardsley shunting at Beeston Brewery

Barclay loco No.2 shunting at the Boneworks

Running maintenance.

As with their 12 inch to the foot scale counterparts, model railways are in constant need of repair and maintenance. The PLR is no exception.

Loco maintenance 

In the casualty bay at the moment are:

• Simplex loco No. 12 - Emma - awaiting a replacement soundcard
• Manning Wardle loco No. 6 - Harthill - motion in need of easement
• Hunslet loco No. 25 - Tattenhall - motor block needs repair and lights need rewiring
• IP Engineering loco No. 9 - Lolly - Needs new NiMh battery plack
  

These will be repaired once other outstanding projects have been completed

Points operation

 I was finding that the Deltang controller which I used for changing points by radio control (see How I control some of my points via Radio Control) has lost sensitivity, meaning that I could only use the transmitter when close to the receiver which is mounted in the leanto beside the house. Closer inspection revealed that the double-glazed window behind which the received was placed has misted up and was interfering with reception. A quick email to Andy at Micron, resulted in a compatible replacement receiver with a 40cm extended aerial, which I was able to poke out of the opening light above the affected window. Normal services have now been restored .

 

 Infrastructure 

More 3D scanned figures. 

The second batch of scanned 3D figures of cast members from our local Amateur Drama Society in 1930s attire have been received and are in the process of being painted. They have so far been primed with black primer and will then individually be painted in acrylics. These figures depict people engaged in activities rather than waiting for trains.

 

They will probably take at least another six months to complete, as painting them is very time-consuming, and I generally fit their priming and painting in around other projects.

 

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