Progress Report 76

Introduction

Winter time is usually when activity on the railway dies down. The weather is not conducive to operating trains outside and the hours of daylight are too short anyway to have a decent running session. It's normally a time when I do constructional projects indoors, but a spate of illness has slowed down my productive output this year. I have managed to turn round a few projects though, and carry out some maintenance.

The most significant project has been the construction of a brewery building for the siding at Beeston Castle station. I have also managed, at long last, to replace the fencing behind the platform at Peckforton Station and repair the overbridge which was damaged during tree felling in the Autumn (see Progress Report 75). I have added an Acme Engineering soundcard to the HGLW diesel (see Progress Report 72) and begun the construction of  rake of sand hopper wagons for the sand quarry which will be located on another new siding (see Progress Report 75). I have also continued replacing LGB couplings with my less obtrusive compatible wire couplings - a seemingly endless ongoing task! On the operational side, I have updated my freight management computer program with the newly added rolling stock (see Progress Report 74 and Progress Report 75) and a new location (ie the sand quarry siding). I have also found time to make a video showing how the railway has changed over the past twelve years - and also wrote a few articles for the Garden Rail magazine, two of which have already been published.

So, I don't think I have been idle over the winter period. The weather is beginning to improve and I   have now cleared the track, so it might be possible that trains will start running again in the not too distant future.

Lineside

Over the past year, I have been focusing more on adding lineside detail, particularly industries to the railway. I've added a sawmill at Peckforton (see How I constructed the sawmill), together with a boiler house and water tower (see How I constructed the boiler house and How I constructed the water tower). I have also constructed a water mill (see How I constructed the water mill and sluice gate (see How I constructed a sluice gate) for the mill siding between Peckforton and Bulkeley. In addition, I have made a loading bank for the soft fruit harvest at Bulkeley (see How I constructed a loading bank). These were made from a variety of materials, concrete (loading bank), wood (sawmill) and PVC foamboard (mill, boiler house and water tower). I have become very enthusiastic about using foamboard as it is a versatile material and also relatively cheap. This was why it was chosen for the construction of the brewery at Beeston Castle.

Beeston Brewery

After searching the web for suitable prototypes, I eventually decided to base my model on the now discontinued Metcalfe 00 card model as this presented me with a fairly generic building. After measuring the intended site and making a few sketches, I initially mocked-up the building in corrugated card, ........

before cutting into my stocks of 5mm thick PVC foamboard.

As can be seen, it is a snug fit in this tight corner of the railway. There are still a few minor details which need to be sorted out, not least a concrete base on which to mount it and re-positioning the siding slightly, but overall I am pleased with the outcome. For more information see How I constructed the brewery (pending)

Peckforton platform fencing

While changing the track layout at Peckforton to provide more room for the sawmill (see Progress Report 72), I also took the opportunity to raise the track in the middle of the station where there was a small dip. This meant I had to rebuild the platform (see Progress Report 73) and as a consequence the fencing behind the old platform was removed. Now, after a year, I finally got around to replacing the fencing.

I also took the opportunity to create a second running in board which I felt would be appropriate for a station with a single platform.

All the original fencing was re-used, though some is beginning to show its age with broken palings. However, I decided that, as my railway is set in the 1930s, at the time of the Depression, then things might have started to deteriorate.

Overbridge repairs

The parapets of the two cast concrete overbridges had survived unscathed for eight or nine years until last Autumn when I managed to knock one off while lopping and felling trees (see Progress Report 75). I have now got around to repairing it, using a two-part epoxy masonry repair kit.

Before ........

..... ad after.

One crack is still visible but, in time, I'm sure this will fade.

Stock

Since the spate of Anglicising a couple of closed vans and open wagons (see Progress Report 75), activity related to rolling stock has been fairly quiet. I have, however found time for a couple of projects:

HGLW diesel sound card

After completing the Houston Gate Loco Works (HGLW) kit last year, I decided it was time she gained a voice. I've never used Acme Engineering soundcards and so decided to give one a try (see How I added an Acme Engineering sound card to my HGLW diesel loco). I was attracted by the card's small footprint and because it has digitised real sound effects. 

Rather than using the 9v battery which came with the card, I opted to increase the battery power in the loco from one 3.7v li-ion battery to two, giving me a nominal 7.4v. Other than that, the installation was very straightforward and the sound quite effective.

Sand hopper wagon

I had been wondering what industry might occupy the longer siding on the approach to Bickerton station when I happened to pick up a copy of Eric Tonks' book about the Snailbeach District Railways (Industrial Railway Society, 1974, reprinted 2007). I have always been attracted by the wooden hopper wagons which ran on this railway and when I noticed there was a drawing of one at the back of the book, I felt it was an omen. Having a few Hartland Locomotive Works (HLW) mini-series chassis sitting in a spares box, I decided to experiment to see if I could produce a passable replica of a wagon to use as a prototype.

Having proved it is possible, I will now produce another seven or eight with improvements and modifications in the process. Once the fleet is completed, I will write up the definitive guide to their production (see How I constructed a rake of Snailbeach style hopper wagons - pending).

Couplings

This is an ongoing process, but I am at last beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. The design appears to be effective and so around 80% of the stock has now been equipped. I am leaving the locos until last as I anticipate they are likely to be the items which will require the most personalised couplings.

I noticed in one of my videos that the new couplings are a lot less obtrusive than the LGB originals, which is encouraging - see 1m 50sec into this video:

Operation

As indicated above, this time of year is not conducive to running trains in the garden, but I have made a few changes which will affect train operations once they resume.

Freight management program updates

Because I have added some more rolling stock to the freight roster for the railway (see Progress Report 74 and Progress Report 75), I have now added these to the wagon database in my freight management computer program (see How I handle freight on my railway). In addition, I have added a new location - the sand quarry, as indicated above. As a consequence, the parameters controlling the movement of each wagon on the railway has had to be revised to take account of this new location. However, this is not as daunting as it sounds, because very few wagons will be likely to serve the sand quarry - a tanker wagon, to transport fuel oil, a flat wagon to occasionally transport pieces of machinery and an occasional closed van for miscellaneous goods.

The new siding to the sand quarry before final ballasting

Retrospective video

While sorting through some folders on one of my backup disks, I came across some video clips which I had not previously used. These dated back to the early days of my railway and so I decided to make a video comparing these early clips with ones taken more recently. The result is a retrospective video which is not only nostalgic for me, but also shows how much progress the railway has made over the past eight to ten years.

General

There are always plenty of jobs to be done on or associated with a garden railway. In recent weeks, I have spent some time out in the garden, clearing some of the accumulated leaves and debris which have found their way on to the track, and also cut back some of the plants which are already threatening to impede traffic when the railway resumes operations. As indicated above, a few repairs have also taken place. In addition, I have added a bit more storage in my workshop and also found time to pen a few articles about the rolling stock on my railway.

More storage in workshop

I never seem to have enough storage space. No sooner do I add more and it gets filled and I am looking for some more. I felt I needed a few more shelves to store stock, such as those awaiting repair or new couplings. I speculated for a while how I would support shelves on the window side of the conservatory and eventually opted for a simple belt-and-braces approach with triangular wooden brackets cut from a length of timber shelving. Elegant, they are not, but functional they are. It's a good job I have a partner who is very tolerant of my railway and the way it encroaches on other parts of the house.

The shelves are now finished and already full of items of rolling stock and other miscellaneous odds and ends. How on earth did I manage without them?

Magazine articles

So far, two of the articles I have written about my rolling stock have appeared in Garden Rail, the February 2019 edition:

.... and the March 2019 edition.

Although some of the information they contain has been covered in various posts on my blog, the articles are completely new and take a quite different stance. I hope any regular followers of my blog will find them equally as interesting and informative.

Progress Report 51

I usually regard Easter as the start of the operating season, but this year the weather has been so mild that I have already had a couple of decent days operating the railway.

 Rolling stock

Locomotives - Converting a DCC loco to battery power

As has been mentioned in previous Progress Reports, I have been steadily moving over from DCC track power to battery powered radio control. Two things have prompted this move. Firstly I have always found track-cleaning and maintaining electrical connections a chore. Because my railway is quite extensive, it would take me at least half a day to clean the track prior to the first operating session of the season, and then around an hour or so before each subsequent operating session. Inevitably, there would be also be dead spots where electrical continuity had failed (eg where bonded rail joints had deteriorated and where the contacts on pointwork had become corroded). Secondly, the technology for radio control has not only improved markedly in recent years with the proliferation of 2.4gHz transmitters and receivers, but also the price has dropped considerably. After experimenting with a couple of cheap approaches to radio control (see An evaluation of a cheap 2.4gHz system), I was introduced to Deltang radio control (see An overview of Deltang radio control for trains). Although, I am no expert, I have shared my experiences of radio control through a blog posting (see Getting Started with Radio Control) in case others want to tread the path I have already followed.

The most recent development is the conversion of one of my former DCC controlled locos to battery power. The most likely candidate was Loco No. 2 - Beeston, a 2-4-0T Andrew Barclay locomotive which was constructed from a GRS kit (now sadly no longer available).

I chose this loco because it had the most potential space onboard to hold the 12v li-ion battery (in one side tank) ........

 ....... and the radio control gear - though the combined Deltang receiver/controller is extremely compact.

As can be seen, the switches and charge socket were located below the other side-tank.

I follow the same wiring diagram for all my battery conversions ........

...... although at present I have not included a sound card in this loco - partly due to cost but also waiting until I was certain the conversion had succeeded. I have, however, included the wiring required for its inclusion.

A have been extremely pleased with the conversion. The LGB mechanism around which the kit has been constructed responds very well to the Deltang controller, as can be seen from this video.

Locomotives - Wynford gets her fourth mechanism

After wearing-out the gears on three mechanisms, I decided to install a commercial motor-block in my IP Engineering Jessie (named Wynford on my railway).

A USAt medium motor block was purchased from g-bits after exploring a range of other options. Although the HLW motor block (63.5mm) is closer to the original wheelbase of Jessie (60mm), I reasoned that the USAt block with a wheelbase of 84mm would fit under the chassis and had the advantage of extended axles on which to mount the fly-cranks. The small USAt motor block would have been even better, but this no longer seems to be available.

The motor block slotted into the chassis quite comfortably .........

...... and the newly powered Wynford, has shown she is more than up to the job of hauling her nine loaded hoppers up the 1:40 gradients on the line.

For more information about the conversion see How I improved the mechanism of my IP Engineering Jessie

The railmotor is revamped

For two years, I have used the railmotor only occasionally as I dealt with a series of problems with her radio control system, batteries and mechanism. Even then, she was quite unreliable; often derailing when negotiating points.

When re-wheeling failed to solve the problem, I realised that the the long wheelbase of the railmotor was responsible - a slight undulation in the track would mean that one wheel would lose contact with the rail. The solution was to provide suspension for the front wheel of each car with a pivoted bracket.

This, combined with a set of LGB compatible wheels, has meant she is now become at least as reliable as any other loco on the railway.

Another flat wagon joins the stock roster

Having had a HLW wagon kit sitting on the shelves for some time, I decided to use this as the basis for another short wheelbase flat wagon.

This will become a permanent way department wagon, another flat wagon has become the designated match wagon for the railway's mobile crane (based on another HLW flat wagon).

These are very straightforward conversions and are described in other postings - see How I created some flat wagons and How I constructed a mobile crane

 

Trackwork

Peckforton station - replacing an R1 point

 As part of a long-term plan, I am intending to replace all the R1 points and curves on the railway. The point leading to the timber yard siding at Peckforton was an Aristocraft R1 turnout and I had been finding that some stock found this point tricky to negotiate - partly owing to the uneven ground on which it was laid and partly because there was a small crack in the check rail on the curved stock rail.

I decided it was time to replace it with a Piko R3 turnout. The offending point was removed .....

 ..... and the track leading to the point needed to be shortened and bent slightly (see Jim Crow below), but the siding was easily realigned by simply sliding the rails forward approximately 10mm. The R3 point was slotted-in .........

...... and then the whole area was re-ballasted with a 3:2:1 mix of sand:gravel:cement. At the same time, an opportunity was taken to raise the track a few millimetres to even out some of the undulations in the underlying blockwork.

Some brown cement dye powder was sprinkled irregularly over the area while the cement was still wet and although this looks alarming at first, from experience I know this soon tones down as sun and rain take their toll.

Incidentally, this station now boasts a combination of LGB, Tenmille, Aristocraft and Piko trackwork, all happily co-existing (and all interlinked with standard LGB rail joiners).

Bickerton Station cross-over

Another place where R1 points existed on the railway was the cross-over at Bickerton Station.

As with Peckforton, the offending points were removed which entailed opening-up the rail joiners to enable the points to be lifted out.

On this occasion, the LGB R1 points were replaced by Trainline R2 points. I felt that installing LGB R3s would have restricted the length of trains which could use the loop. The necessary adjustments were made to the surrounding track with the judicious use of a hacksaw.......

.... and then the two new points were installed - though a short length of track needed to be inserted between them to maintain the same track alignment as the LGB R1s.

I'm intending to re-ballast this station and, as at Peckforton, take the opportunity to compensate for some uneven foundations.

Bending track with a Jim Crow

As my tracklaying has been primarily with flexible track, inevitably there have been places where the rail-joints have occurred on curves - and as a consequence some of the joints have developed kinks as the track has settled and/or responded to the ravages of excesses in the weather.

To overcome these problem areas, I have deployed a jim crow which was manufactured for me by a fellow garden railway modeller who offered his services through the G Scale Central forum.

As a consequence, most of my kinked rail joints are now a lot smoother.

For more information see - How I smoothed out kinks in rail joints with a jim crow

Peckforton Mill siding

Another item on my long term developmental to-do list has been to add siding between Peckforton and Bulkeley to serve a mill (which has yet to be built). In reality there is a mill on the Peckforton side of Bulkeley, but the most appropriate place to position one on my railway is just outside Peckforton beside the stream. Apart from creating an item of scenic interest, the siding will enhance freight operations on the railway. Interestingly there are precedents for this feature on both my favourite narrow gauge railways - the Southwold and the Llanfair and Welshpool.

At present, the bridge spanning the stream has yet to be constructed but it will be based on the timber trestle bridge which spanned the River Blyth and the mill stream on the Southwold Railway.

Timber trestle bridge on the Southwold Railway

See How I added a siding for the mill

 Lineside

The viaduct continues to take shape

The construction of the viaduct is a time consuming and ongoing project. So far, both sides have been completed, the next stage will be to attach the sides to the plank carrying the track and then fill in and clad the arches.

[Awaiting photo]

Another article in Garden Rail magazine

Another article about the railway has appeared in the January edition of Garden Rail. This describes the construction of the low relief buildings at the Copper Mine - basically plywood boxes clad in various finishes: coffee stirrer planking, balsa wood 'sandstone blocks' corrugated plastic and stone blocks.

Progress Report 40

For me, Easter has always heralded the start of the running season. This is largely because of the weather but also because until recently I had a fairly time-consuming job and hence any garden railway modelling had to fit into whatever daylight hours were available to me - which of course are fewer during the winter months. Although I am now semi-retired, a combination of family, household and work-related events have conspired to prevent me from spending as much time on the railway as I would have liked over the winter period and through the Easter vacation. However, there have been some developments on which I can report.

Into Print!

Following an editorial plea from, Tag Gorton, the former editor of Garden Rail for articles on 45mm gauge garden railways, I produced s story outlining the development of my railway. This was published in the March edition of the magazine.

The title for the article, Timetabled to Peckforton, was devised by the editor who enjoys wordplay (Timetabled to Perfection?). I provided the editor with far more pictures of the railway than would be needed and am very pleased with the selection which was made.

 This was the second article I have had published in GR, the first appearing in April 2011. This focused on the construction of the swing bridge, based on the original bridge over the River Blyth at Southwold.

I have posted an explanation of the construction techniques on this blog and also created a short Youtube video showing how I used uPVC trim and superglue to create the model.

I have another article on timetabling  and freight handling which is presently being considered by GR for publication and am considering writing further articles.

The Railmotor

It has taken quite a while but I have very nearly completed the construction of the railmotor and trailer. Unlike my other locos, which are track-powered, this is battery powered and controlled with a wireless keyfob controller. (See Youtube video) This was bought over the internet and was designed to fade 12v LED lighting systems. Whilst control using the unit is not high fidelity, for the price (around £15ukp), I am very pleased with the outcome.

Clearly, the models are not quite finished; they require a paint-job and I need to improve the internal lighting system. But the models look quite effective pottering around on the railway and provide me with something I can run at a moment's notice without the hassle of arduous track cleaning.

The Garden

One of the non railway developments which has been occupying my time over the past few months has indirectly affected the railway. We have had a garage built on what was formerly the front garden and as a consequence the back garden has now been extended.  Whereas previously, Beeston Market station was constructed adjacent to the fence dividing the front and back gardens.........

 

......... this fence has now been removed. Furthermore, clearance of undergrowth bordering the front garden and the erection of a new fence has led to some additional space being created in the back garden beyond the end of Beeston Market station.

I am in the process of considering how this increase in real estate might impinge upon the railway. Do I re-site the terminus, do I re-site the copper mine or do I build an additional branch to the canal basin which runs alongside the mythical location of Beeston Market station?

Guide to UK Narrow Gauge Railways

Something I have been researching over the winter months has been UK narrow gauge railways. I intend to visit as many of these as possible over the coming years and document the results of my travels on a blog - Narrow Gauge Railways UK.

Although I have already visited many narrow gauge railways over the years, I have never properly recorded these expeditions. This new blog will enable me to become more systematic in logging the outcomes of my visits.

So far, all my energies have been expended in researching the locations, opening hours and some of the background to the various railways around the country. Although I have restricted my attention to narrow gauge and miniature railways which have a gauge of one foot or greater, there are still around 180 operating railways which fit these parameters. This does not include the sites of narrow gauge railways which have closed (eg the Southwold and the Leek & Manifold).

Running repairs

Inevitably, as with full scale railways, ongoing maintenance and construction often dominates the winter period. You will see from the previous progress report (see Progress Report 39) that I had identified a list of repairs and construction projects.

Cattle wagons
The four cattle wagons owned by the railway were excessively heavy for my poor little 0-4-0 track-powered locos. Although my plasticard scratchbuilt cattle wagons were originally quite lightweight, the addition of Schleich cattle greatly increased the weight meaning that the locos struggled to pull the wagons up the inclines when they were included in freight trains. Either the cattle would have to be removed or I'd have to slim them down in some way. I decided on the latter, hollowing out the cattle from the underside with a powered drill.

The two IP Engineering wagons were also overweight form my railway. To reduce their weight, the steel roofs have been replaced with preformed plasticard (from GRS).


Fowler diesel
Close scrutiny of the video showing freight movements on the railway shows that the layshaft on the scratchbuilt Fowler diesel had become out of synch (see 6m 52sec into video). This is because the fly-cranks were superglued to the layshaft and after a while worked loose. The was remedied by re-quartering the cranks and then supergluing them back in place. If the problem persists, a more reliable method of fixing the cranks in place will have to be found. (See How I constructed a Fowler diesel)

Hunslet loco
After adding the power buffer to the Hunslet loco, the body was glued back together but was never quite as secure as when it was first constructed. A spectacular derailment on the elevated section of the line led to further unplanned dismantlement. The loco has now been reassembled but does require some remedial painting to tidy it up. This will be done prior to weathering the loco - another job on the list. (See How I constructed a Hunslet loco from a GRS kit)

Rolling stock

Some off-season purchasing has plugged a couple of gaps in the good stock.

Crane wagon
I've been considering constructing a crane wagon for use on the railway - to handle heavy loads on the railway and act as a breakdown and maintenance wagon by the permanent way department. A chance visit to a certain online auction website resulted in the purchase of a ToyTrain crane wagon. Whilst not, to my knowledge, based on a UK prototype I've decided to use it until something more realistic can be constructed. I'm presently undecided as to whether it is resprayed in PLR livery or whether to leave it in pristine condition to enhance its resale potential.

Closed van
Through contacts on the G Scale Central forum, I purchased an LGB closed van which had been sprayed oxide. I'm undecided as to its future but an wondering whether it should become a private owner wagon maybe for the company bottling the local mineral waters.

Gunpowder van
During last year's operating sessions, I identified the need for a gunpowder van to transport explosives to the copper mine. I became aware of a new model of a corrugated van from Swift Sixteen Models. This was purchased from the company's stand at the Association of 16mm NGM's annual show at Peterborough.

Although this is not based on any particular prototype, I feel the model more than fits the bill for a gunpowder van.