Progress Report 72

Over the winter, understandably, most of the jobs I undertook on the railway were indoor ones but I have also managed a few outdoor jobs as and when weather permitted. Developments since the last Progress Report include:

• finishing off the water mill and sluice gate, 
• landscaping the area around the mill, including the provision of a mill stream, 
• starting construction of the sawmill for Peckforton Station, 
• ballasting the re-aligned track near Bulkeley, 
• constructing two new small diesel locos from kits, 
• experimenting with replacements for LGB couplings 
• reprogramming the receiver in Loco No.1 to provide auto station stop, 
• and making some videos for fellow modellers on how to reprogram and adjust the outputs from various Deltang receivers.

Lineside

Water Mill

The water mill is now more or less completed (see How I constructed the water mill). The sluice gate has been installed (see How I constructed a sluice gate) and the area landscaped to include a mill stream and the planting of a dwarf rhododendron which will eventually grow into a small tree.

Sawmill

The main structure for the sawmill is now finished using a range of materials; wood, aluminium foil, brass channel and copper tubing (see How I constructed the sawmill).

Work is progressing on the interior, constructed from various sized sections of strip wood and all manner of 'reclaimed' materials.

 I am in the process of bashing a plastic model of a beam engine into something vaguely resembling a mill engine which will eventually be connected to the machinery via a series of pulleys 3D printed for me by a fellow modeller.

Permanent Way

Ballasting

After eliminating a hump in the track on the approach to Bulkeley station, adjacent to the junction for the copper mine branch (see Progress Report 71), it was some time before I got around to ballasting it. I used my now preferred method, three parts horticultural grit to one part cement - brushed into place while dry and then soaked with a watering-can rose.

Rolling stock

I realised that all the accounts of battery and radio control installations on my blog were quite complex as they also included wiring up lights and/or soundcards. I therefore decided to construct a couple of basic diesel loco kits and keep the radio control installations as simple as possible.

HGLW diesel loco

 I opted for HGLW's most basic loco body (LB1) and their Deluxe 4wd chassis - for a total of around £40.00. The kit was very easy to construct and the battery and radio control installation very straightforward (see How I constructed a HGLW diesel loco kit).

 IP Engineering Albert

The IP Engineering basic diesel loco kit was slightly more expensive at £45.00, though I needed to spend another £8.00 for Delrin chain and sprockets to provide 4 wheel drive. Without it, the loco has quite limited hauling power. The kit was quite straightforward to construct and battery and radio control installation relatively easy. (see How I constructed an IP Engineering Albert loco)

 Couplings

 I have retained LGB style couplings on all my stock because I really enjoy shunting and so I need couplings which are easy to couple and uncouple, are reliable and, most importantly, are cheap. However, LGB couplings are unrealistic and obtrusive. For a long time I have been exploring alternatives but failed to find anything which met all my criteria. 

However I have just reached the conclusion that, rather than looking for alternatives, why not use the LGB coupling principle but find a way of making them less obtrusive. After a bit of experimentation, I have made some couplings from a piece of brass and some wire which seem to fit the bill.

At present, these are just prototypes, but they do seem to work OK and so I am planning to install them on several items of stock so I can give them a thorough testing. The advantage is that they are compatible with LGB style couplings and so I should be able to convert the stock in batches rather than having to refit all 75 items of stock at the same time.

Control

Peckett Loco No.1 has been a stalwart of the line since the early days of its Anglicisation (see How I constructed a Peckett loco from a GRS kit). I thought it would be interesting to re-program a couple of locos to stop automatically at each station as they trundled around on days when I had visitors or when I was gardening. Loco No. 1 has now been reprogrammed (see How I reprogrammed a loco for auto station stop).

Various Deltang video guides

Programming an Rx102 for latching on/off outputs

Reprogramming an Rx102 to provide triggers for sound cards

Adjusting servo throws from an Rx102

How I made a sluice gate for the mill stream

After having complete the mill (see How I made a mill from foamboard) and giving it a test run ......

..... I felt that, in real life, the mill stream would have had some sort of sluice gate to control the flow of water on to the wheel.

After sketching a very basic design, I decided to use some offcuts of foamboard for its construction. I did consider using wood (too prone to rotting) and plasticard (too flimsy) but decided the 5mm thickness of the foamboard would give the gate a fairly substantial, chunky appearance.

The first task was to make the lower guides for the sliding gate. Four pieces of 5mm x 60mm and two 18mm x 60mm lengths of foamboard were cut out.

Two of the narrow pieces were glued on to each of the wider pieces, 5.5mm apart to act as guides for the sluice gate

A 30mm x 150mm piece of foamboard was cut out to act as the platform. A 45mm x 5.5 mm slot was cut into the centre of the platform to allow the sluice gate to rise through it.

The sluice guides were glued .....

...... either side of the slot in the platform.

A 85mm x 40mm piece of foamboard was cut out for the sluice gate.

The gate was then slotted into the guides to check it was the right size. A small amount was shaved off the edges to ensure it slid smoothly.

The upper guides for the gate were mades from four 65mm x 5mm and two 70mm x 25mm pieces of foamboard.

These were then glued above the platform and a 25mm x 52mm piece of foamboard glued across the top.

The semi completed sluice gate was then test-fitted into its location to make sure it fitted and also to determine the size and shape of the blanking pieces which were required either side of the gate.

These were cut from offcuts of foamboard and glued either side of the sluice gate guides.

A couple of sets of plastic spur gears and racks were ordered from Technobots.

The rack was detached from the sprue .......

..... and the moulding reduced in depth with a craft knife.

A slot was cut into the platform to accommodate the rack......

...... and the rack was glued to the centre of the sluice gate.

Once the glued had dried, the sluice gate was fitted back into the guides.

A figure of eight link was drilled and filed from a piece of 1mm thick brass shim, 13mm x 5mm with 2mm diameter holes near each end.

2mm diameter brass rod was soldered into the holes.

..... and the excess solder filed smooth.

A couple of 3mm diameter holes were drilled in the upper sluice guide and the crank handle assembly was inserted. A small spur gear was positioned midway along the longer shaft on the crank to engage with the rack.

A small spur gear was positioned behind the crank handle and a pawl fashioned from an offcut of 1mm thick plasticard.

A 5mm diameter brass washer was then soldered on to the other end of the shaft to retain it.

Two 75mm long posts were cut from 4mm diameter brass rod. The lower 20mm of each post was bent through 90 degrees. Three 2mm diameter holes were drilled through the longer section .......

..... and three 75mm lengths of 2mm diameter brass rod soldered into the holes. The posts were then glued into 4mm diameter holes dtilled into the edges of the platform.

The whole assembly was then given a couple of coats of Halfords red oxide primer.

Once the primer had set, the sluice gate assembly was then touched up with various shades of brown acrylics and then sealed with a couple of coats of matt varnish.

A layer of concrete, into which had been mixed some black cement dye, was then smeared over the mill stream area to even out some of the inconsistencies in its finish.

Slabs were scribed into the 'green' concrete on top of the wall dividing the main stream from the mill stream..

Once the concrete had set, the sluice gate was tested.

The height of the gate was adjusted using the rack and pinion until the wheel was rotating at what seemed like a reasonable speed.

There seemed to be a compromise between the ideal speed and a slower speed which meant friction would sometimes stop the wheel.

I am pleased with the outcome.  The mill seems to fit in well with its surroundings and the sluice gate does an effective job of restricting the flow of water over the wheel.

There is still a little more detailing to be done. I would like to add some general clutter around the mill and maybe a wooden footbridge linking the mill to the mainline trackbed on the opposite side of the stream. Otherwise, the stream and the mill are now more or less complete.

For more information about how I made the stream see - How I constructed the stream