Progress Report 19 - Goods stock update

Over the past year I have been steadily acquiring more rolling stock. Ultimately each item will be 'anglicised' or 'bashed' into something more appropriate, but for now I am beginning to accumulate enough stock to enable me to start running the railway in a realistic way.

Open wagons
At present the line only possesses four open wagons, all partially scratch-built using Hartland chassis (see how I built the second batch of wagons).

As time permits, I will construct at least another eight of these, mostly carrying coal or coke.

Closed vans
So far, I have accumulated five closed vans of various types.

Two are Accucraft:

One appears to have been made from be a Brandbright kit:

Unfortunately, owing to an error in the eBay advert, it is presently 32mm gauge - however, it looks a relatively simple process to regauge to 45mm (famous last words?).

Two vans are bog standard LGB box cars. These will eventually be modified to remove the platforms - either by extending the van body or by shortening the chassis.

The final van is a GRS conversion which will need very little modification, though I do think it looks somewhat large for my type of railway.


Tank wagon
Up to now, I have just one tank wagon, to transport fuel for to the copper mine machinery. This will eventually be super-detailed and repainted.

Tipper trucks
I have managed to accumulate two trains-worth of tipper wagons, which will be used to transport crushed copper ore from the mine to the mainline railway. The rationale is that the copper mine company has an ore processing plant elsewhere.

Most of the tippers are LGB. Eventually, there will be one train of empties and one train of filled wagons. These will be interchanged to give the impression that the full wagons are emptied and vice versa.

Six tippers are from Hartland. These are a stopgap until I can accumulate more LGB tippers. Their chassis will then be used for the construction of more open wagons.


Timber wagons
To serve the needs of the timber yard at Peckforton, I have been collecting stake wagons. So far I have six, plus a pair of timber bolsters.

However, I will probably retain only two or three stake wagons, the chassis for the rest will form the basis for scratch-built cattle / sheep wagons.

Flat trucks
I've also gathered a collection of four one-plank wagons and a flat truck

My thinking was that I would keep a couple and use the rest as chassis for other stock.

However, I hadn't realised how long these wagons were so I may pass these on and use the accumulated income to buy some Accucraft flatties.

Brake vans
The line now possesses four brake vans in various states of completion.

The first and original (in all senses) was constructed from lolly sticks on a Hartland wagon chassis. It is (still) awaiting detailing in the form of handrails, brake gear, chopper couplings, lamp brackets, etc. It was constructed whilst on a self-catering holiday in Pembrokeshire. After two days I had to find something useful to do having taken nothing with me. A set of craft knives and a hacksaw from the local pound shop, together with a pack of lolly sticks and PVA from a craft shop and I was happy for the remainder of the holiday. It was more by chance than planning that the body just happened to fit a Hartland chassis with the minimum of tweaking.

The remaining three came as part of a job lot of wagons picked up on eBay.

Two seem to be scratch-built from thin ply. One is more or less complete, though needs a paint job and the addition of running boards and brake gear.

The other is only partially completed and, unfortunately came without the missing pieces. However, it will not be a major task to complete it.

The fourth brake van is a partially completed GRS conversion of an LGB box van. Again, there are several parts missing and it will need a repaint, but it shouldn't take an enormous amount of effort to finish it off.

The future
As indicated above, the line needs several more open wagons and some cattle trucks. The open wagons will be constructed from plasticard as previously while the cattle trucks will probably be made in the same way as the brake van, from lolly sticks. The opens, as before, will be based loosely on W&L / Southwold prototypes while the cattle trucks will be inspired by those on the W&L. I have plans to construct an explosives van for the copper mine and am considering some sort of wagon to transport silver ore - it seems that copper and silver were often found deposited together which might give a further reason for the railway's continued existence.

All the remaining stock will we modified, repainted in grey livery and then weathered. I'm aiming for a 'tired' slightly distressed look into which minor lines like this deteriorated between the wars.

Progress Report 18 - Preparing for the coming season

With Easter fast approaching and some leave booked, the time has come to review developments and plans for the coming operating season.

Christmas proved to be quite bountiful in terms of railway-related acquisitions. A whole set of Jigstones moulds arrived which, once I work out how to use them, will be used to create buildings for the local population.
A trip to Bettws-y-coed inevitably led to some fruitful time pottering around in the model shop - and the purchase of a 2-4-0 American-inspired loco (minus tender) for a modest fee. That chassis and those fittings look very promising!

I intend to add a junction between Bulkeley and Peckforton which will provide a more realistic route for Copper Mine traffic. In the 'real' route, the spur to the Copper Mine is between Bulkeley and Bickerton. At present, the junction for the Copper Mine would be between Peckforton and Bulkeley.

Schematically this can be represented as follows:
At present, a loaded ore train departs from the copper mine, traverses the crossover and the first station it reaches is Peckforton. It then carries on through Beeston Castle and then goes to Beeston Market; where it discharges its load (by taking the 'hidden' link back to the Copper Mine). Once 'emptied' (ie the loaded wagons are exchanged for the empties) the train of empty wagons takes the reverse route; Beeston Market, Beeston Castle, Peckforton and then back to the Copper Mine.
The additional loop (see above) will enable the loaded trains to pass through Bulkeley after leaving the Copper Mine and similarly the empties will take the Copper Mine spur after passing through Bulkeley. Thus, more realistic operation will be achieved (provided I overlook the fact that the Copper Mine is geographically very close to Beeston Market and that trains travel over the same stretch of track more than once). I believe this is called "modellers' licence".

Progress Report 17 - Peckforton Station comes to life

Originally, owing the small size of the local community, I had considered that Peckforton would have only a single siding and no loop. However, after some deliberation, I decided that the station would have to have a passing loop and two sidings - one for local goods and the other for the timber yard to serve the Peckforton Estate's forestry development. With Peckforton being more or less at the half way point between the two termini of Beeston Market and Bickerton (both in the model and hypothetical reality) it makes sense to have a passing loop here (see - A tour of the hypothetical line). The timber yard would add a further dimension to freight traffic operation and the loop would provide additional opportunities for shunting. Eventually, if I ever get around to extending the line, one of the sidings can become the new branch line.

The first stage was to lift the existing track to enable the trackbed to be re-laid. I was pleased to find that the 'dry concrete' ballast was sufficiently crumbly to allow the track to come up with the minimum of effort (see How did I ballast the track?). Once the crusted ballast had been scraped away and swept up, the blocks were lifted and put to one side.

I loosely laid the pointwork and intervening tracks to ensure the blocks were going to be in the right places. Ensuring the loop would be long enough to accommodate the standard length of trains proved slightly problematical for this tight, curved location. However, a strategically placed radius 1 curve (retained from the LGB starter set) helped me squeeze it into the available space.

Relaying the blocks a second time gave me an opportunity to firm-up and level the foundations. This was achieved with a mixture of sand and soil.

As previously, considerable time and care was taken to ensure the blocks were level using a couple of spirit levels. I use one 4 foot long to ensure adjacent blocks are evenly placed, and a short 9 inch one to check each block is level.

The gaps between the blocks were filled with cement to prevent weed growth. I tend to do this after the blocks have been positioned, by stuffing the cement into the crevices using a small trowel and my fingers (suitably protected by rubber gloves!).

With the light fading, I had to cease work for the day and, with frost forecast, I covered the site with a couple of old coats, towels and a sheet of plastic to ensure the frost didn't attack the setting cement.

I started by re-laying the mainline track, to ensure that the new pointwork linked-in with the original trackwork.
The loop was laid next, followed by the two sidings. I used a mixture of Tenmille, LGB and Aristocraft track - using whatever came to hand of more or less the most appropriate length. Although the profiles of the rails differ, the rail heights are the same and hence LGB rail-joiners (or fishplates) were used throughout.

As some of the track was not flexible, I cut alternate webs between the sleepers and, in the case of the Aristo track, removed the screws joining the sleepers to the rails to enable it to be curved to the required radii.

The track was fixed in place with 1.25" chipboard screws screwed into rawlplugs forced into holes drilled into the concrete blocks. Holes were drilled through the sleepers using a 4mm drill, which also marked the place on the block beneath where the hole for the rawlplug should be drilled - using a suitable masonry drill bit.

Experience has taught me to take plenty of time and trouble when laying the pointwork to ensure it is level. I used strips of roofing felt to compensate for slight irregularities in the underlying blockwork and try to avoid screwing the points down themselves as I have found this can distort them unless the underlying foundations are perfectly level. All rails were bonded together with copper wire soldered across the joints ( See - How did I bond the rails?). As mentioned previously, this was achieved with a 75 watt soldering iron which packs out enough heat to melt the solder on to the rails even on a day where the temperature barely rose above zero.

Before I even consider ballasting, the trackwork needed to be tested extensively with all the available stock - a good excuse for a running session!

This has revealed some dead spots electrically (eg point blades) and a couple of places where levelling was needed.

The layout of the pointwork seems to appropriate, but took quite a bit of jiggling to find the most effective arrangement. However, it would have been a lot easier if there had been a wye turnout (radius 3) available or a curved point. Even a radius 1 wye would have been useful. I did consider trying an LGB three-way point but the thought of shelling out around £100 on an off-chance seemed a little extravagant.

Although the layout is mounted about a foot above the lawn, I find a pair of cushioned knee-pads essential. I also use a camping mat for some additional comfort and to keep the dampness of the lawn at bay.

Come the Spring, I will landscape the station and maybe add a building or two. A couple of plants needed to be moved and a low growing dwarf fir needed some drastic pruning. Hopefully, all will survive despite the severe frosts!

Progress Report 16 - Freight Operation

Although Peckforton station has not yet been completed (see Progress Report 15), I am beginning to think about how the line will operate. With five stations and the copper mine, freight operation will become as important as passenger traffic and so I've decided to create a simple system for generating and managing freight traffic.

My indoor 00 line comprises a terminus to 'Denny' fiddle yard - a four track reversible cassette. I use a card system and dice to decide which wagons should remain and which should go on the daily pick-up goods. For the garden railway, I needed something a little more sophisticated. I have for some years dabbled in an amateur way with a relational database (4th Dimension - now simply 4D) which was given away as a freebie on the cover disc of a computer magazine many moons ago - version 6 which is way out of date but still works! This sophisticated application includes a programming language for handling the data. After a considerable amount of trial and improvement, I came up with a computer-based system for generating and managing my freight traffic.

As with most things I do, the system is simple and straightforward: I want to spend time running trains, not operating a computer!

4D is a relational database - ie sets of data can be related to each other. One dataset holds information about the locations.

As can be seen, The name of the location is entered plus an abbreviated name. In my database, one location is designated the 'Central Location' to which all the stock can be returned, say at at the end of the season (or a session). I have only test-run the system, but it is my intention to store the stock on separate shelves for each location at the end of every running session, so operation can resume 'where I left off'. However, the 'return to base' option will be useful at the end of the season or on occasions when I just want to start-over.

Another data set holds information about each wagon. As with the locations, each wagon is given a unique identification code. In addition, the length of the wagon is indicated to ensure the system does not generate trains which are excessively long. The wagon's location is entered and a percentage likelihood of it travelling from one location to another. For example, in the above example, this tank wagon has a 50% chance of going from BM (Beeston Market) to BK (Bickerton) but will never go to BY (Bulkeley) or the Copper Mine (CM). This screen lies at the heart of the system as it determines which wagons are most likely to be rostered into trains and which locations they will visit.

Finally, this screen is used to generate the freight trains. The potential length of the train is entered and a train is generated based on each wagon's current location and the likelihood of it travelling elsewhere. If I decide the train presented by the computer is acceptable I hit the 'Accept Train' button and the system assumes I will then move the wagons to their new locations. Alternatively, if I'm not keen on the train which is generated I simply keep clicking on the 'generate train' button until it presents me with something more acceptable.

I've not used the system 'for real' yet (I'm still accumulating sufficient stock to make it viable) but I've included an option for generating a series of trains for an operating session and printing out the rosters, so I don't need to keep returning to the computer each time I need a new train.

Once I have a chance to get back out into the garden, I will let you know how the system operates!

Update: June 2013
 I've now been using the freight management program for around five years. Although the program is somewhat idiosyncratic, I am now used to its little foibles. What I like about it is that the semi-randomised way in which the freight traffic is generated means that sometimes I am required to carry out freight movements which I would probably not have thought-up without it (eg see Progress Report 46).

I am now rewriting the program in VBA Basic for MS Access as my original version of 4D does not run on Windows 7.

Until I've got to grips with Access VBA programming, I am forced to use my old desktop computer which runs Windows XP - but I am not certain as to how long that will last as it's already creaking somewhat. I'm finding Access to be a bit clunky but that might be because my programming skills are fairly rudimentary at this stage.

Update - March 2015

 After battling with the complexities of Access VBA for over a year, I had to admit defeat. There were some aspects of the program I just couldn't replicate - the logic of the programming language were beyond me. I then came across Livecode - which is a freebie programming environment which is based on Apple's Hypercard programming language, HyperTalk. Having used this many (many) years ago and marvelled at its high-level conversational approach to programming, I have now started implementing the program in LiveCode. I have found it (as with most Apple derived software) to be a lot more intuitive than VBA and have already made more progress in a few months than I did in over a year previously.

Hopefully, I will be able to complete this re-programming in the next few months. LiveCode will apparently create standalone applications which will run on any platform, including Tablet PCs. Fingers crossed!