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009 quarry micro (Cule's Quarry)


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This is the rather nifty tool I made to load the gravel. The hole in the backscene is slightly too small to just tip it in. The red bit is one side of a chimney from a Wills platelayers hut (I think) and the rest is styrene strip. WP_20180414_15_48_35_Pro.jpg

Looks good. I've made a working coaling tower in oo gauge and I find that it sometimes gets blocked up but then the coal is much bigger than the sand or fine gravel being pit through your loader. Its a simple and effective extra for opperation and I find that it makes me feel like I'm operating a more realistic railway than one that just pretends to load wagons.
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My loader does sometimes get clogged up - might try finer gravel or sand, although this is more likely to corrode motors etc than the relatively coarse gravel currently used. There is something quite satisfying about going in with empty wagons and coming out with a full train that has been loaded properly, unlike layouts that have full wagons going on or empties coming off and just imagine they are being loaded. This is actually based on my first ever layout, which did not have a proper loader but was based on a similar concept and track plan.

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Guest ShildonShunter

I think it looks great when you can see your wagons being loaded up its just a matter of using and finding the right size gravel as Luke and yourself have been experiencing blockage problem but all sounds fun.:)

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Guest Bishoptrains

Fantastic idea for a CBC I really like what you have modelled the scenery, wagons and loco are nicely done..

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  • 3 months later...

Love the picture frame idea, very tempting myself for a similar idea but I hate stealing other people's ideas especially when they've done it better than I'd manage :)

I'm not the first to do the picture frame thing. While it looked good, there were still intermittent problems with the point. I'm not sure how to fix these without risking damage to the scenery, but basically when pushed over, the siding sometimes goes dead as though the point blades are not making contact, although I can hear them click over and see the blades touching. There was a track height compatibility issue too with the hastily prepared stick (behind the information board) which features a tunnel to make it dark and prevent attention being drawn to the hole through which the train exits, which has no scenic break. The angle of the photo doesn't show it too well, but basically the idea is that the picture frame removes the need for a scenic break by obscuring the edges (it's 5x7 rather than 6x8). Looked at straight on, at a reasonable distance and from slightly lower, the side walls, exit hole and LEDs (on the box ceiling, to provide lighting) cannot be seen, and the 'framing' is effective. The internal dimensions of the box are slightly larger than the cake box size to allow it to be manoeuvred in and out safely. It's being exhibited again at Kettering in September so there is time to fix the point issues, fine tune the box and rebuild the stick/tunnel arrangement. Aesthetically I think it has worked and people seemed to like the look and the working gravel loader. I also tested some finer gravel yesterday which should eliminate the very occasional but fairly inconvenient problem of blockages, and look slightly better. The loco performed faultlessly and I didn't have to use any of the backup fleet. I've started another thread ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/136130-cules-quarry-exhibition-presentation/ ) to describe the presentation box stuff as it is a bit outside the remit of the challenge. I think operating from the front is best, both for the front uncoupling ramp and seeing where the train is. I can reach round to change the point without problems but the annoying bit comes when I have to get up and go round the back to load the gravel (or unload after a full train has left). I don't mind but it takes a lot of time and people start to lose interest, so I might look at ways of loading gravel while sitting at the front.

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I hadn't actually realised that it was part of the "Cakebox Challenge", the lack of size hadn't even registered with me.

 

Will have a read of the presentation thread drekly.

I'll put some more pictures on it soon. My favourite thing about the box is that, as long as they have the entry/exit track in the same place, other layouts can be displayed in it as well. :)

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This is a great little layout, it's got everything it needs. I really like the box and display for exhibitions too. Have you thought about making another cakebox layout for the right hand side of the off scene part !

Thank you. I have thought about this, also as stated above I've thought about how the box and associated equipment could be used with different scenic boards in place of this one. I would probably need another display box with picture frame if I wanted something else on the right. One idea I quite like is to simply have some heathland with a plain track running through, to give the train a bit more of a run before it goes off scene, possibly with a kickback siding to a small loco shed. This would be facilitated by a small radius Egger point I purchased a few months ago and would allow the current fairly repetitive operations to be broken up by the loco going off to be refuelled occasionally. The obvious thing is to build an interchange with standard gauge or road transport but the siding length will not permit Jouef or Minitrix skips that actually tip (they're a bit crude anyway compared to Roco or Peco ones) so showing the wagons actually being unloaded is not something I can do at the moment. Does anyone have any ideas for how I could fix/improve the point issues? Oddly I had an hour today of virtually fault free operation but it's still a pain when it does go wrong, the point being such an integral part of the layout, and in constant use.

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Yes, a very nice model, nicely finished off with the picture frame display, also the "quarry workings" signs and other paraphernalia!

The other two signs are the name board and a short description of the layout, complete with aerial view, since with encased presentation people can't see it from directly above but it is useful to get an idea of the overall plan. All are attached by Velcro and removable, in line with my idea of being able to use the box and stick with other scenic layouts.

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Does anyone have any ideas for how I could fix/improve the point issues? 

 

Sorry, I've had a few erratic points before but I'm no expert on these. I've seen people put wire droppers down through the board to create another connection, but you're a bit sparse on room below. Might be worth asking in a different sub forum as there's probably other tricks.

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Sorry, I've had a few erratic points before but I'm no expert on these. I've seen people put wire droppers down through the board to create another connection, but you're a bit sparse on room below. Might be worth asking in a different sub forum as there's probably other tricks.

Problem with those sort of solutions is that I will have to solder wires on and have a switch to change the polarity, which will be difficult to fit to the layout without damaging the scenery.

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Just before I go further down this route, does anyone think it's better not in the picture frame? (for seeing detail etc.)

 

I quite like it although the frame is perhaps a little (necessarily) small.  We often use "view blockers" such as trees or buildings to make things look bigger so why shouldn't a frame work just as well?

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