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Canadian Puget Sound II


peach james
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This is a bit of a companion to my OO layout at 

One of the other areas I play around in, is live steam ride behind size in general.  I've been slowly working on building a railway at home since 2005 or so.  Several other projects have gotten in the way- such things as a pair of kids, a horse, a house, ect...

 

Anyway, the intent has been to build a ~600' long, 4 rail, 3 or 4 gauge ride behind railway.  It is ground level, with the intent of 7.x gauge for passengers, then down to either 3.5 or 2.5" gauge for locos.  Some of it has proved like wet noodles to figure out- because I am unsure if I can get away with 7.500" gauge, or if the large gauge will be 7.250.  Being on the west coast of North America, the customary gauge is 7.5, often widened to 7.625.  However, I might end up getting a 7.25" gauge loco...which complicates things !

 

Same sort of thing for the middle gauge- 5" or 4.75".  There exists a lot more 5" gauge locos than 4.75", but the customary NA gauge is 4.75".  No, I'm not making this up...  I have the Darjeeling D class which is gauged at 5", but as an outside framed loco, would be re-gaugeable without too much problems at this time.  However, dad has a Wren from the same maker that is 5", and that would be more problematic to regauge.

 

Photos:  Some photos from this years work are up on my Flickr account-

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQHeVWz

It's my next door Neighbour who is holding up the various signs- he's a huge influence on getting things done (thanks Murray !), rather than my dad.  I live in BC, dad is in Ontario.  (about 3 UK's away...)

 

Earthwork conducted this year has included moving about 100 m3 of fill into the property to date, with about the same more needed.  The embankments will reach up to 6' across the low spots on my property- that's why not much happened for quite some time, as I was waiting on free fill.  I have a gap of about 75' to fill via wheelbarrow/small trailer or slinger, as it otherwise involves traveling over the septic system for the house.  So, there is about 100 m3 still to get got of fill...

 

James

 

 

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So, the D class is now here at work with me- where it needs quite some bits and bobs adding to take it from where it is to runnable.  I have what appear to be a pair of running power units (I have to try them on air...), the boiler/girder portion, well tank, smokebox and some of the platework.  The next on my list of things to deal with is ordering a bunch of fittings to start on the pipework.  Intent as it is right now is to go with 3 injectors- a pair of 4 pint/min, and a 11 oz/min.  No axle or hand pump.  Other than that, it will be the blower, throttle, and a whistle.  Provision for the possible fitting of a Turbo-Alternator is on my list as well.

 

I'm not sure if I will use a COTS pressure gauge, or a model one.  COTS has the advantage of probably being more accurate, as well as definitely more available.

 

I snapped a couple photos last night, but since I'm back behind the great Canadian Firewall, I can't post them until tomorrow at the earlierst.

 

James

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1 hour ago, peach james said:

I snapped a couple photos last night, but since I'm back behind the great Canadian Firewall, I can't post them until tomorrow at the earlierst.

 


James, what’s the problem? I don’t have any difficulty posting photos.

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So, as promised:

 

Flickr page:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQHeVWz

 

Note, at some point I will end up converting to a video of stills in there- probably at about 20 photos.

 

Lets start with the big loco:

50350810787_74e34039a9_c.jpg

 

The 2nd power bogie is at home, now thoroughly buried under other stuff.   It's 5" gauge, and was built for/by a dentist on the isle of wight in the 70's. n't think dad has much more details.  It was the 4th loco that was built, for a J shaped layout that ended in a pond at one end (apparently, to the detriment of the K-37 like loco that had to be fished out at least once !) .  The workmanship and design details are quite interesting, and it is well built.  Is about 1/3rd full size- its a 5" model of a 24" gauge loco...

 

50350780387_26450db1e1_c.jpg


This is the bridge- to give an idea of scale, the timbers are 3 1/2" squares.  (nominal 4x4's) There is about a yard of concrete in each of the abutments.  The level on the RHS is a bit high, this is one of the 2 fixed points for height.  The other is about 150' by roadbed away, and will be the driveway level crossing.  Dirt has not yet been compacted, I need the bike gang to do so.  (my two kids had been using the berms as a bike path...).  Intent is to dig out the middle by about 18" down at the beams, so it should give between 5' and 6' clear under the bridge.  This is to allow access to the rear of the property- there is about 1/3rd of an Acre (or 1/6th of a Ha) back there.  Our "agricultural outbuilding" (barn) is back there.

 

50350624341_29c7e5126d_c.jpg

(3x 4x4's for the bridge), date on abutment.  

 

50350625206_1009c51c77_c.jpg 

8'6" sea can, will end up probably with storage being put into it for the big loco.  The barn is on the right

 

49999303521_9613c2ba44_c.jpgUntitled by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Only ONE mistake... in cement !

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Oh Mister Porter, neither did we know !

 

Fortunately, Doug took it in good nature, as he wasn't expecting to be in cement at all !

Some parts have been bought/arrived for the Garrett- a pair of Eccentric Engineer Intermediate Injectors (4 pint/min) are sitting on the desk here with me, and I have been doing just Grate as well...in that, I have a fire grate made up.  The support for the grate has traveled to and from home, awaiting me to decide how to cut out the slot for dropping said grate, as I have a fair sized lathe but no mill at my disposal.  So, I think I will end up turning out the 3" wide slot for the 1/3rd of a grate to fall through.

 

The grate is about 81 sq inches (or a bit over 1/2 sq ft...), implying a coal burning capacity of about 25 lb/hr at the grate limit, or about the same as the water capacity of one of the injectors...and about 10 hp engine power...if the engine is ballasted enough.  Yes, I must be barking mad...and the math seems to say that it should be possible at about 200 lbf and 8 mph... (30 tons at 0%, or 7.5 tons @ 2%...)

Certainly it's going to outperform a 3.5" gauge tich ! :)

James
 

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More bits arrived !  Most of the fittings are now in my hands, though I suspect I'm going to need to get a different set of safety valves.  The ones which I bought seem to be a bit small in comparison to the boiler- realize that the boiler is a little over 10 sq ft of heating surface !

Next on my list is working on the base for the grates.  I'm going to chuck it in the 4 jaw, turn out the 3" gap in the middle, then drill a pair of 3/16" pin holes, one right through the 3" or so on one side.

At least I have a plan for now !

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600' of code 1000 tieplates picked up.  Now need chopping into 12" lengths, and a pair of holes drilling in each one.  So, only 600 cuts, and 1200 holes to go...

Taking them to work to cut them there- will drill them there too.  Next step is cutting the whole lot into 5' chunks with the cut off saw, then piling them under the workbench.  

Too busy building my lego Krok to turn the grate parts.  That, and working on the room that Long Marton lives in- it is now - the old ceiling.

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62 cuts using the abrasive saw @ work.  539 to go...
(I made 2 tieplates, one is the wrong length, and I need a chunk of plywood to use as a jig gauge for making them...)

 

The heap of 5' lengths of steel is quite impressive.

(I might get a photo tomorrow, if I remember the ipad)

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A couple of more bits mucked around with- I have the clevis made to connect the servo to the valve gear.  Next step with that is putting it into place.

 

I'm working on the tieplates tonight, grinding the >150 or so that I have cut off so that they loose the wicked edge from the cut off saw.  So far I have a stack of 80 done- or a little over 1/10th what I think I need.  I've a fair few more hours here today to putz around with those two bits and see how things work.

 

I'll be cutting most of the remainder of the tieplates on the 3rd.  I wasn't supposed to be working overnight here but here I am !

 

The grate- the retaining assembly for the grate won't fit in the 4 jaw on the Bantam to swing it.  So, plan B:  mill it in the Bantam, holding it in a 4 way tool holder solidly strapped to the cross slide.  Adapt and overcome the lack of a mill either here or at home.

 

James

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  • 2 weeks later...

Back at it earlier in the week- another 100 tieplates cut off, and I'm supposed to do the other 300 tomorrow.  We'll see how many actually get cut, I've gone through about 2/3rds of a 14" cut off blade so far.

 

Dirt movement is now an ongoing thing here at home.  It's not raining, so I'm moving dirt by shoveling it into a 6 cubic foot dump box behind the garden tractor & then unloading it.  Given that I have about 200 cubic feet of fill to move, it's an ongoing project.  The total required fill is >300 m^3, with about 1/2 of that in place, and about 16 m^3 left on the property still to move.  (and about the same to come over from where I was getting it).  Dig Dig Dig !

 

Right now things have come to a bit of a halt with the dirt, because I can't find my 33m tape.  I know it's somewhere around, tied to a 50x100mm chunk of wood...and I need the tape to put together the line where the rest of the dirt needs to be laid out.  Arg !  (2x 10m radius curves and the connecting straight)

 

James

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  • 3 weeks later...

So, I found the tape, laid out the rough line of the fill, and have moved about 4 m^3 or perhaps a bit more.  The way I've been doing it is to take ride on mower, with a nominal .5m^3 trailer, and put 20-40 shovel fulls of dirt into the trailer, then trip it around and end dump the trailer, or shovel it out.  (more often shovel it out...).  The trailer is the cheapest thing known to man- they come from Princess Auto, with the fabulous "we're not satisfied till YOU'RE not satisfied" warrantee.   (for 50 quid, what do you expect ?)  https://www.princessauto.com/en/10-cu-ft-500-lb-steel-atv-dump-cart/product/PA0008476236 (but don't ever buy them at full price...).  

The track construction- I've finally gotten the last of the tieplates cut.  I've got at least 1/2 of them ground off on the ends, so they are no longer daggers to stab me with.  Once I finish with that little job, then it's on to drilling the 1200 holes on them.  So, I am moving forward...slowly.  I've got to speak to dad about gauges- as in, what can I get away with for the large gauge?  Because there is a choice to be made between 7.25 and 7.5" gauge, and I need to know if my plan will work.  (7.562 gauge, remembering that this will have no turnouts, so as long as the wheels cannot drop into the track, it being wide to gauge in relation to flanges is OK).  I've got a bit of a similar debate about the 5" gauge too- and until I sort out the big gauge, I can't sort out the middle gauge, and that means I don't know if I end up with 3,4 or 5 workable gauges.  (I'm hoping for 5, but think I will end up with 4)

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This is very impressive work. Where are you? Near Puget Sound? Which CFB is holding your pictures hostage? I have a similar situation at CFB Suffield, though we don't have any 7.5in railway at Suffield, just the CPR mainline at the bottom of the road...

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Yes, on the west coast of the west coast of the island- so the original Canadian Puget Sound ran from Fishboat Bay uphill.  I'm about 4 km east of Fishboat, on the South side of French Beach.  I'm about 600m from the coast as well- and hopeful (without earthquakes) that's as close as I get to the water :).

I have all the holes drilled- some 1200 3/16" holes.  I did a bit of test welding, and have been contemplating gauging still.  I have to speak to my dad in Ontario, because while I am fairly confident that at 7.562" will work dual gauge (but NOT any wider !), that still leaves the question of 4.75" or 5".  5" has the advantage of more supply of locos...and the 0-4-0 0-4-0 is gauged at 5" right now.  As it's outside frame, regauging it to 4.75 would be comparatively trivial (only the 4 axles to do...with the flycranks and wheels...).  I am less than sure about it though- the loco is @#$@#$ big on 5", and going down in gauge may  not be that wise for a loco I plan on riding ON to drive...

CFB Esquimalt is work :), in the heating plant.  I did 20 in the navy before becoming a greasy long haired civvy :)

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  • 1 month later...

So, 7.x gauges...

 

Dart is 8.340" over the outer edges of the wheels, and 7.250 flange-flange.  That means 1.090" wide for both treads, or .545" on each wheel.  7.250+.545=7.785 "fall in" gauge, vs a track gauge planned of 7.562.  That means I have .228 to play with, in a positive way.  

 

7.562 gauge it is !

 

Next up is if I go with 2.5"/3.5"/4.75 or if I go with 3.5"/5" for the inset gauges.  I think I would do better with 3.5"/5", as I don't own any 2.5" locos, and though I would love to have them, they are a bit smaller than riding behind would be comfortable.  The ruling grade is 1/48 (easier to measure than 1/50).  As posted ^, I have started with a little bit of welding.

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I finished milling out the slot in the rear boiler bracket for the garrett- so next up is fitting the new 3 jaw to the lathe (requires the D3-1 pins to be slacked), and then turning some track gauges to length.  I'll have a chat with my consultant engineer about the gauges first- as mentioned above, I am unsure which combo is a better one.  3.5 and 7.5 for sure, but there are 2 ways to do this, and I'm not sure which makes more sense.  

 

The advantage of 5" is that UK built (and ROW) built locos are fairly available.  4.75 is a odd gauge (although fairly common here in North America).  It also means regauging the garrett from 5", and making it not able to be used overseas if I ever get the moxie to take it to the UK.  The larger advantage is gaining the 4th gauge of 2.5", which I have a soft spot for...

 

One thing is sure- the decision will be welded down on Tuesday.

 

James

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And the decisions are welded down:  

Track gauges so far- 3.5031 and 5.031.  Will knock up the gauge for 7.562 soon- I have another shift next week.  I started onto the 2nd length of track, and welded all the tieplates on it.  

 

On track

 

On track

 

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On 24/01/2021 at 18:32, peach james said:

Yes, on the west coast of the west coast of the island- so the original Canadian Puget Sound ran from Fishboat Bay uphill.  I'm about 4 km east of Fishboat, on the South side of French Beach. 

Just up the road from my cousin then - she lives on Kaltasin Road, Sooke.

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And the words out of my mouth today are "pig dog troll", as expressed in Roadside Prophets.

 

Why, you ask?

 

well, 11.7/8- 8 = 3.813

3.813/2=1.906

 

And guess where I did NOT put the spot for the first rail in 

51053989116_2c11706899_b.jpg

NOT at 1.9" from the end of the tie.

So now I have a length of 5" /      3 1/2"  finished, and another that will get finished, that are semi useless.  I'll have to re-mark the remaining tieplates that are here for try #2.

Oh well... (perhaps not "well", that might not have been the word I used...)

James

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First 112" long section (don't judge, it's being made with someone else's rail...) is done with 7.5, 5, 3.5 gauge tracks :)  (or something LIKE that, I haven't got anything big enough to measure the 7.5 gauge directly...and didn't bring the tools in to measure the others, but the gauges say they should be...)

I have enough material here for about 40' of track more.  I started on the next piece, and have to go visit the parking person...


 

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I got the 1st rail done on the next piece (piece #3), and the 2nd rail is all but 2 done.  3rd rail has been wire wheeled to expose metal (rather than rust & dirt...).  Contractors in the plant all day long limited my welding, along with a visit from one of my friends (he's an ex submariner, one heck of a guy).  I looked at my steadily decreasing pile of 1 1/2" rail material (1 1/2 * 1/4"), and I have enough here to make up 5 sections of track of ~9' each.  Next on my purchase list is going to be some (like about 2600 or so) Stainless 1 1/4" #10 wood screws and some Trex plastic wood, so I can start sleepering the sections I will be able to make up.  I also need some 3/4x3/4 Aluminum L, for making the fishplates out of.  (4x5=20 of them...), and stainless 1/4-20 nuts & bolts.  

 

I have a pair of Tom Bee 7.5" trucks on order to make up a riding car/driving car.  

 

My intent is going to be to get to having all the material I have here done into rail, then lay it loose on one side or the other of the front, and run a train by the end of spring.  1 day / 2 nights more that I know I work, plus whatever else comes my way.  That then shows actual progress on this whole madcap scheme !

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  • 3 weeks later...

So fling the bits out the back of the van onto their home...

51115574733_6b3788427b_z.jpgCPS II at home... by Peach James, on Flickr

I have the last section to work on here at work- but I'm too busy running the single power unit up and down right now on air :).  I have to hoist it back up, and weld up the 7.5" gauge rail to that 128" section that I have here, and then carry on from here.  It looks like the idea of using a fairly hefty servo to drive the reversing gear will work- I don't know for sure, and won't until I can try against some fairly substantial pressure, as to if it will work under all conditions, but moving the linkage it appears that it should work OK.  I have the bits here to try it with the radio, I think, but haven't yet...
  

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