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In the Time-Honoured words of Rolf Harris.........


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The first photo of Weston Transload - I can't get far enough away in the Kitchen, and it is persisting down outside, so the left hand end is missing, but there is a loco-length of track beyond the turnout.  I shall be updating on an irregular basis, when there is something to show.

 

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Trackplan is based on Western Transload, Annacis Island, Vancouver, BC.  found by David Bromage, and is a mirror image of a file on the Small Layout Scrapbook 92a called  "The End of the Rathole". The bridge is entirely fictional to hide the Sector-plate fiddle, and is scratch-built from MDF, plastic extrusions and wood dowel.

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Thats the idea, Dave - but it may still be a "work in progress",  depending on time and weather before then - it breaks down into a 4 foot and a 2 foot board. If it still isn't in a fit state to display, I shall probably bring my version of Prof K's "ChicagHO Fork* but this is the one I hope to bring.

This one is booked for the Inverness Show 7/8 September this year

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Looks too big to be one of your's, Jack :D Only kidding - it actually looks very spacious if it's only 6ft long in total!

Second the request for more pics!!

 

Dave B; what about Lakeville Industrial Park itself, with that neat diamond crossing in the middle of it, and a genuine excuse to use two locos at once, one in each direction, 'cos that's what PGR do with the real thing..??

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Guys - thanks for the comments and requests for more pictures. More will be forthcoming as the build continues, but today the bottom has fallen out of the thermometer (the wind-chill factor is something 'orrible), and they are talking about SNOW for the rest of the week. which doesn't bode well for tracklaying etc - particularly as it needs to be laid, wired, have point operating rods fitted, and then track infill done everywhere below the loop.

In the meantime here is the intended trackplan - the line at the rear will have warehousing, and be operated/switched with Boxcars and a trackmobile, although it will also be accessible by the usual loco for moving loads in and out

 

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Just sold the Dan Patch Line Jack, so looking for yet another interesting topic to build. - Any suggestions?

Still got Falcon Lake and Kuppla yard

 

Dave

Dave - how about something like this  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/46677-industrial-park-switching-district-wow/page-2&do=findComment&comment=984230  especially following TotalLamers link (thanks for that by the way) You'll have fun switching that at an exhibition! Page 1 is here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/46677-industrial-park-switching-district-wow/. It might be fun modelling it at night with siding lights and crossing flashers - or even with cross-bucks and flares

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Thanks Jack, and Jordan

 

Have been folowing that link Jack, and it has all sorts of possiblities I agree.(Very useful having 'on-site' help and information! Also love Airlake, and have looked at Stein's various trackplans.

No hurry, so I'll have a think about it.

I'll get off your thread now Jack (except for watching progress with interest!)

 

Good modelling guys!

 

Dave

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Dave - not a problem - the thread is going to be a bit quiet for a while, as I explained in my earlier post, so anything that keeps it around is good as far as I'm concerned. I did wonder about extending that track in the link to hold another car or two, and re-spotting being required as cars are loaded/unloaded - and possibly traffic to an off layout site down the road to the right - there are some serious switching possibilites that could be worked into a fairly small layout

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Thanks to two very kind gentlemen in Canada - one in Medicine Hat, and the other not far away from the prototype in Vancouver, I have been able to find out how the road markings on the bridge should appear - so with many thanks to them both this is now how it looks

 

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Thanks to two very kind gentlemen in Canada - one in Medicine Hat, and the other not far away from the prototype i Vancouver, I have been able to find out how the road markings on the bridge should appear - so with many thanks to them both this is now how it looks

 

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That does look right. I'd have gone for shorter white dashes if it was around here (closer to a 1/3 dash-2/3 blank ratio), but it does depend on the jurisdiction (province/municipality/etc.) and how the line painter was working that day. A quick look at Google maps seems to indicate that in BC it can be closer to what you have.

 

Adrian

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Sorry, Jack - not realistic at all... they never swap boxes on your trailer that quickly.... :rolleyes: :D ... looks like the driver has forgotten to undo a twistlock, as well... :O

 

And do tell us how you did the road markings - that is a very neat job!!

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Jordan - Regretably when I took the photos, I hadn't noticed that the trailer pin didn't fit in the 5th wheel and was balanced on top! Since sorted!

The pens I used for the road-markers are these  http://www.unisuperpens.co.uk/uni-super-ink-range/posca.aspx in 0.7mm size,  found on the 'net and do a great job, but can't remember who I bought them from - Googly will turn up suppliers

 

EDIT - The pens came from Tiger Pens - http://www.tigerpens.co.uk/acatalog/Div_Uni_POSCA_Markers.html - excellent service. and highly recommended

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Here are some notes on Western Transloading Corporation on Annacis Island in Delta BC, the prototype operation Jack is basing 'Weston Transload' on. Jack suggested I put them on here. I wondered if there would be enough interest to justify the use of the bytes but, in the end, decided to do it - feel free to ignore! (I will also put up some pictures in a separate post.)

 

Their business is re-packing crops for export from the port of Vancouver. Nothing leaving their yard stays in Canada. They describe what they do as one of three operations - bulk to bulk, bulk to bag, or bag to bag. Up until recently, they did not deal with wheat (that surprised me). They dealt almost exclusively with pulses - lentils, peas, beans etc. That's still the large majority of what they handle, but they are getting some wheat now, since the Canadian Wheat Board was changed from a monopoly marketing board to a purely advisory body.


'Bulk to bulk' is the process that happens around the shed that's most obvious in views of the site. The crop arrives in 100 ton covered hoppers. The Southern Railway of BC (SRY) delivers the cars to Western Transloading from the New Westminster yards. They have been brought there, usually from the Canadian Prairies, by either CP or CN. Western Transloading take the crop from the car and load it into 20 foot containers for shipping.

'Bulk to bag' takes crop out of the covered hoppers and loads it into 50 kilo bags. These bags are then packed into 20 foot containers and shipped. Since they are being transferred at this point, if they are eventually going to be bagged, it makes sense to do it now, and save a separate bagging operation somewhere later in the chain.

'Bag to bag' is what it says. The crop is shipped, bagged, in 40 foot containers by rail to the Vancouver area. These are unloaded from the train cars and trucked to Western Transloading, who repack the bags from the 40 foot container into 20 foot ones for export.

They can handle about 13 covered hoppers per day 'bulk to bulk' into about 62 containers. With the 'bulk to bag' and 'bag to bag' work, they can output a maximum of about 100 20 foot containers a day. But it sounds as if they average about half that - about 10,000 to 12,000 20 foot container equivalents per year.

SRY sometimes push the hoppers through the unloading shed into the yard; sometimes they leave them outside the yard. If they leave them outside, Western Transloading push them in, using a trackmobile. To move them for unloading, they winch them through the unloading shed, back out towards the SRY tracks.


All the loaded 20 foot containers are trucked out of Western Transloading to the docks for loading onto ships.

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These photographs are mostly of the 'bulk to bulk' operation. There was no 'bulk to bag' happening on the day I was there and most of the equipment was in a locked shed, and 'bag to bag' involves only standard equipment like forklifts.

 

Here's an overall view of the transloading shed, with the equipment in operation. You can see the 20 foot containers are tipped up at an angle, using hydraulic platforms. Only one of the containers is being filled at any one time - the other has either been raised into position ready for filling, or has been filled but not yet removed.

 

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This is how the cars are unloaded. The doors are opened and the crop drops through grates into the handling mechanism.

 

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An empty container, which has been blown clean and had an end partition fitted is placed on the hydraulic platform

 

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and raised into position for filling

 

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Here's the filling rig. There are vertical pipes up each side of the shed, joined by a horizontal pipe across the top. There are also horizontal pipes out from under the grates in the shed to the bottom of the vertical pipes.

 

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These angled pipes actually direct the crop into the raised containers. They're fixed in position - since only 20 foot containers are used, the geometry of the rig is such that they can be raised into the same position for filling every time.

 

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This is a container, fitted with an end partition, ready to be raised for filling. The principle here is very like that used when grain was transported in boxcars. A temporary partition (made of wooden spars and a sheet of corrugated cardboard) is fitted across one door, with a gap at the top through which the crop is loaded. You can also see a short chute (part of the filling rig) inserted through the gap.

 

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Next, the winching mechanism for moving cars in the unloading shed. A car is hooked to a wire rope

 

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which goes through an anchored pulley

 

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and back to the winch inside the shed

 

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Some pictures of different designs of covered hoppers that were in the yard, or waiting to enter:

 

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And, finally, the trackmobile that they use to move cars if SRY haven't spotted them where they want them in the yard:

 

post-1771-0-73917800-1364596699.jpg

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This is a container, fitted with an end partition, ready to be raised for filling. The principle here is very like that used when grain was transported in boxcars. A temporary partition (made of wooden spars and a sheet of corrugated cardboard) is fitted across one door, with a gap at the top through which the crop is loaded. You can also see a short chute (part of the filling rig) inserted through the gap.

 

From my sketchy memory from a few years ago at work when we used to recieve 20' containers of Maize, there doors were sometimes boarded up with wooden slats, with a gap at the bottom and the inside lined with plastic sheet. The load would be discharged by slashing the plastic and quickly running out of the way...

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