Glenngary tramway

[jayvid]

Scarborough Tv News paid a visit to the recent SDRM Model Railway exhibition at Pickering

 

http://www.scarboroughtvnews.co.uk/railway-exhibition.html

[jayvid]

Back home following the 3 day diesel Gala at the NYMR, tram cars "Dianne " and "Gemma" completed their final running sessions on Friday and Saturday without incident. On Sunday we ran the new red cars for the first time at this venue. The more relaxed pace of this gala allowed us to let the trams do their thing in automatic mode and spend more time talking to the punters. One thing that does come across is how unique the model is but it's that uniquness that results in us falling outside the usual catagories for inclusion in exhibitions. The SDRM club has shown great support for the model and its upgrades and has asked us to again  attend their annual show in 2015. The club graciously houses the model in its down time but space is always in great demand so layouts need to earn there keep. We are currently seeking  a limited number of invites from clubs who would like something a little different to fill a small space at their show.

 

Gary

[jayvid]

 26 September 2014

This weekend (27th/28th Sept ) sees us return for the final time this year to the NYMR for their Autumn  Steam Gala . Joining the regulars  (Thomas, Goathlandin00, Pocklington and Glenngary) this time is Ian Harper's Haymarket Cross, which has featured in some of the best selling model railway publications. Goathlandin00 can be seen in the October issue of Railway Modeller and Glenngary currently features on Scarborough TV news. All this and more for only a £1 can't be bad so come and see us on Platform 2 Pickering station.

[jayvid]

27 September 2014

To round off the busy first day at the NYMR Autumn Steam Gala we had a short  nighttime running session.

[jayvid]

28 september 2014

The second day  proved to be as busy as the first with the green cars "Carli" and "June" on duty for what was our last scheduled outing for 2014. 

During the weekend a list of jobs for the winter maintenance period was drawn up, details of which  I will include in the next update.

It was nice to see Joan and David Burnett who back in 2010 were the first to invite us to exhibit at their Cleethorpes model railway society exhibition.

[jayvid]

2 October 1014

End of term report.

2014 has been our busiest year so far with the trams having attended six events.This has resulted in 15 days exhibiting plus set up sessions etc. The system has run for over 13,000 metres without any breakdowns to report. Damage due to our hands on policy at shows has also seen zero.

Invites form other clubs have been disappointing but our programme of events at the NYMR have played to the models strengths, due to their large  number of visiting  families. The surprise of the year came at the SDRM annual show where we were so busy for almost the entire event considering this was our fifth consecutive year in attendance.

We currently have one outing in the diary for 2015 with a number of others pencilled in awaiting confirmation so a programme of winter maintenance and upgrades will be implemented ,these include

1) full service of the winding gear etc.

2) Overhaul and repaint of Tramcars "Dianne" and "Gemma"

3) Final Batch of figures in Tramcars "Carli"  and "June" to go for detail painting.

4) Freshen up scenic areas on the incline 

5) external lighting and detail to add to top and bottom stations

6) modification to the electrics to provide a self monitoring function so should a fault occur the system will shutdown to prevent motor and drive system damage.

Over the years various modifications have resulted in the control area being not as tidy or logically laid out as it could be so a complete revamp and rewire is not too far away.

This would be a fairly major undertaking so we will see how the future work load pans out to see if it would be justified.

 

Gary

[jayvid]

2 November 2014

Work to refit  tramcars "Gemma" and "Dianne" has progressed much faster than anticipated  with  "Gemma" almost finished and "Dianne" requiring  a further 10 hours work to finish off. With this refit being completed  so quickly it has opened the possibility of cars "Carli" and "June"  paying a visit to the workbench for a similar makeover before the new season of outings.

 

Gary

[jayvid]

10 November 2014                          

Over the weekend the overhaul of  "Dianne"  was completed, the tramcar that is, not the missus. Both cars now only need minor painting but are good to go. One of the passengers that  travels in "Gemma" is a man holding a camera who we call Sid, Sid the flasher actually  for reasons that will become clear shortly.  As the tramcar  moves up and down the incline  the flash on the camera fires to simulate a picture being taken. This was achieved by drilling a small hole in the front of the camera all the way through to the back of the figure. A larger hole was then drilled back going the other way using the first hole as a guide but stopping just short of the front of the camera. A small white LED was then inserted inside and the wires run down the back of each leg and down through the floor of the car. A 470 ohm resistor was  added to one of the wires before it was connected to the 9 volt battery for the car lighting. The other wire was run down to the bottom of the chassis close to the track and connected to a glass reed switch. A wire then runs from the reed switch back to the battery to complete the  circuit . The reed switch is operated only when it comes in close proximity to a magnet, so a tiny magnet is fixed near the track in such a way as to have only a fleeting effect on the switch as the car passes by. This causes the LED to flash in the required manner and as  the LED is lit is for a short  time a bright flash is seen without damage due to heat or overcurrent. Sid has done over 20,000  trips without any problems and his twin brother Sam now travels in tramcar "Carli" .

[jayvid]

20 November 2014

 

For those of you who are interested a full history of the build and evolution of the model is available on the Glenngary website @ http://www.glenngarytramway.co.uk. From time to time we make visits to sites of interest and these  can be found under the visits tab.We so far have five outings with the trams penciled in the diary for 2015 as the dates are confirmed they will be added to the exhibitions tab

Now that tram cars "Gemma" and  "Dianne" have undergone their refit the next job is to add external lighting to the top station, plus the boss wants some jobs done around the house !!  

 

Gary

[jayvid]

13 December 2014

It was all Santa's fault ! 

Back in 2011 I was struck down with a very bad dose of flu and being confined to bed on christmas eve, having consumed a considerable amount of whisky (for medical purposes you understand) I decided to go on the internet to track santas progress on the big night. A quick search brought me to a relevant site and as i clicked on it a view of santa flying through a starry sky complete with reindeers  and a fully loaded  sleigh appeared. At  the bottom of the page was a button inviting me to track santas exact position, this i duly pressed in anticipation to be greeted by what can only be described as a sound not of this earth emitting from the speakers of my laptop, a brief image of the devil laughing followed by the blue screen of death. Result, total loss of everything on the hard drive ! Grrrrrrrr.

Fast foward to a couple of weeks ago and whilst looking for some photos on a backup harddrive purchased following the earlier incident a couple of folders containing pictures believed lost were found. These must have been in the cameras memory and subsequently down loaded at a later time. The pictures were of two tramways we visited in Wales and I have made a couple of short videos with them which can be viewed here

Work on the top station to inprove the lights and signs is nearly complete with just some minor tidying up to be done, first pictures can be seen below.

Lastly Dianne and I would like to thank everyone who has come to the shows and those who have taken the time to read the posts on the Glenngary website, Facebook and RM web. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

We will be back in the 2015

Dianne and Gary

[jayvid]

Happy new year everyone 
First update of 2015 and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway dates for the coming season are now in the exhibitions tab over on the website.  http://www.glenngarytramway.co.uk/#Homepage
Two new videos have been added to the visits tab .The first is of a visit in 2010 to the Bridgnorth cliff railway 

and the second a visit this week to the St Nicholas cliff railway in Scarborough the footage of which was shot specifically for making a video. I am just getting to grips with this video making malarky so plenty of room for improvement.

All my videos ,railways or otherwise can be viewed on my Youtube channel At

.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMbJDe21MJLy3YuR7SFfROQ

Edited January 1, 2015 by jayvid

[jayvid]

10 January 2015

Towards the end of 2014 I had started to think that perhaps the journey with the trams may be coming to an end. The last season of outings had been our busiest to date but they had all been at the one venue and with the clubs main annual exhibition taking place just over the road we haven't travelled very far. With this in mind the SDRM club have started promoting the trams with exhibition managers but the club has a portfolio of hugely popular layouts and these are quite rightly in great demand. During a visit by  Hornby Magazine last week to photograph two of the newer layouts the club had them take a look at the trams in action, this I am delighted to say resulted in an invitation to their Great Electric Train show in 2016. A second invitation from the Barnsley Model railway club has now been confirmed for November 2015, so the promotion by the club is bearing fruit. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway dates are now starting to be confirmed and we will be back for our sixth visit to the SDRM show in August so the next couple of years look to be quite exciting.

Following there rebuild tramcars "Dianne" and "Gemma" spent the day running in during the Hornby Magazine Photo shoot.

P.s. these pictures were taken by me with a bad dose of camara envy "Can i have one like his....please"

Dianne says "NO!" 

 

 

[jayvid]

3rd  March 2015

The last few weeks have been hectic due to work pressures and our daughter getting married last weekend, so modeling time has been very limited . The refit of tramcars Carli  and June seems to have dragged on a bit but we are finally there.  These are the last two cars in the fleet to to be done so now work to modify the electrics can start but with the first of this seasons outings fast approaching time will be tight.

[russ p]

I like this thread, several years ago I started building a 7mm scale funicular called Saltstone based on a cross between saltburn and Folkstone. It was actually water balanced operated. One day I may get round to finishing it

[jayvid]

Hi Russ

I do hope you give Saltstone another go as it gets lonely on the funicular models front. We tried for ages to get a water powered one to run reliably but we were building for outdoor use which limited our use of materials.

gary

[russ p]

I may have another go once I have finished Cley. I have room for it now under the boards of Cley.

I would definitely like to get it working especially if I can the water system working

What I had on test was top and bottom tanks with of all things a real class 37 screen wash pump circulating the water.

[jayvid]

Green !

The rebuild of tramcars Carli And June had been planned for sometime so a tin of green spray paint had been bought some time ago. When the time came to paint the assembled parts I proceeded out to the back yard and  gave the can a good long shake to mix the contents. After a couple of minutes i removed the lid to find the nozzle was detached inside,usually a quick press to replace it and all is well.....not this time !!. The nozzle only went in half way and jammed solid allowing paint to escape in all directions. There then followed a frantic dash the full length of the yard to reach the wheelie bin. Covered in paint from the chest down I turned see the yard walls, floor, garden table and chairs and flower tubs dripping in green paint .With the sound of the can still discharging its contents into the bin I arrived at the back door amazed to see its white pvc in pristine condition, so the only means of  summoning help was to use my head to bang on the door !. Eventually Dianne came to see what the banging was and took one look and said " what have you done that for ? ".

The one thing that mystifies me is as modelers we degrease , prime and prepare surfaces to ensure good paint adhesion yet get it on somewhere unintended and nothing short of a thermonuclear blast will get the dam stuff off .

Gary

[laurenceb]

It is the same with superglue, a tiny fingerprint and it wont stick yet it sticks fingers together perfectly!

[jayvid]

With only three weeks to the first of this seasons outings at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway ,the winter program of upgrades has been mostly completed. The exception being the electrical modifications to provide a self monitoring capability which would shut down the system in the event of a malfunction.This would be useful at shows as someone without an in depth working knowledge of procedures could man the layout during breaks etc. On the plus side the overhaul of the Green trams "Carli" and "June" has been completed a year sooner than expected !This means the entire fleet of six cars now have new liveries .The top and bottom stations have both had new additions added externally so we are in need of a photo session to update the website and blog etc.
We have previously printed our own leaflets and "I drove the trams" cards at home but have now had then professionally printed which seems expensive initially will probably save time and money in the long run.
April is looking rather busy with the time table as below 
3rd April Pre event setup and test session at home
19th-21st N.Y.M.R spring Gala week 1
24th-26th N.Y.M.R spring Gala week 2
30th April Magazine Photo shoot
Plus find time for the day job !
Finally a new video this one is a pictorial walk through of the story so far,you may recognise the music.

 

[jayvid]

A slow start to the first day at North Yorkshire Moors Railway Spring steam gala which got busier as the day moved on. The upgrades done over winter worked well with no nasty surprises. The Red cars are on duty for the first weekend with Part two next week over 3 days (Fri,Sat and Sun 24th-26th April) Doors open at 10am on Platform 2 at Pickering Station.

[jayvid]

The second weekend of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Spring steam gala saw us set up and ready early Friday morning for a private viewing by the Potter hill Playgroup children, parents and staff. following a quick cup of tea we opened to the public although as with the previous week business was slow, but for some reason the trams were also running rather slow as well. We were able to compensate for this by gradually increasing the speed control units but something was definitely amiss. On Sunday morning with just 40 minutes to opening time we discovered that the combined motor and gearbox was the culprit.As we carry a spare we set to to change it,this involves stripping the whole top station down so while we were in there we checked the condition of the toothed cam-belt but all was well.The job was completed with 5 mins to spare thanks to help from club member Simon Denham . The new motor runs whisper quiet and when we consider that the old one had done an estimated 75,000 duty cycles then it was perhaps time for a change.
The relaxed nature of these mini shows gives the club members more time to talk to the public and even let then have a go at using digital controllers etc.

Edited April 27, 2015 by jayvid

[jayvid]

Some pictures from last weekends mini exhibition at the N.Y.M.R in Pickering

 

[jayvid]

The last two weeks have been hectic to say the least with shows on both weekends. The system suffered its first major breakdown when the motor cried enough and died .A spare was quickly fitted and it was back to business in around half an hour. A new spare has been obtained but hopefully wont be needed for another 75,000 runs !
Last Thursday the club played host to Chris Nevard for a photo shoot of a couple of layouts at SDRM club rooms so we had two evenings to get the trams dusted down and touched up .For some time I have been working on a backdrop in the form of a cliff wall for the rear of the incline which I fitted intending to canvas the opinion of the club members but remove it for the photo session.
It was still in place when Chris took a series of night shots using the Led lights to good effect. Whether or not we will make it into print remains to be seen, but Chris has kindly said once he has weaved his magic on the shots he will make them available for use on the Glenngary website.
On a previous visit to the club he banged his head rather badly on the raised test track so it was only fitting that he signed the offending piece of wood at what has become known as Chris' Corner.
Ps The Tram photos were taken by me on my box brownie.

 

[jayvid]

Having decided to retain the cliff face backscene and extend it beyond both the bottom station and up above the top one has presented a lot of challenges to be overcome. When the system was rebuilt for indoor use no provision was made to mount a backscene onto so fixings and support points have had to be fabricated. A major concern has been the weight of the main body as Dianne has to assist in lifting it in and out of the car. with this in mind the llightest of materials have been used and the extension pieces simply clip on and are transported separately.
To extend the cliff down the front of the incline required the careful removal of the exhibitions attended plaques and stickers for reuse elsewhere. The led light strip which illuminated this area was also moved lower down to just above the name board.
To allow the operator to see the cars in operation the drivers eye video camera and screen system has been upgraded to give a video feed to a second display screen mounted at the rear control panel. Other work done includes the relocation of the chimney on the top station. This was required as a smoke unit could not be fitted in the old position due to clearance issues with the drive motor.
The old poly-carbonate cover which provided protection during transport and storage no longer fitted due to the modifications so it has been scrapped in favor of a waterproof cover of the type used for outside barbecues.
With all this work done a complete setup and test session was done in our dining room, Not easy as it only just fits! During this session I dug out the camera to take some low light shots but was severely limited by the lack of space for the tripod. A few pictures are below with more in the Galleries tab on the Glenngary website     .http://www.glenngarytramway.co.uk/

 

 

[jayvid]

This weekend (27th and 28th June ) sees us return to the N.Y.M.R.  Awesome Seventies and Diesel Gala at Pickering Station. This event is two gala's combined so has the potential to be very busy. This is the first outing for the trams since the completion of the most extensive modification and additions since they where converted for exhibition use. what works in the club room does not always perform as anticipated in a show environment so thing could be interesting to say the least. If time allows I will take some photos of the new display to post later.

 

We have passed 4,000 views of these ramblings and I hope people still find them of interest.

 

Last week Dianne and Gemma  attended a show at the Spa complex here in Scarborough and as the parking near the venue is always a nightmare  we parked at the top of the cliff on the esplanade and made use of the Spa cliff lift. Whilst the girls watched the show I took the opportunity to film the lift in action. It was a dull evening with drizzle in the air but it does not look to bad film wise.

 

https://youtu.be/cdOp3ky5ZWI