COAL MINE RAILWAY - A small 00 Gauge Project.

[dunnyrail]

 

Introduction.

Many of you will remember the sad post some 2 years ago nearly about the sad demise of Andy Rush. As I assisted his daughter in clearing his extensive Model Railway Collection, I was given some of the said collection. My idea was to create a small Colliery Railway based in the Horbury Bridge, near Ossett Area. I had in fact discussed this idea with Andy but had never got anywhere with it. The collection had been sat in a Box in the loft these near 2 years and the purchase last year of a Bachmann L&Y 2-4-2t in BR Livery and a Hornby Austerity were with a view to starting this project. 2 of the Boards from Andy Rush's sadly never completed 20ft River Project were also to hand as a basis for my own line.

 

I kept on getting asked by sundry friends when the Coal Mine Railway would be started, I even had an outline on the floor of my workshop which had been laid out using Peco Points as a start of the line. What had really got me going on this project was a 2 part article in Model Railroader for August and September 2013. Coincidently the 1st Article being the month of Andrews demise. The fit to my workshop was remarkable, plus it even had a Coal Mine too. Coincidences like this are a little bit on the scary side, but I decided to not be worried and get on with the plans.

 

Fast forward to this Year and an impending visit by one of my friends that had been enquiring of the project. Just a week ago today I decided to get on with the Boards and after 2 wet Days on Monday and Tuesday plus Wednesday as well the basis of the layout was up and running.

 

In my next post I will get on with the real nuts n bolts of this project.

JonD

[dunnyrail]

Concept.

There were quite a few Collieries that connected with the Aire and Calder Canal, perhaps the Best Known being Brittish Oak at Crigglestone famous for its surviving Jinty. Then there was Hartley Bank which I believe only crossed the Canal on its way from the interchange at Horbury and Ossett Station. Then we move down the scale to the sundry minor lines, some being Horse Drawn and that from Old Flockton Collieries to Horbury Bridge being built to the unusual Gauge of 3ft 9in plus having an 0-4-0 Manning Wardle Tank to boot. This line was in fact very closely connected with the original line from British Oak which both managed to reach the Area in the vicinity of the current Mining Museum at Claphouse. As this lines Staithes was near my old House near Horbury Bridge I felt a close affinity with it and even managed to walk part of the lone when I lived there. There is a surprising amount of the line still in place as it trundles up the valley following the Smithy Brook. The Pit was at Flockton Lane End which was reached via the Tramway and I believe an Short Incline.

 

So on this stuff imagineering can be created. For my Colliery Railway I imagined that after closure of the original line in around the end of the 19th Century more Coal Reserves were discovered in the Area. This is quite likely the sort of thing that may occurred around the 1st World War.

 

So we have extensive Reserves of Coal that need to be moved for the National Effort. Enter the L and Y Railway with a short Branch that sets off up the Smithy Brook Valley (for want of a bette name) to Grange Moor plus the extensive developing Mines of Lower Denby and Flat Top (could not resist using that name as it is that of a favourite Pub in the Area of Thornhill Edge). In fact my Grandfathers Family had connections with the Area as well.

 

Hopefully you can make this all out from my scruffy hand drawn map of the the Area. Pretty fanciful I know, but as I say I have connections and needed a possible excuse.

 

My line will be a Small Junction for Coal Trains to set out their Trainloads of Empties for both Dennby and Flat Top. Returning with Loaded Mineral Trains. The Branch to Grange will be served by an L&Y 2-4-2t on Push Pull. Plus a 4f Worked Trip from Royston for the Branch Goods which will serve the Mining Supply Depot at the Junction. Coal Drags will be Austerity (Wakefield Pacifics!) from Healey Mills and GC Rod Hauled from Wath. Fiddle Yards at each end will be Cassettes.

 

Next up will be my Scruffy Baseboard Construction.

 

[dunnyrail]

POST 3

Before I get started I must thank Adrian for correcting me on my Rough Map, the Canal is the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Apologies form that to all you Canal Nuts out there.

 

Baseboards.

On to business, these Boards are a real departure from my norm in these things. Back in the 70's and 80's when I was lumping my 0 Gauge Light Railway Exhibition Layout (The Southwold Light Railway) around the Country I got into Plywood Construction. This was of course for lightness and ease of movement. I had Hinged Paired Baseboards and all that sort of thing. But this new line turned out to be a big departure from that. In fact it is a Back To The Past Job with all 2 x 1 and 3 x 1 Timber with Soft-board Tops. My reasoning for this is quite simple in that I do not intend EVER to take this Layout to Shows. Whilst I appreciate the efforts that many go to in this respect, I have 'been there done that' and have no desire to do Shows in the future. Though if I ever get the urge I would need to change my Smart Car or build a Layout that would fit. Gauge 3 Perhaps. Now there would be a challenge!

 

I had intended to use the leftover Baseboards from Andy Rush's 20ft River, however on setting these up on the Shelf Brackets and placing my Scale Plan on them it quickly became apparent that they would not do at all. So one fine Sunday they were dismantled and the Wood used to start again.

 

One Board would use the 3 x 1 Timber to give some baseboard depth for the Smithy Brook and the Cobolt Point Switches, plus all the main Wiring Looms and Control Panel (such as it needs to be in DCC) topped with 6mm MDF and finished off with 1/2" Soft-board.

 

Pics 1,2,3.

 

The other Board would be made out of 2 x 1 this being topped with 9mm MDF and finished off with more 1/2" Soft-board plus some Melamine where the Country End Cassettes would be.

 

Pics 4,5,6,7.

 

Finally I built a Complex Flappy Job to enable a Flap Down Hinged Melamine setup to be fitted to the Healey Mills end of the Layout.

 

Pics 8,9,10.

 

Hopefully the pictures of this less than elegant construction will make some kind of sense. I have joined the Boards with Bolts so that they can be removed for Decoration etc, but by the time that Scenery et-all is in place they will be somewhat heavy.

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic3

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 6

Pic 7

Pic 8

Pic 9

Pic 10

[Guest bri.s]

Like the sounds of this ,my family's for the ossett area ,my grandmother grew up in the mill that was in the middle of healey mills yard

I also remember spotting at british oak in the 80's

They had that wagon tipper didn't they? I never saw it unfortunately ,

 

Brian

[Les1952]

I see what you mean about heavyweight construction.   However I've had one of these shelf tracks pull its screws out of the wall through overloading shorter brackets than these (very expensive), so would suggest at least one leg at the front if they're not there already....

 

All the very best

Les

Edited June 3, 2015 by Les1952

[dunnyrail]

Like the sounds of this ,my family's for the ossett area ,my grandmother grew up in the mill that was in the middle of healey mills yard

I also remember spotting at british oak in the 80's

They had that wagon tipper didn't they? I never saw it unfortunately ,

Brian

Thanks for your comments and likes all. Re the Tippler,mit was a Staith that Hopoers used to drop their loads from into Barges. The Wagons never actually got Tipped as did happen at Goole Docks in the most spectacular way.

 

Thanks for the Warning re Shelf Brackets. Hm upright supports could be tricky due to location and things that are stored and moved from beneath. But will look at it. However I have similar Brackets and have had in previous Houses anepd here are supporting up to 8ft of Books on 6 Shelves with never a problem. I guess I do a Solid Job on Plugging and always use good length solid screws.

JonD

[dunnyrail]

Post 7 deleted as I managed to duplicate it with a small edit!

Edited August 1, 2015 by dunnyrail

[dunnyrail]

Just in case any of you who were perhaps following my drivel thought I had give up on this project. Well no, I have had a bit of a blip. Plus it is Garden Railway Season, but just of late as my DCC Massoth Central Station has had to be returned to Germany. Well with poor Weather of late and No juice in the Garden the Coal Mine Railway has been getting some time spent on it.

 

I found that the Peco Undelay was just nor resiliant enough to keep the Sharpe Curves that I am usung in correct Radius. As many of the Locs I will be using are 2-8-0 Rods and Austerities this was a real problem. So I have rehashed the Track with Cork Underlay. All me experience should have told me to do this in the first place. Never mind.

 

I have also been big time updating the Train Casettes. These were originally built by myself and Andy Rush for his 20ft River Project. Having got into using them a bit I realised that there were some issues with getting Power to them, I set up a Crockodile Clip System, but this was just too much faffing. So having seen a super Connecting System on a TT Underground Line at Aylesbury this Year, I decided to emulate that so far as I could. The only change I have made is not to use the Connector below the Ally Angle.

 

Note that when buying Ally for Cassettes, you may never get the same size even from the same Stockist. Andy had used 3 differing sorts. With his method of Coupling to the Layout it may not have been too much of a problem, but for me it was a real pain. So I have managed with a bit of luck to source some more of the same that the majority of his were made of. The odd ones I have made a Link Up Section as one of the pics will show.

 

Pics

Revised Cork with 3 WD's, 2 new ones at a good price from Hattons.

Old Coupling.

New Coupling

Updated Coupling

One fiddle yard that has been revised so that the Coupling has matching Ally Angle

Finally new Batch of Cassettes under Construction Today.

 

 

JonD

Oh sorry, the second pic is that TT Gauge Cassette Set Up.

JonD

Edited August 1, 2015 by dunnyrail

[dunnyrail]

Disaster, the Ally that I was so pleased to get turned out, after I had built 8 new Cassettes to be a BIG PROBLEM. It is coated with something or other and was just not electrically working. Worth while taking a meter to see what sort of ally it is you are getting if constructing Casettes. I am so glad Andy never encountered this problem. I can imagine what he would have said! In the end I found it possible to Grind th coating off where needed. In the start I used a Mini Drill. But once I had worked out what to do then I used a Big Drill and Wire Brush. Had I looked at the final pic on Post 8 mire clearly, I might have noticed the difference with the Ally. Oh well Wicks next time?

 

Oh I have managed to post the same thing twice. Any Ideas how I can loose Post #7 please? Managed to work out Editing, thought it would not work as the Edit is in light print!

 

Pic of cleaned up Cassette.

 

 

JonD

Edited August 1, 2015 by dunnyrail

[Zomboid]

If its just Al, then it's probably oxidised, and it'll just keep happening. You probably need some alloy or other which doesn't react with the air.

[dunnyrail]

If its just Al, then it's probably oxidised, and it'll just keep happening. You probably need some alloy or other which doesn't react with the air.

Not sure about that, I have seen oxidised ally, but this coating took some serious removal. Also it is evenly over all the ally. Think if it was just oxidising it would not have been so even.

JonD

Edited August 1, 2015 by dunnyrail

[croydon junction]

Not sure about that, I have seen oxidised ally, but this coating took some serious removal. Also it is evenly over all the ally. Think if it was just oxidising it would not have been so even.

JonD

not sure about this but it could be anodized, as anodizing could reduce conductivity but is used to make things stronger. Anodized aluminium is quite strong but it might not be conductive (im not sure)

[dunnyrail]

I am pretty convinced that the Ally I recently got was indeed Anodized. I can assure you that it does not conduct Electricity unless the Anodised Coating is removed as I have shown. This is a bit of a disaster as the Ally is very rough after removal due to the effort required to remove said Anodising.

 

Warning to you all if you wish to make Ally Cassettes. Take a Meter with you and check out Electrical Conductivity of any Ally Angle that you wish to purchase.

JonD

[dunnyrail]

It has been quite a while since I posted on this Topic. In truth 4 things have got in the way:-

1 Obsession with my Garden Railway

2 Problems with adding more required Cassettes

3 Clicking Cobolt Point Motors

4 Issue with trying to get Dapol Signals to work with my Cobolt Point Levers, Cobolt man says Simples just wire it up to the passing Contacts. Which are these and to what wires, as there are 4 on the Dapol Signals and Which Terminal do I wire them to??? So frustrating.

 

So it has been easier to just ignore the Layout, in truth I have started 00 Layouts in the past and they all have been abandoned. I am not really sure that my heart is in 00 as I can easily get a Garden Railway to an acceptable standard to get Operating going including extensive Scenics both Outside and in the Sheds.

 

Still there has been some progress, mostly on Rainy Days. Hence todays update on a Rainy Day.

 

View from the Horbury Bridge end of the Layout looking over the Tunnel Entrance.

Looking Towards to Tunnel Entrance.

View of the Loco Road by the Tunnel Entrance.

Looking towards the mine from the Main Line.

Looking through the Tunnel Entrance at the Sidings.

Looking towards the Bridge from the Yard, Right To Left, Mining Supply Siding, Line to Flat Top Pit, Main Line to Denaby Coal Mine Sidings.

Centre of the layout.

Track View from about the Signal Box.

Looking over the Mine Supply Depot to the Mine.

Hornby Austerity on Pit Pilot Duties.

Looking through the Bridge to the Yard.

Signalmans view of the Sidings.

I have done a lot of work in hiding the Cobolt Motors in Scenery and Buildings. A US Kit of a Warehouse has been hacked into 2 Buildings to hide 3 of them at the Front. Another at the Front resides in a Butchered Hornby Low Relief Utility Warehouse Skaledale Ref R9755 whilst the final one at the front lives within a Dapol Midland Signal Box. It has been assumed that the line was a Midland GN Joint/Shared Build Line, hence the Midland Box. The other Motors 3 are hidden in Scenic Removable Sections on the other side of the Line. Hopefully when Sceniced with Bushes, Ivy etc the joins of these will be all but invisible.

 

As can also be seen the Track has been Ballasted. This is from genuine Horbury Bridge Ballast Sized in my Bonsai Sifters to 4 different sizes. This gives Main Line, Pit and Rubbish Droped on the Line stuff to glue down. The final stuff is Dust which comes in for all sorts of uses around the Coal Mine. This was blagged from Hartly Pit Sidings just by Horbury and Ossett former Station Site, so it fits in nicely with the locality. I also used this stuff to Ballast my 0 Gauge Exhibition Light Railway Layouts. This was a finished project! A Hornby 3 Rail Water Crane can be seen sitting in the Main Line Sidings.

 

That is about it till now,mif anyone can help with the Dapol Wiring please Post a Diagram with Switch Lever Contact Numbers and Colour Coding on my plea for Help Thread. Many thanks. That is about all for now.

JonD

[dunnyrail]

I have been very stalled on this project for a couple of reasons.

 

1st I have decided that Ally Cassettes are not for me. Many I know use them with success, but I find that they get dirty with poor pickup quite fast and of course there was the anodized issue that stalled me. Not quite sure how I will replace them but most of my Wagons have been converted to have removable loads so that is one issue resolved. It may be that I just make up a Traverser for the Healey Mills end and use Peco Loco Lifts for Locomotives, the Colliery end could perhaps work fine with points and finger shunting.

 

Also I have given up on Cobolt Motors, I just have too many with that dratted clicking issue so have decided to go forwards with Servos and to that end I have a MegaPoints Servo Board plus enough Servos to do the job. I have even tested out the board with a servo and working with my super CoBolt lever frame. So all I now need to do is get round to rewiring the Lever Frame for Servos and coupling the whole lot up again. The round to it has not kicked in just yet, but as I run out of jobs for my Garden Railway perhaps things will get moving on my Coal Mine Railway again.

[MR Chuffer]

Rank beginner here and read through your issues. I needed a cassette capable of holding up to 133cm worth of OO gauge train, so I read somewhere else on here about these Linear Rails Supported Sliding Guide (available in different lengths from a range of suppliers). The hard bit was the carpentry, getting the framework and the butting up edges square but once done, these rails are rock solid and glide smoothly supporting 8 tracks.

 

Power to each track on a sliding table was a bit of a challenge and I use it in conjunction with the Peco Loco Lifts, all low tech but very effective.

 

Hmmm, Ossett, my favourite brewery....

Edited July 13, 2020 by MR Chuffer
add

[dunnyrail]

On 13/07/2020 at 13:01, MR Chuffer said:

Rank beginner here and read through your issues. I needed a cassette capable of holding up to 133cm worth of OO gauge train, so I read somewhere else on here about these Linear Rails Supported Sliding Guide (available in different lengths from a range of suppliers). The hard bit was the carpentry, getting the framework and the butting up edges square but once done, these rails are rock solid and glide smoothly supporting 8 tracks.

 

Power to each track on a sliding table was a bit of a challenge and I use it in conjunction with the Peco Loco Lifts, all low tech but very effective.

 

Hmmm, Ossett, my favourite brewery....

Did not find the original post you refer to, could you link it please? If not perhaps a pic of what you have done may help me. Oh yes love Ossett as well, got used to it when living back at Horbury Bridge for 3 months in 2012. Do also like Clarkes, been around a long while but their pub in Horbury a great one.

[MR Chuffer]

9 minutes ago, dunnyrail said:

could you link it please

I tired the link in my summary that you display and its works for me, it shows the (a) product on ebay but states Out of Stock, sure there are plenty more as this is a standard product for building lathes and other track machinery. Is this what you meant?

 

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by MR Chuffer
adjust pic

[dunnyrail]

Not sure why my pictures on this thread have disappeared from view, perhaps because I have not posted for so long?

 

I have recently been enthused some by the Rapido Hunslet 16in 0-6-0ST S119 Beatrice. I purchased DCC Sound one of these via Ebay and it is a superb looking locomotive. Sounds are good but the running is awful. Much like my Hornby old Austerity was when I got it, to sort that I had to permanently couple a Brake Van to act as additional pickups, likely I will need to do the same with the 16in beastie. A shame as I thought it would be a good runner being a newer production, before I play with the Brake Van option I will try some additional weight. Sure I may be able to get some somewhere.
 

Anyone else had issues with this locomotive?

 

To my mind it needed a heavy metal chassis like some other manufacturers industrial's have. Certainly I will not be buying any more Rapido locomotives.

 

Anyone who remembers my earlier pictures will see that there has been little work, I have Servo’s to replace the clicking ones that have given me so much heartache, cost and loss of enthusiasm for 00.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by dunnyrail
Photo upside down

[Flying Pig]

30 minutes ago, dunnyrail said:

Not sure why my pictures on this thread have disappeared from view, perhaps because I have not posted for so long?

 

 

There was a server crash just over a year ago in which many images were lost.

 

38 minutes ago, dunnyrail said:

Anyone else had issues with this locomotive?

 

 

Discussion starting about page 10 on the Rapido Hunslet 16" thread:

 

 

[RapidoCorbs]

On 08/06/2023 at 13:11, dunnyrail said:

Not sure why my pictures on this thread have disappeared from view, perhaps because I have not posted for so long?

 

I have recently been enthused some by the Rapido Hunslet 16in 0-6-0ST S119 Beatrice. I purchased DCC Sound one of these via Ebay and it is a superb looking locomotive. Sounds are good but the running is awful. Much like my Hornby old Austerity was when I got it, to sort that I had to permanently couple a Brake Van to act as additional pickups, likely I will need to do the same with the 16in beastie. A shame as I thought it would be a good runner being a newer production, before I play with the Brake Van option I will try some additional weight. Sure I may be able to get some somewhere.
 

Anyone else had issues with this locomotive?

 

To my mind it needed a heavy metal chassis like some other manufacturers industrial's have. Certainly I will not be buying any more Rapido locomotives.

 

Anyone who remembers my earlier pictures will see that there has been little work, I have Servo’s to replace the clicking ones that have given me so much heartache, cost and loss of enthusiasm for 00.

 

 

 

 

Before you start hacking in to it, it is worth lodging a warranty request.

https://rapidotrains.co.uk/warranty-form/

 

The locos should work when brand new, if it's not working then it needs to be fixed.