peach james Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 https://flic.kr/p/uhmSdR and https://flic.kr/p/tZVd8T Yes, my trackwork could use a bit of work on it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 https://flic.kr/p/uhmSdR and https://flic.kr/p/tZVd8T Yes, my trackwork could use a bit of work on it... Wow James, That's some Big Dipper ride mate, can it be corrected easily? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 It should be correctable, by lifting the track and re-ballasting it There is a baseboard join right at the middle, and I know that there are problems with baseboards not being as straight as I would like. So, I need to work on that bit of track...eventually ! for now, it can't be too bad, as the 10 coach trains will run through without uncoupling, and there is a LOT of tension on the kadee's for the longer trains. So, I will mark it as "to be done", and when I get time, it will loose the big dipper ride part. (It's not a Himalaya, as it doesn't go round a corner at that point...) James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Today's fun- I pulled out 5611 KH, or my "big" traction engine, and fired it up for the first time in 2 years. Then, after a quick chat with one of my mates, he came over for a drive. He had a similar engine (Plastow 3R 7NHP Fowler), in SRL guise, which was slightly lacking in power. He was all smiles after driving Little Johnny back up from the park- I said set off in middle cog, and no issues, and sure enough, up the hill in middle cog with NO arguments. (It's a steam engine, so of course there were minor problems...like a disappearing water level in the gauge glass, but that was disproved by priming the engine...) So, we had fun playing traction engines today. I still have to put Little Johnny away, and get stuff ready for tomorrow. James 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 (in order from oldest- newest) https://flic.kr/p/dSB982 The original Long Marton, ~1996, was done with 3" thick 12mm plywood on edge, on 2'x4' baseboards (3 of), and 2 cross braces so that they were ~18" by 24" box frame, open top, with a screwed down plywood surface for the railway. It was burned in 1997 after being semi- abandoned in my dads house. (it wasn't going to make the 4000 km trip out here...) The 2nd version, as I built up here in Victoria in 2001/2, They were just straight on edge, without the cross brace of L girder. However, I wouldn't have expected the wood to warp in that direction, as it usually warps to the side, not up and down... The storage/staging was run on plywood between the L girders for the Lego area, with access being via cut out sections of plywood. It was a dumb idea, not really workable due to the amount of inaccessible hidden track that resulted. It was not completed, as it was lower on my priority list than building lego, or running live steam. https://flic.kr/p/dSGGk5 It ended up with replacement with plywood, which I can strongly recommend. 4" high, with 2" pieces T'd into that, forming a 3' by 6' box, 2x 4" wide pieces at 3rds of the box, all glued not screwed together. https://flic.kr/p/bXbL55 Shows the underside of one of the boards, the upper 1/2 of the frame is the same, with styrospan on top for the working surface, at least 2" thick. (so that it is higher than the wood). (posted here not in KL2, because this belongs to Long Marton & not to KL2) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Morning James, I have to admit, I have never built an open frame Layout and so if I do I am a lot wiser now, I always assumed just by looking at pics of American Model Railways that the were always the same with 2 bits of 3 x 1 forming an L of 4 x 3. Thanks for the info James and all the best Mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 So, we had Daniel's 10th birthday party yesterday (Sunday) here, and one of the children who was here for the party got to see what Long Marton looks like, at least in the Down direction. I then cleaned track tonight, and moved 73062 on the sleeper- it made about 5 laps, each time something else went wrong. Not a big shock- I haven't had a Up train running since May or so... Ah well, time flies when you are having fun... James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Sounds like you need some ME TIME James, mind you I hate doing the maintenance bit, and I've only got a small area to do. All the best mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 So I lifted about 2 1/2' of track between Bridge 254 and the station, to relay it hopefully without the hump. I may try relaying the other side as well (I'm currently relaying the down, the up would be the other one to be done). I'm not sure if I will use sand as a replacement for ballast, as I can see just how much ballast I need to bring the track back to hopefully flat(er). I sanded down the cork, and glued the track on the station side down last night. I doubt anything else will happen to the track tonight, as it is fire practice and I have to collect the lads at 5. (so only 1 1/2 hrs at home between, 2 hrs of fire practice, then over to next door to see me mate for coffee- but I can't cross his lot right now, as he had a bunch of trees felled) James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 James, did you take any pics of the HUMP before and after? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Not specifically, for before. I will take a video of it after, because that is a fair good way to see what happens to the trains. (and easy enough to do now). The video at the start of this page (7) shows the other side. I had relayed a bunch with shims under the track to reduce the uncoupling that was happening with the Kadee couplers. James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 grrr.... So, I fixed the one hump in the down. Then I went to try and run through with the same train as before (the 21:30 sleeper, in case anyone cares- behind a pair of 5's, 8 coaches/3 vans). And the same BG keeps coming off the track at the same point, after I relayed it. Now, I haven't checked cross level there, that's about all that can be left. I packed and jacked about 120 thou though, so the baseboard which is 8mm ply over a 33" span at that point is NOT strong enough,and has no way of being stronger. (it's the bit that crosses through the middle of the Lego- the only way to make it any stronger would be to skyhook the centre down. (oooh....that might just be possible too...)) Anyway, it has been a rather long day of modeling, interspaced with taking the now 10 year old lad swimming at the local pool. There are ~70 photos on the digital camera- a bunch taken at 4 FPS to try and find where the wheel is lifting over the track. There are a few of the Lego spiral taken to its major chunks too- it is currently out of position so I can get in and work on this bit of track. Perhaps tomorrow for photos going up. James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Good luck with the Sky Hooks James, that sounds really painful hahaha. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 OK, so I didn't need Ronald Dahl's Skyhook to cure the problems- (there are more uploads there- I will post them over in Tony W.'s thread, as they belong to "first attempts" -the Sentinel has a homebuilt chassis milled out on a 12x60 horizontal mill, and the DJH kit was built when I was ~17. I have the other beginner kit as well, it suffers from having run many miles, and the whitemetal bearing on one side needed replacing with a brass one. (which I did). That one dates to when I was ~14, and is glued not soldered) James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 So, the Down program now works, and I haven't tried the Up in conjection. Well, they sort of work, anyway...there are errors that I know about, and probably some I don't know about yet. The current issue is that starting a 2nd train may (or may not) cause total confusion, depending on where in the "program" the first train is. I think I know how to fix it, but it involves a little more flagmen and on/off switches to do so. (I am probably going to cap at a single train on standby, not more than that). I am completely unsure what will happen with regards to running both up and down trains at the same time. There is a decided problem that I can see, with regards to call attention, train on section and train ID's. Computers are smart, but only do what the programmer has told them to do ! I may try and get a video up in a bit, to show what I have gotten to so far. James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 M4H02973 by Peach James, on Flickr M4H02974 by Peach James, on Flickr M4H02978 by Peach James, on Flickr So, programming- the three videos show a DMU going Down (towards New Biggin) on Long Marton. They represent about 50 hours of programming time in a semi-graphic environment, to get the operation that I want. There are still issues, for instance the quew system is not working right, but, now LM should have signaled service in both directions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 Small update: Now retired. (me, not the railway...) We leave here on Tuesday to go to GBTS- so I should see some RMweb people there. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 Wow mate, this is the first time I've looked at Long Marton, it really is some project, The storage roads do look impressive. The Lego bridge is phenomenal and it will be interesting to see the trains run over that. https://flic.kr/s/aHskHWHeCN That was the 2nd time the bridge had failed, first at home...I've got my consulting Professional Engineer coming out here to look and give recommendations, he is a lego guy too. The bridge he built is an 8' span, and is still together, but it is also too high for me to use in the basement on the upper level. It's about about 1/2 as long, so say, 1/4th the loads. Therefore my bridge is about 8x harder to design/build. One of the other lego guys in Texas figures it should be possible to make a 100' long lego bridge. (yes, functionally, a 100' bridge). The current record is about 50', by a group in Australia. It was not horizontally stable, but it supported its load. James 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Hi James, Sorry I missed the post about you retiring, congratulations, I hope you have a long, happy and fulfilled retirement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 Well, after the summer and not doing much with Long Marton, I have been running trains. I put my mk 1 sleeper back together, including changing the coupler arrangement after it broke off, and did a bit of test running with it. I also did one bogie for the LMS 12 wheel sleepers that I have. All 3 of them need painting, which I guess is slowly moving up my list of things to do. Then, after getting that train a little further along, I moved onto the "short" mineral, and went around and found 9 or 10 more 16 ton wagons that were in various states of not fully workable. I worked on them yesterday, putting coal in a fair # of the train, and fixing the various 16 tonners. 1 Bachmann got a coupler pocket, and will go with the long mineral, another got 3 link couplers and went into the loaded. 7 kit built minerals were successfully fixed & added to the train, with 2 more to be dealt with. (apparently, I have 2 or more sizes of wheels, because one had a very decidedly lopsided gait, and another keeps derailing, so something isn't right with it). I'm nearing the capacity of the ROD that I have customarily used for the loaded train. I suppose I need to look and see how many SWL the trains were allowed to be, and what the rated capacities were for the unfitted trains on the S&C. (well, most of mine are fitted, or at least fitted head) Photos perhaps, but there wasn't anything really special taking place, just trains running. James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 The Freight Train Loads Book for your time period would give the length limit of trains in Standard Wagon Lengths over a stretch of line and the load in Basic Wagon Units for each power classification of locomotives. Long coal trains can look very impressive on layouts but sometimes they can be very wrong for the class of locomotive and the line it is supposed to be on. A SWL is 20 ft over buffers, a 12 ton van or 13 ton open. A Basic Wagon Units are harder to describe, it depended on the load carried and the wagon. A BWU is a 13 ton wagon with a light load (under half carrying capacity). A fully loaded 16 ton mineral is 2 BWUs.I do not have a steam period Freight Train Load Book for the GN line but I do have the 1967 book. For a class 8 train (unfitted through freight train) passing the remains of Little Bytham station, the line limit was 75 SWL, a BTH type 1 (class15) was limited to 61 BWUs, a Brush Type 4 (class 47) was allowed up to 83 BWUs. Now if the wagons were all fully loaded 16 ton minerals the class 15 would have 30 in tow and the big Brush 41 behind it, far less than the length limit. 16ton minerals when empty are 5/6 BWU so the return journey a Brush 4 can take 69 wagons. Clive Copied to here so that I know where to find it ! (Clive's post in Tony Wright's thread) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 So, a few new photos Flag & trains by Peach James, on Flickr 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Still loads to do James, but looking very good so far mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 The plan as it is right now, Andy, is to lift the track in 5 months or so, and relay it. Someone had a sale on OO track (it seems they went to 18.2mm...) so about 1/2 of the track required to relay Long Marton was purchased. I have to contact Marcway and order some more (single & double slip, and a trap point, along with 25 yds of plain track). Timeline wise, the big reason for the delay will be to have the club visit done with before I lift rail. There seems no point in lifting it with my luck, as if I lift it before I have the replacement, then something will happen and I will have a trackless layout for the club visit (good for amusement, but not so great for a railway club...) I went and put the power on today, ran the DMU's around, along with a 9F hauled freight. I also painted the ground, and abutments so that they are at least not white shining through the whole room. I may get on with running more tonight, right now it's time for monopoly with the whole family. (it should end up with the board being tipped, by my guess !) James 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 So, there was a little problem with the loaded mineral on Tuesday night... Move along, nothing to see... by Peach James, on Flickr that's the mostly cleaned up remains of the the incident- the loaded mineral got pulled over by the engine, on it's way to the staging yard. I managed 0/4 on Tuesday night, ending up with 2 trains in the staging yard, 1 train minus loco (loco needs to have CV29 changed, to run it the same way as every other loco I have...), and the remains of the mineral scattered all over the Lego. Suffice to say, it wasn't a great evening ! James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now