Garden Railway Forum

That looks just right Rik... sits well in the landscape and has a purpose.

Hi Rik

Another great project Rik.

I spent a couple of days reading all of the previous posts on your blog. I really enjoy your approach to Garden Railways. Your line is lovely.

Hope you are well.

All best
J

Hello Rik,

That's a really lovely job! I love the stonework in the stream, it's really remarkable. The main building is an interesting shape and fits the location perfectly.

I'm still hankering to copy the idea of your stream but I'm struggling to fit it into the space available. I was just about resolved to give the idea up but our mill has refuelled the idea!

Please keep the inspiration coming.

Andrew

Glad too see the mill project coming to fruition Rik, I too had the same problem of trying to get the wheel to revolve steadily and slowly. Mills make a very photogenic scene with the combination of water, sound, and movement. I like the way the building is angled to fit the topography, great work.
Grant.

Been searching for the meaning of "lucam". You learn something new every day, thanks Rik.
Grant.
PS just got to try and remember it!

Brilliant Rik, just shown the video to Anne and she is well impressed, as am I.

Looking very good Rik.
What paint did you use on the window frames, finally?

BTW, I know you are happy with the speed, but I suspect that the reason your wheel rotates slowly is that it is too deep in the water. The force of water hitting the front of the wheel as it goes down, is counterbalanced by almost the same force hitting the back face on the inside of it as it comes up, plus drag as it moves through the water. For greatest efficiency I think the water level should be just at the top of the lowest paddle blade when it is right at the bottom of travel. - hope that all makes sense, its difficult to explain. Getting that balance right in the real thing is where a sluice gate comes into its own.

Arn’t water mill wheels supposed to run slow Phillip, the ones i have seen do...

philipy wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:34 am Looking very good Rik.
What paint did you use on the window frames, finally?

BTW, I know you are happy with the speed, but I suspect that the reason your wheel rotates slowly is that it is too deep in the water. The force of water hitting the front of the wheel as it goes down, is counterbalanced by almost the same force hitting the back face on the inside of it as it comes up, plus drag as it moves through the water. For greatest efficiency I think the water level should be just at the top of the lowest paddle blade when it is right at the bottom of travel. - hope that all makes sense, its difficult to explain. Getting that balance right in the real thing is where a sluice gate comes into its own.

I suspected as much. When I simulated the sluice gates by putting my hand across the opening to the mill stream, I could get the wheel to go a bit slower, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get it operating at a realistic speed more prototypically.

Rik
PS I used Halfords primer and satin black for the 'racquet' frames and primer plus acrylics for the outer frames. The racquets are made from a hard plastic and so seem to have taken the paint well, though time and the nw climate will tell

James from Devon wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:57 pm Hi Rik
Another great project Rik.
I spent a couple of days reading all of the previous posts on your blog. I really enjoy your approach to Garden Railways. Your line is lovely.
Hope you are well.
All best
J

Hi James
Thanks. I'm glad you've found my blog interesting and hopefully useful. That was my intention in creating it. Just putting the finishing touches to a blog post about this build. Just need a few more piccies.

Soar Valley Light wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2017 10:05 pm Hello Rik,
That's a really lovely job! I love the stonework in the stream, it's really remarkable. The main building is an interesting shape and fits the location perfectly.
I'm still hankering to copy the idea of your stream but I'm struggling to fit it into the space available. I was just about resolved to give the idea up but our mill has refuelled the idea!
Please keep the inspiration coming.
Andrew

Hi Andrew
Thanks. I hope you manage to identify a location. A stream certainly does add an extra dimension. It doesn't need a big drop from top to bottom, I'd say mine falls around 12" over around 10'.

LNR wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2017 10:26 pm Glad too see the mill project coming to fruition Rik, I too had the same problem of trying to get the wheel to revolve steadily and slowly. Mills make a very photogenic scene with the combination of water, sound, and movement. I like the way the building is angled to fit the topography, great work.
Grant.

Thanks Grant
I wanted the building to sit in the landscape and so angling the outhouse seemed like a good way of doing it. Although the prototypes on which I based the mill are all just rectangular boxes, I felt adding the extension would give it a bit more character - and made the build a bit more challenging.

LNR wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:10 am Been searching for the meaning of "lucam". You learn something new every day, thanks Rik.
Grant.
PS just got to try and remember it!

It was one of those words which had lodged in my brain many years ago. Mind you, it took me several attempts before I got the spelling right

FWLR wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:04 am Brilliant Rik, just shown the video to Anne and she is well impressed, as am I.

Thanks for that feedback Rod. Coincidentally, Linda became quite enthusiastic when she saw the mill wheel in action. She doesn't get quite so animated when I run any of my locos for the first time.

Peter Butler wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:48 pm That looks just right Rik... sits well in the landscape and has a purpose.

Thanks Peter. I did wonder whether to make it as stonebuilt from the local red sandstone, but all but one of the local water mills are brick built and the one which does use stone has only part of two walls in sandstone, the rest in brick.

Rik

The blog entry for the build is now online
https://riksrailway.blogspot.co.uk/2017 ... -mill.html

Rik

Another brilliant addition Rik - I also like the way the building sits into its environment and after its weathered outside for a while, will look as though its been there for 100's of years!

Rik,
Just a small aside, what do you do about the water in the winter? Do you pump it all out, and if not do you get problems with the sump/pump freezing?

philipy wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:03 pm Rik,
Just a small aside, what do you do about the water in the winter? Do you pump it all out, and if not do you get problems with the sump/pump freezing?

Hi Philip
No, the (plastic dustbin) sump is covered with the inverted lid and then with large pebbles and so it would have to go well below freezing before that froze. It's been in place for ten years now and so far (touch wood), I've not had problems with frost.

Rik

markoteal wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:07 pm Another brilliant addition Rik - I also like the way the building sits into its environment and after its weathered outside for a while, will look as though its been there for 100's of years!

Thanks, that was the intention. I might give it some artificial weathering in the meantime. Still got to do a bit more detailing and so the weathering can be done as part of that.

Rik

Well, Mr Bennett that does look the business. Water beside a railway definitely adds something.

bazzer42 wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:46 pm Well, Mr Bennett that does look the business. Water beside a railway definitely adds something.

And thank you kind sir. I remember saying to my daughter when we were walking in the Lake District beside a stream that one day I would build something like it in our garden. It did take me around 20 years to get around to it, though.

Rik

Hi Rik what a fantastic layout and I have enjoyed reading the posts and your blog on this layout. The stream, watermill and landscaping is spot on thanks for sharing.

steamer68 wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:21 pm Hi Rik what a fantastic layout and I have enjoyed reading the posts and your blog on this layout. The stream, watermill and landscaping is spot on thanks for sharing.

Thanks Kevin.
I'm really pleased with the way the stream has worked out - I'd say that luck is as much a factor as planning.

Delighted to hear you are enjoying the blog. My aim has always been to provide an opportunity for others to metaphorically look over my shoulder as I stumble my way through this fascinating hobby. I don't profess to be an expert - there are far more capable modellers than me on this forum and elsewhere. I just hope that someone somewhere might b encouraged to have a go themselves - after all, if I can do it, then anyone can!

Rik

Definitely deserves five reindeers...