The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

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RobRossington
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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:20 am

ge_rik wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2019 10:39 pm That sounds very good. Not only the engine sounds, but also the horn is very respectable. I find it's often the horn or whistle that lets sound cards down

Rik
Thanks Rik. I’m really pleased with how it sounds.
I agree about horns and whistles. They often sound too synthesised!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:25 am

The horn does sound good but the engine sounds synthesised to me?

What Brian Jones sound card have you used?

Loco looks great!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:34 am

tom_tom_go wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:25 am The horn does sound good but the engine sounds synthesised to me?

What Brian Jones sound card have you used?

Loco looks great!
It’s his ‘Ffestiniog Funkey’ sound set. Listening to it, it’s definitely a recording, however the engine sounds and horn sounds are definitely from Caernarfon Castle (the WHR Funkey), not Vale of Ffestiniog.

As far as I know, the loco is unique. I don’t think he’d done the Funkey sounds with the R-CAT system before...

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:37 am

I admit I am fussy with sound cards coming from DCC sound stuff to R/C sound.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by philipy » Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:04 am

My (very) limited experience with brian Jones is his incredibly long lead times. I tried to order an advertised speed controller from him and he wanted 6-8 weeks delivery. I said No thanks and went to a Deltang Rx with built-in speed controllerand got it in a couple of days.
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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Fri Mar 08, 2019 1:03 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:37 am I admit I am fussy with sound cards coming from DCC sound stuff to R/C sound.
So am I normally. For me the R-CAT system makes this one very much worthwhile, I hate seeing locos cruising with the engine going like the clappers. The bonus is I’m very happy with how it actually sounds.
philipy wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:04 am My (very) limited experience with brian Jones is his incredibly long lead times. I tried to order an advertised speed controller from him and he wanted 6-8 weeks delivery. I said No thanks and went to a Deltang Rx with built-in speed controllerand got it in a couple of days.
In this case, he quoted 3-4 weeks, which considering he appears to make everything to order I didn’t think was too bad at all.

As it happens, he contacted me on the Friday of the third week to say the speed controller was undergoing final testing, and then on the Tuesday of the fourth week to say it was ready to go. It arrived the following day at about 10 am and was up and running by 4 pm.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:19 pm

The last few days has seen a bit of work done to make sure No.3 is ready for the Summer. The loco has been given a bit of a clean, and has had its buffer beams and Vac pipes painted Red, a job I’ve been plucking up courage to do since I bought it! It could probably do with another coat of red, particularly on the front buffer beam.
The loco has also been fitted with its name plates, which I’ve had in my bits box since last spring!

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The only issue remaining with this loco is a lack of weight. Unfortunately the model shop that did the RC conversion on it for me removed all of the original weights from the tanks. The tanks are now filled with Batteries, the receiver and speed controller. I’ve managed to stick some tyre balance weights underneath the motor block, but need to find some other places to fit some more. Failing that, I’ll move the receiver and speed controller into the cab, which is where I’d asked for them to be put in the first place!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:42 pm

If they haven't done what you asked why did you accept the work?

What R/C setup is in the loco as moving to a different system may reduce size of components and battery size.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:09 am

tom_tom_go wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:42 pm If they haven't done what you asked why did you accept the work?

What R/C setup is in the loco as moving to a different system may reduce size of components and battery size.
I didn’t realise what had been done for a couple of weeks afterwards. Besides, It’s liveable with, just a little light on its feet.

I’m not entirely sure to be honest. I’ll sort something out for it though.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Tue Mar 12, 2019 1:09 pm

I’ve had a play around this morning, and have managed to move No.3’s RC gear out of the tank and into the boiler. This has allowed me to put the weights back into the tank, and means it can now manage two Swift 16 bogie vans on its own with only a small amount of slip (on wet rails!).

I’m quite happy with this performance as I’m planning on buying a pair of swift 16 bogie coaches later in the year!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:23 am

Great sound on the Diesel Rob. Love number 3 too. Hopefully we will get a decent summer again this year. I need some good weather so the extension on the line can be finished.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sat Apr 06, 2019 7:05 pm

FWLR wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:23 am Great sound on the Diesel Rob. Love number 3 too. Hopefully we will get a decent summer again this year. I need some good weather so the extension on the line can be finished.
Thanks Rod, I’m really looking forward to getting out there! I’ll look forward to seeing your extension, Fingers crossed for that good weather!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:39 am

The name plates for the diesels arrived from Narrow Planet yesterday, so of course they had to be fitted straight away!

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Which marks the completion of both projects! Huzzah!

P.S. I noticed that LOTI’s nameplate was slightly wonky after taking the photo, the silicone was still wet so it was easily corrected.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:01 am

They do look good Rob. I still have mine for my Billy still in the draw. Got them last year........ :oops:

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:14 am

You also use BluTak if you want to fiddle about with their position, works on live steamers as well.

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by philipy » Sun Apr 07, 2019 10:07 am

Lord of The Isles looks very fine, now it's finished and the livery really suits after all your deliberations. Well done all round.
Philip

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:47 pm

Thanks Guys, I’m really pleased with how both locos have turned out, but particularly the 2095. It took a lot of bravery to take an airbrush to it, I’ve never painted something that big before, and I’m not sure I ever want to again! :lol:

Today was the first day I’ve been able to get out in the garden properly, and although it was good running weather there’s a few jobs that I want to do before I run any trains.

The first thing to tackle is Top End. I’d managed to get this area around 50% complete last year before time, weather and ideas ran out.

Today’s focus was on the new goods yard, this is where a large conifer stood up until the middle of last summer. Unfortunately it wasn’t in the best condition, and when the new conservatory was built it was somewhat in the way of the builders. Sad, because it made a nice background, but welcome as it gave me more siding space!

Today I finally managed to lay a decent base for the track to sit on, and some track. Just need to ballast it all properly now!

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And with a wagon....

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The point has been recovered from Charlwood station, it was actually the old ‘king point’. It is an LGB R1, which I am attempting to replace with R3s to make shunting easier. That’s a job for the weekend!

No trains until the track is joined up again!

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by philipy » Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:37 am

Those are a couple of nice shots, but it will look a lot better with the geometry sorted out by a larger radius point.

Quick question: What is the origin of the fencing to the LHS of the buffers?
Philip

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by ge_rik » Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:23 am

I like the sleeper buffer stop. I wish I'd thought of that. Would have saved a lot of time and money .... :)

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Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:51 am

ge_rik wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:23 am I like the sleeper buffer stop. I wish I'd thought of that. Would have saved a lot of time and money .... :)

Rik
It was intended to be temporary, but I quite like it!
philipy wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:37 am Those are a couple of nice shots, but it will look a lot better with the geometry sorted out by a larger radius point.

Quick question: What is the origin of the fencing to the LHS of the buffers?
Unfortunately, apart from the main loop point in the distance, there isn’t enough space to use larger radius points here. The replacement R3s will be going in at the other end of the line.

The fencing was bought at Llanfair a couple of years ago. I think it’s from Black Cat Bridges, but I could be wrong.

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