The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

A place for the discussion of garden railways and any garden style/scale portable and/or indoor layouts
User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:35 pm

FWLR wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2019 9:42 am Brilliant colour scheme Rob. It does look very colonial. :thumbright:
Thanks! I’m thinking that the railway got them cheap from a local builder after one of the many colonial lines closed before they could be delivered. The directors liked the livery so much that they stuck with it for other items of rolling stock too (yet to be built!)
Andrew wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:32 pm
RobRossington wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 4:02 pm Unfortunately I’m hiding indoors at the moment due to hay fever!
You have my sympathy! I cut the grass last night, knowing that I'd be working in the garden this evening and thinking that I'd avoid the worst of the pollen that way, but it was still pretty bad at times...
Oh it’s been horrific! I’ve managed to have a few years where it hasn’t really affected me, but this year it’s all come back with a vengeance.

I did manage to get outside for an hour or so on Thursday evening though. It was enough to run a couple of trains and do a Coal run with No. 3;

The coal wagon is the only survivor of the railways original batch of wooden four wheelers. It’s an internal user only wagon these days, and very rarely leaves the station limits at Charlwood. When it’s getting a little low on coal though, and needs topping up, It gets shunted over to the goods siding.

Image

Image

Running round the lone wagon;

Image

The furthest up the line the wagon ever goes;

Image

Safely deposited in the goods siding. It’ll be loaded up, and then moved back over by one of the diesels in the morning.

Image

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:31 am

There was a new arrival at the CLR this morning....

Image

Image

Image

This will represent the quay side Shunters from the bottom station, it will be let out on the mainline on trip freight duties from time to time.

It’s currently track powered, although I’ve not actually tried it yet, but will receive RC in due course. I’ll probably give it a bit of a repaint too.

There was another new arrival in the form of a Piko BR80 too. That will be the basis of another project once I’ve finished my swift16 railbus...

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:16 am

Nice Tram there Rob. It does need a respray you're right. Seems the previous owner was a little bit carrels with the grey.... :roll:

Have you any idea what colour/colours you are thinking of doing. I am waiting to see how you get on with all the conversions you are planning. Please show how you go about it. :thumbright: :thumbright:

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:50 pm

FWLR wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:16 am Nice Tram there Rob. It does need a respray you're right. Seems the previous owner was a little bit carrels with the grey.... :roll:

Have you any idea what colour/colours you are thinking of doing. I am waiting to see how you get on with all the conversions you are planning. Please show how you go about it. :thumbright: :thumbright:
Thanks! Just a little bit carried away yes! It’s crazed in a few places so god knows what happened. Shame really because it’s nicely built.

I think I’m just going to stick with brown and grey but with red buffer beams. I’ll paint the bell and what not properly too.

So much to do, so little time! You can be sure I’ll post it all in here though :thumbright:

User avatar
Tropic Blunder
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2015 4:02 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by Tropic Blunder » Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:22 am

I cant believe I haven't come across your line earlier, its quite lovely!
Jake

Image

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:52 pm

Tropic Blunder wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:22 am I cant believe I haven't come across your line earlier, its quite lovely!
Thanks Jake, much appreciated!

Some shots from yesterday’s running session with double headed Baldwins.....

Leaving Charlwood;
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Arriving back at Charlwood later in the day....
Image

Unfortunately No.4 still doesn’t have any RC kit fitted, so these shots are all posed, but I can’t wait to get it finished!

During the last few running sessions I’ve noticed that both No.1 and No.3 struggle to get over a particular bit of curved track on the loop section. Once the offending section had gone into the shade yesterday I decided to take a look and found a noticeable dipped joint.

Interestingly (well, to me at least! :lol: ) there was noticeable scoring to the railhead where the wheels had been slipping;

Image
Image

The dip was so bad it actually resulted in the tyre leaving the rail completely at times;
Image

Rectification was relatively easy, ballast removed, packed with wooden strips and reballasted. Good as new, and everything runs through smoothly now!

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:24 am

Great seeing photos of this fantastic line again. I just love the way it flows and I look forward every week to more from you Rob.

The line is a strange one hey. Do you think it may have been this heat.... :scratch:
Network Rail have an excuse now for running their trains late, the heat has started to buckle the track............ :roll: :roll:

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:20 pm

FWLR wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:24 am Great seeing photos of this fantastic line again. I just love the way it flows and I look forward every week to more from you Rob.

The line is a strange one hey. Do you think it may have been this heat.... :scratch:
Network Rail have an excuse now for running their trains late, the heat has started to buckle the track............ :roll: :roll:
Thanks Rod, much appreciated! :D

I think the issue was primarily caused by my dodgy wall building and track laying skills! It’s been a slight problem for a while now, but I suspect the heat has made it a lot worse.

We had similar issues in work (I drive on Manchester Metrolink) and are still feeling the after effects of the heat today!!!

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Sun Jul 28, 2019 12:10 pm

No. 9 was entrusted with the down ‘flying kipper’ a few days ago. Unfortunately not everything went to plan...

Image

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by philipy » Sun Jul 28, 2019 1:51 pm

Pity Rik's chosen theme for the current Photo Gallery is "On Track", if it was 'Off Track', you'd have a sure-fire winner!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Philip

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Mon Jul 29, 2019 6:55 am

Hi Rob,

Agree with Phillipy on your photo.

Was it taken when we had that heatwave last week. It may be the track has been upset somehow. When my Granddaughter was running the little Pickup on Friday after we got back to our normal weather, ( It's not stopped raining since Saturday ) I noticed that on one small section of track, only about 2 inches, the back wheels on the Pickup would jump up slightly. I think the track has buckled ever so slightly causing the wheels to jump. Maybe that small part of your track with that wagon has done the same in some way.... :scratch: :scratch:

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:33 pm

philipy wrote: Sun Jul 28, 2019 1:51 pm Pity Rik's chosen theme for the current Photo Gallery is "On Track", if it was 'Off Track', you'd have a sure-fire winner!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
:lol: I could start an entire gallery of ‘off the rails’!
FWLR wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 6:55 am Hi Rob,

Agree with Phillipy on your photo.

Was it taken when we had that heatwave last week. It may be the track has been upset somehow. When my Granddaughter was running the little Pickup on Friday after we got back to our normal weather, ( It's not stopped raining since Saturday ) I noticed that on one small section of track, only about 2 inches, the back wheels on the Pickup would jump up slightly. I think the track has buckled ever so slightly causing the wheels to jump. Maybe that small part of your track with that wagon has done the same in some way.... :scratch: :scratch:
It’s a possibility. I do notice that derailments become more common when the railway becomes shaded in the late afternoon. In this case I was using some coupling chain that’s a little shorter than my usual stuff, which I think was the main factor.

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:37 pm

No.1 went out on tday’s morning goods...

Image

Image

Image

Image

The loco ran quite nicely, but as is usually the case ran out of gas half way round. Not to worry though, as No.9 was on hand to go to the rescue....

Waiting on P1 for permission to enter the section;
Image

As it would be going ‘light engine’ the crew made sure there was a tail lamp on the back;
Image

Having rescued the train (which I thought I’d taken a better picture of!) No.9 managed to bring the whole lot back in one go. I must say, apart from a little bit of wheel slip,it managed the job extremely well! No.1 is seen on what is now the back of the train, complete with tail lamp;
Image

No.1 is then detached and left on the mainline (protected by the section token :lol: ) whilst No.9 draws the rest of the train into P2;
Image

Image

No.9 then goes back and drags the errant steamer to the shed;
Image

Image

User avatar
tom_tom_go
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4824
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:08 am
Location: Kent, UK
Contact:

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:41 pm

I remember when my Silver Lady use to look like yours when it was new.

If you are running out of gas that quickly it might be up too high or try refilling with gas once you have pressure (remembering to turn the gas off first!)

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:35 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:41 pm I remember when my Silver Lady use to look like yours when it was new.

If you are running out of gas that quickly it might be up too high or try refilling with gas once you have pressure (remembering to turn the gas off first!)
I’m planning on buying a few bits and pieces for it this year :)

The run was a perfectly fine 35-40 mins. I was sort of expecting it to run out but thought I might have got another run in.

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:06 am

Wow Rob that is some running time.... :thumbright: :thumbright:

Your photos by the way are excellent.... :thumbright: :thumbright:

Any one of them would win this Quarters competition.... :thumbright: I love seeing the ones of your winding track, it shows me anyway, what a great line it is.

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:14 pm

Very early days of the latest CLR loco department project....

Image

User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by FWLR » Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:53 am

This looks interesting Rob...... :thumbright:
I love to see how locos come to being from someones own ideas or even someones else's and then interpreted with someones own different take on it.

Need to see more please mate, hurry up and get on with it...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Only kidding... :occasion5:

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:32 am

Thanks Rod!

It’s sort of inspired by Tag Gorton’s latest loco, which is a coal fired DJB Emma with tender. There’s pictures and videos of said loco on DJB’s Facebook page. This will be a bit bigger though I reckon.

I also have no specific plans, I’m just sort of making it up as I go along!

I’ve never actually scratchbuilt anything more than a cab for a 009 loco, so I can’t say it’ll be a quick, or successful build :lol:

User avatar
RobRossington
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:57 pm
Location: Liverpool

Re: The Charlwood Light Railway (CWLR)

Post by RobRossington » Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:41 pm

Some slight progress before I have to go to work. Only had about 30 mins to spare so it’s not much....

I’ve decided to go for a stepped running plate so that the cab sits lower.

Image

Image

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests