The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

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Trevor Thompson
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:33 am

Andrew wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:34 am That's looking very good. The goods shed is especially nice - it's going to be a challenge to propel wagons through it though!
I am fitting ball races to most of my wagons - and they actually go through it under gravity as per the prototype.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Wed Apr 06, 2022 10:01 am

Trevor Thompson wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:33 am
Andrew wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:34 am That's looking very good. The goods shed is especially nice - it's going to be a challenge to propel wagons through it though!
I am fitting ball races to most of my wagons - and they actually go through it under gravity as per the prototype.

Trevor
Brilliant!

A couple of my wagons have roller bearings and it is amazing how free running they are...

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Fri Apr 08, 2022 5:30 pm

This is looking great Trevor. I'm really looking forward to seeing the coal drops in situ.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:24 pm

It has taken a while to actually do it, but I have installed the fencing and all the buildings in a semi permanent way, and re-ballasted everything:
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The coal drops are almost ready to print, well as much of them as I can actually get into the space available:
Screenshot 2022-04-21 at 15.23.02.png
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:24 pm

That ballasting looks very effective, Trevor. Can't wait to see what the coal drops look like.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Tue May 17, 2022 8:29 am

A couple of weeks ago I was delighted to be invited back to the Railway in the Valley of the Mill. I brought the Moel Rhos Railway's loco No. 2 Chough - which, despite being a manual RH Millie, is actually great fun to run on this end-to-end line. I also go to see Linda in steam for the first time since painting (I'd seen her painted before and in steam before but never both at the same time!)

I took quite a lot of photos...here's one and the rest are in the full album.

Image

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Tue May 17, 2022 8:49 am

That is an absolutely superb picture, well done to both of you.
It actually looks like a real narrow gauge train in a real narrow gauge station.
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Tue May 17, 2022 12:28 pm

Wonderful photos of a lovely line, thank you!

I like them all very much, but my particular favourite is the one of "Chough" alongside the bank of wild flowers.

You're a brave man to run manual live steam on a steeply graded, sharply curving, end-to-end line AND take photos!!! Trevor's permanent way must be excellent...

All the best,

Andrew.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sat May 21, 2022 10:20 am

Andrew wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 12:28 pm Wonderful photos of a lovely line, thank you!

I like them all very much, but my particular favourite is the one of "Chough" alongside the bank of wild flowers.

You're a brave man to run manual live steam on a steeply graded, sharply curving, end-to-end line AND take photos!!! Trevor's permanent way must be excellent...

All the best,

Andrew.
The really impressive thing is how "Chough" runs so slowly and predictably. Simon was able to just set the regulator and away she goes - really slowly and strongly leaving him free to take photos.

I do like the photos though! Especially the ones with Linda in them.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Wed May 25, 2022 7:54 pm

Thanks all for your kind words about the photos!
Trevor Thompson wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 10:20 am
Andrew wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 12:28 pm You're a brave man to run manual live steam on a steeply graded, sharply curving, end-to-end line AND take photos!!! Trevor's permanent way must be excellent...
The really impressive thing is how "Chough" runs so slowly and predictably. Simon was able to just set the regulator and away she goes - really slowly and strongly leaving him free to take photos.
Trevor is too modest about the track work - it is very solid and even - the construction is detailed further up but the effect is that you really don't need to worry about letting trains do their thing unattended, even on the viaduct with its sizeable drop! So I can think about the camera rather than the loco. It is also true that Chough performs very well - that superb Roundhouse Engineering - and with a near silent burner and steaming for ages on single fill, always enjoyable to run.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sun May 29, 2022 2:37 pm

The track from the passing loop at "Dduallt" to the upper footpath crossing is now laid and ballasted:
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Even though trains cross the viaduct safely as it is it's time to think about footways and railings. The first section of footway added:
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And that bag of gravel which has been there for over 18 months is about to be used on the footpath behind the house!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

I have just laid out the next section from the footpath crossing to the hedge:
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It is following the contour as best I can. The first bit from the step needs a cutting, as does a section half way along. The wooden pegs whose tops you can just see mark the level of the top of the rail rising at a constant 1 in 60. The hose pipe is there so you get an idea of where the track is actually going.
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You can see where the hose pipe reaches the hedge. That is going to be a bit of a job, getting space in there to make perhaps a tunnel. There will be another passing place just this side of the hedge.

I am going back to add the handrail bases along the footpath and getting ready to lay that gravel!

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Sun May 29, 2022 3:06 pm

Amazing ( and well done).
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Sun May 29, 2022 3:14 pm

I do like to see a bit of civil engineering!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Sun May 29, 2022 4:36 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance


That's VERY impressive! How long will the completed line be?

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm

Andrew wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 4:36 pm
Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance


That's VERY impressive! How long will the completed line be?
Excuse the delay in replying - I had to get the tape out!

The current length of running line is 250 feet. From the head shunt in the terminus to the second path crossing. Excluding passing loops and sidings of course. From the current end of line to the hedge is 55 feet, and from the hedge to the back of the greenhouse another 85 feet.

Once I get through the hedge there is the continuation of the bank running behind the vegetable beds which I plan to build on ( tidying up the bank as I go). It means another bank to dig out, a wall to build and a footpath to lay. That received a positive response, but the track on top of the wall may yet incur resistance. Just got to explain the benefits of the plan properly! In the same way the bank behind the greenhouse is an overgrown mess - which I have just finished trimming, so a terminus here has to be an improvement.

So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon May 30, 2022 3:23 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm
Andrew wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 4:36 pm
Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance


That's VERY impressive! How long will the completed line be?
Excuse the delay in replying - I had to get the tape out!

The current length of running line is 250 feet. From the head shunt in the terminus to the second path crossing. Excluding passing loops and sidings of course. From the current end of line to the hedge is 55 feet, and from the hedge to the back of the greenhouse another 85 feet.

Once I get through the hedge there is the continuation of the bank running behind the vegetable beds which I plan to build on ( tidying up the bank as I go). It means another bank to dig out, a wall to build and a footpath to lay. That received a positive response, but the track on top of the wall may yet incur resistance. Just got to explain the benefits of the plan properly! In the same way the bank behind the greenhouse is an overgrown mess - which I have just finished strimming, so a terminus here has to be an improvement.

So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.

Trevor

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Mon May 30, 2022 4:05 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm
So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.
Aha! That's what I was really getting at, I think - and it's VERY impressive!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Tue May 31, 2022 8:26 am

Wow, that is impressive! Particularly so given the high quality of your tracklaying

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Thu Jun 02, 2022 2:36 pm

Thanks for the complements Andrew and Rick.

I have tried the first fit of the coal drops. They are not quite complete, but they fit in position OK. As in they fit where they touch! Some concrete work to add to complete the place where they go. But it is clear that they are going to fit:
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And I have been mixing concrete again. So the next section is starting to progress:
IMG_2218.JPG
IMG_2218.JPG (4.83 MiB) Viewed 2852 times
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