Big Maple & Little Oak RR

[dudeface]

Track!

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And it came in...

A box!

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Boy, this stuff looks big at first, as someone who's used to HO track. And it's much more substantial than the old Lionel stuff! I was only able to get 8 40" sections for this year, and I need about 25... it's a start though.

[drewzero1]

Ooh, is that Atlas? Looks a heck of a lot more substantial than the Gargraves tubular stuff I used, which was bent up when I got it and only got flimsier from my modifications. Can't wait to see what you build with it!

By a strange coincidence, I saw a W&S diesel running through the North Fond du Lac yard while passing through today, and it made me wonder how you were doing...

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[Phil.P]

You are a rubbish cat!
So I need to keep an eye on you.....


Phil.P

[dudeface]

Ooh, is that Atlas?

It is, and I can see how it was 40 bucks apiece, it's quality stuff. We never could have afforded it!

[dudeface]

By the way, turns ot for the CLTS thing there's a budget of $1000 a calendar year. (Well, that's the current understanding! ) In this case they only had 8 in stock, but I wouldn't have been able to get it all at once anyway.

[GAP]

With a budget that big we should see a railroad empire in a few years then.

[dudeface]

With a budget that big we should see a railroad empire in a few years then.

The catch is that it all has to be ordered off Amazon.

[dudeface]

All the light snow that it hasn't been snowing lately decided to all come down at once last night, so I don't think any railway building is going to happen this year.

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Drew, I hope the NVT has a snowplow...gh..

[GAP]

All the light snow that it hasn't been snowing lately decided to all come down at once last night, so I don't think any railway building is going to happen this year.
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Drew, I hope the NVT has a snowplow...gh..

Time to head inside and make models and to plan for next seasons track laying.

[drewzero1]

Drew, I hope the NVT has a snowplow...gh..

It does, but the driver must be able to tolerate the cold!

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(With some help from the big hand in the sky... Moke does not have anywhere near enough weight or traction to contend with the wet stuff we got this morning.)

[dudeface]

(With some help from the big hand in the sky... Moke does not have anywhere near enough weight or traction to contend with the wet stuff we got this morning.)

Time to bring out the Big Red Thing!

[drewzero1]

(With some help from the big hand in the sky... Moke does not have anywhere near enough weight or traction to contend with the wet stuff we got this morning.)

Time to bring out the Big Red Thing!

That one's even worse! It's essentially one wheel drive right now, and needs more weight too. I have a good medium diesel in the works but it's in need of repair after a failed toddler test.

[dudeface]

Good news: I found out this morning, to my surprise, that the rest of the 90' of track has been ordered!

[GAP]

Good news: I found out this morning, to my surprise, that the rest of the 90' of track has been ordered!

Yeeeee Haaaa!!!!!! go Miles the railroad tycoon

[drewzero1]

Go Miles Go!

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[dudeface]

By this point it's been about three weeks since this arrived... haven't been on the forum for a while.

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However, it would seem as though this is 12 sections of track instead of the 18 or so I needed to complete the loop.

Instead of removing the third rail or pretending it isn't there (I was planning on the latter) I've decided to pretend the BM&LO is a third-rail electric railway. Though I'm sure 18" gauge battery-electric locomotives have existed for use in mines, I doubt there has ever been a good reason to build an 18" gauge third-rail electric railway, but what the heck! In this case it will be battery-powered locos pretending to be running off track power instead of the other way around.....

[drewzero1]

I like the idea... I don't know of any 18 inch examples, and most of the narrow-gauge electric railways I've heard of used overhead wire, but a third rail could probably be explained by an industry where a catenary might be a hazard/easily damaged (forestry?) or overhead space is limited (a mine? a factory?). There is actually one passenger railway I can think of: Volk's Electric Railway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk%27s_Electric_Railway) uses a third rail but it's a bit wider at 2'8", and the third rail isn't centered, but I'd still consider that close enough that it could serve as a prototype.

Beyond the unique storytelling potential, another benefit of keeping the third rail is that it provides some rigidity to the track. After removing the third rail and half of the sleepers my modified O-gauge track is unsurprisingly very flimsy and requires extra support to keep it from twisting. So as much as I like the way mine looks I think keeping the center rail intact as you're doing is the smart way to go.

[dudeface]

There is actually one passenger railway I can think of: Volk's Electric Railway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk%27s_Electric_Railway) uses a third rail but it's a bit wider at 2'8", and the third rail isn't centered, but I'd still consider that close enough that it could serve as a prototype.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volk%27s_ ... _car_4.jpg
Something like this would be cool to have. Thanks Drew.

[dudeface]

Mad City Train Show haul....

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4 prewar Lionel trucks for $2 apiece (why didn't I just buy all 7? ) and a chassis for a trolley type thing for $3 which has a mechanism to reverse it when it bumps into something.

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And I won a door prize. I thought this was a model train magazine. Oh well.

[dudeface]

Yes, another new plan.
This way I'll also have access to both sides of the loop.