Garden Railway Forum

It was great to meet a fellow forum member and to see a Roundhouse 'Little John' in the metal. There has been talk of the slow running capabilities of this loco which after having a run with it are all down to the R/C transmitter that Roundhouse supply. I reckon once Mark has fitted it out with Deltang it will be a great little shunter (and if you need help Mark I will fit it for you, only if I get to have a go though)

The CHLR beer wagon is very large, plenty of ale to be had by crews of both railways in the future.

As Mark mentioned, he kindly delivered the water tower he recently had for sale. Here are some photos of it although I am still playing around with where to position it on the railway:


I also won this bridge on eBay recently which cost the same price as a wagon kit from IP Engineering including postage!


The bridge is made from metal angle and has been constructed to a high standard. The position of it in the photos is where I am aiming for it to be installed which will allow access to the inner loop for planting (once I have worked out how to make it removable using the existing raised track wood post design).

That bridge is nice Tom, should look good when in position.
Presumably the water tower has been converted to a diesel fuel tower, judging from the photo's?

philipy wrote: Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:47 pm Presumably the water tower has been converted to a diesel fuel tower, judging from the photo's?

Don't know yet, could still be a water tower?

I was going to leave the fitting of the bridge to the winter so to not disturb the running of trains this summer, however, it was a nice day today and I needed a break from painting the shed!

First up, the timber has held up well all these years (it was installed in 2012)


And now, we have a bridge!


But I am not happy with my first attempt at installing it as due to the rail height which you can see in the below pictures the bridge cannot just sit on the deck:


I knew this was going to be a problem when I started, however, at the time I was going to raise the track bed of the bridge but after a bit of a think my next idea is to cut off both ends of the deck so they are straight and then use some metal angle so I can adjust the height of the bridge to that of the track.

Back to work tomorrow so it will have to be as is for a while

I don't think you'll be far off by the time you place the track on the bridge - maybe the thickness of the flat blue steel deck lower that you need to be - maybe add some more metal bar to the bridge deck (i.e.) make it double thickness, before adding track?

How about a couple of half inch wooden blocks under the bridge supports?

Rik

Thanks for the suggestions, maybe something like this?

http://www.16mm.org.uk/2015/08/01/mom2015-08/

Yes, even better - wooden support will look even better than more ironwork, be cheaper (?) as well

Although the wood decked option looked brilliant for under £20 I went for more iron work:


The additional angle needs more adjustment and attaching permanently to the bridge but it's looking promising!

Should I be pop riveting the new aluminium angle to the bridge base or can I just use nuts/bolts?

I don't have a pop rivet gun but they are cheap enough if needed.

Pop-rivet guns are incredibly useful things to have around the house for all manner of jobs, it would handle this perfectly.

tom_tom_go wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:33 pm Should I be pop riveting the new aluminium angle to the bridge base or can I just use nuts/bolts?

I don't have a pop rivet gun but they are cheap enough if needed.

I can't see why either wouldn't be perfectly Ok. I agree with Peter, though a pop rivetter can be very useful and its the sort of thing you don't know you are going to need until the need arises, as in this case. So I'd suggest getting one anyway, as you say, they are cheap enough.

Pop Rivets are fun - if slightly scary when you don't quite know when they are going to pop - as a Landrover owner, mine is always near the top of my toolbox!

tom_tom_go wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:33 pm Should I be pop riveting the new aluminium angle to the bridge base or can I just use nuts/bolts?

It's a lot easier to dismantle a bolted joint and they can be adjusted if necessary.

The 'pop' rivet was developed to fit two parts together where there is no access to the back of the joint, hence the name blind rivet.

I do note though that the bridge appears to have been assembled with blind rivets as well as screws, so using either for the added parts would blend in.

I can't remember when I last used blind rivets and I don't own a rivet gun. I seem to get by though.......

Regards,
Graeme

Thanks guys. I ordered one anyway but may bolt it together first to make sure it all works before riveting.

At least it will be another new skill I have learned since playing trains (stuff I should of been taught in school).

I do love that bridge looks like its very well made .and your water tower looks ace

tom_tom_go wrote: Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:18 pm The loop nearing completion with a revised track layout so I can have an siding be it a small one:






For anyone starting out on their line I would recommend buying a chop saw at it makes life so much easier for you

All comments appreciated!

Cheers,

Tom

Can you tell me what radius that is please Tom, i.e. area 3’,4’,5’ not much idea on radius, never have.

Hi Rod,

I used Peco 605 set track curves although if space permits go for a larger radius.

Trackshack are a good supplier of Peco track:

http://www.track-shack.com/acatalog/Pec ... T-605.html

Peco ST-605 = 30inch radius = 60inch diam. centre to centre. You would have to add the total width of the sleepers plus clearance to that.
Grant.
PS as Tom says, go bigger if possible, that is a very tight radius.

One thing to remember with pop rivets is that although the rivet is ally, the stem is steel. In an outside environment this will soon rust and cause unsightly stains, although I do appreciate that this is something that you might want.
The heads on these rivets do sometimes fall out of the rivet as the stem breaks off and sometimes it is possible to drive the head of the stem out if you so wish.