The Potters Orchid Railway

A place for the discussion of garden railways and any garden style/scale portable and/or indoor layouts
User avatar
FWLR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 4262
Joined: Sat Aug 05, 2017 9:45 am
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:44 am

Some real serious construction work being done there….

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:16 pm

FWLR wrote: Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:44 am Some real serious construction work being done there….
We have fierce storms here in Summer, down pours, then heat and humidity, and the bush turkeys will scratch and tear up every thing so the Lever Frame needed a secure fixing base with a good weather proof cover for the frames. Every spider and mud wasp known to man kind along with cane toads will also move in. There is 12 cables emanating from the frame, we had the timber for boxing squirreled away in corners of the workshops and we had two bags of premix left over from the track bed laying so away we went on a Sunny Queensland Winter Morning. It was nice to use up materials laying about. We may also be able to use the boxing again for the Potters Junction Lever frame base but that will be later this year or next year, so I will prise it off carefully.
I am dreading making up the production line of signal assembly. Errrrrr Yukkkkkk.I best chase these up, the kits were held up waiting for their wooden posts.
When the signals and light wire runs are in place then MAM and I can start the process of Terra Forming with advice from Slartibartfast , that will be fun. MAM is itching to start planting but that is still a long way away at our current rate of progress.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

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

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by FWLR » Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:05 am

Anne is the same as MAM. She wants to plant more stuff and get her little Slate Mine built, but at the moment, we are having some seriously heavy rain…So that is on the back burner. Seems like you are both in the Tropics with all that wildlife. But I suppose some parts of Australia is classed has being Tropical.

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:04 am

This weekend the S & T contractors have been on the job at the POR.
The head foredog and leading sheephand are contemplating installation of the Modratec frame.

Image

The old base for a jig that was used to make time trial handle bars for the Australian Cycling team some 18 years ago was chopped up and re-purposed for the base for the lever frame.
A few holes here, a few threads here, a stainless steel screw here and there and some brass in there and over there.

Image

Image

Image

Then the contractors left the workshop for the on site work this lovely winter's day in Queensland. The wind is blowing and branchs are falling all about but the mob presses on. A few 6mm Dyno bolts and the frame and base is in.
Connecting up begins. First the points. All works as sweet as can be expected. No problem.


Image

Image

Image

Image

Then the signal with the longest wire run (3.5m ) to the frame was next, I only have one prototype signal at this time. (Pendle Valley Kit). I had to muck about with the crank dimensions to take up the lost motion. One wants too much travel and then it is easier to elongate the crank holes the wire and or rod hooks into. In the end we have a win. Now to take some final dimensions and tweak the pencil drawings before committing all to CAD drawings.


Image

Image

Image

What the driver and fireman will see when they leaving the cutting and about to cross the MVR under arch bridge, the distant for the Orchid Loop points. There will be a short tunnel behind # 1 Distant.

Image

The day will come when all the signals are in place (the signals are only in place for running days), the light wires laid and then the terra forming begins, followed by the paths and picnic table bench etc. Maybe by summer 2019/2020 most will be in place. Till then it looks like a building site but there is a tidy vision there.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
pandsrowe
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: West Norfolk, UK

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by pandsrowe » Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:13 am

Dazza, lots of progress there I do wonder sometimes how many hours there are in a day in Australia, clearly more than the UK!
I have now managed to buy a roll of gear casing so hopefully I will be remotely operating my points in the near future. One question, when looking for suppliers of 1.2mm stainless wire I see the majority are selling it anealled, presumably so it can be rolled up easily for posting. Do you think that this may cause a problem as opposed to using hard wire?
Phil

User avatar
Peter Butler
Driver
Driver
Posts: 5219
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:33 pm
Location: West Wales

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Peter Butler » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:43 am

Excellent work there Dazza, I like 'manual' solutions as my knowledge of electronics is zero!
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by FWLR » Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:31 am

Pretty impressive Dazza…

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:01 pm

pandsrowe wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:13 am Dazza, lots of progress there I do wonder sometimes how many hours there are in a day in Australia, clearly more than the UK!
I have now managed to buy a roll of gear casing so hopefully I will be remotely operating my points in the near future. One question, when looking for suppliers of 1.2mm stainless wire I see the majority are selling it anealled, presumably so it can be rolled up easily for posting. Do you think that this may cause a problem as opposed to using hard wire?
Sun up, I get going, Saturday I was out the door at first light , 6am to pick up and drop off bike frames to my painter, then home via a bike shop. 10.00 am I have a late breakfast. Then it was Red Room till 7.00pm. MAM was away for the weekend at a painting class.
6.00am Sunday, into the workshop before breakfast, finish off the frame base and down to the POR to install. I finished at 7.30pm after spending a full hour with a hack saw in hand cutting through a 140 x 70mm block of Aluminum. This is for making a former for my boiler making. (I am avoiding wood for my formers) That worked up some persperation and I was huffing and puffing along. Helps to keep me fit :-)
Just get stuck in, life for me is projects. Remember, we have no children, so no grand children and much to chagrin my nephew lives 1000kms away. I can only hope he can visit to enjoy some running days in the near years to come.

Regards wire.
Anealled is not what you want. I used Ebay to find 1.00 and 1.20mm wire. I used 1.20 wire for the short runs to the points but I used 1.00mm wire to the signal which is a 3.5m run. It seems to be good. I got some before to try but I need more, yesterday while eating breakfast I got from Ebay

304 Stainless Steel Rope Single Bright Hard Wire 0.2mm - 3mm Various Len...
SKU: Diameter: 1.2mm, Length: 50 Meters
Total: AU $31.31
Last edited by Hydrostatic Dazza on Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:04 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:43 am Excellent work there Dazza, I like 'manual' solutions as my knowledge of electronics is zero!
Thanks. Same here for Electronic knowledge and skills, however if there was a plug in and switch on system I would buy and use it, so I can spend more time making locos. I am being taxed to hook up the LED lights etc.
However with the interlocking frame it is just like the full size system. I like that.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:09 pm

FWLR wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:31 am Pretty impressive Dazza…

Thanks, I am in reality just doing what others have done before. I am just devoting time to it all with MAM's support, so friends and new friends and families can visit on running day feasts, so we can enjoy wine and beer and lots of smelly cheeses, before feasting on MAM's famous roast dinners or barbie.
I want to laugh as the cheer sinks in with the confusion using the lever frames :-)
However a simple disconnect of two points and one can trail through the loops.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:25 pm

I forgot to add, due to the track not being ready and the current dry and winds and resulting fire bans the training at the Mary Valley Rattler was cancelled. The first steam hauled test/training trains were supposed to go down the branch. A full dress rehearsal etc. So I stayed home and worked on the POR instead.
https://www.maryvalleyrattler.com.au/
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
IanC
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 798
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 9:15 am
Location: Nr. Warrington, Cheshire

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by IanC » Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:09 pm

Hydrostatic Dazza wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:25 pm I forgot to add, due to the track not being ready and the current dry and winds and resulting fire bans the training at the Mary Valley Rattler was cancelled. The first steam hauled test/training trains were supposed to go down the branch. A full dress rehearsal etc. So I stayed home and worked on the POR instead.
https://www.maryvalleyrattler.com.au/
We had a spell like that in the UK. Most places have lifted their steam ban now though I think. On our railway firemen are expected to secondman the replacement diesels so only time off for drivers.
Ian

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:04 pm

IanC wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:09 pm
Hydrostatic Dazza wrote: Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:25 pm I forgot to add, due to the track not being ready and the current dry and winds and resulting fire bans the training at the Mary Valley Rattler was cancelled. The first steam hauled test/training trains were supposed to go down the branch. A full dress rehearsal etc. So I stayed home and worked on the POR instead.
https://www.maryvalleyrattler.com.au/
We had a spell like that in the UK. Most places have lifted their steam ban now though I think. On our railway firemen are expected to secondman the replacement diesels so only time off for drivers.
Same here, we have to be passed out on the Diseasels (eventually for me, some time in the months, year to come I will get some hours in 1632) however with no track access again as more rectification work continues means not much training for some of us. Diesels can also start fires, amazing how many sparks they can throw into night sky. The drought here is big. Multiply the area of France three times to get an idea of how bad it is here. It is very grim. Not sure when Steam will be on the Mary Valley Branch.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
pandsrowe
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: West Norfolk, UK

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by pandsrowe » Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:37 pm

Dazza, having followed your description of how you are operating your points I wonder if you would be good enough to answer a couple of questions for me. I have now got some gear casing and stainless wire ready to do a similar arrangement on my points, I'm wondering how you cut them. The gear casing could be cut with cutters but I suspect that would crush the casing and a hacksaw I think would fray it. Also the stainless wire that I have got is dead hard, OK I could cut it with wire cutters but I don't think the cutters would last very long and soon develope gouges on the cutting edges rendering them useless.
Any pointers as to how you have dealt with this would be much appreciated.
Phil

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

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:41 pm

Hi Phil,

You need one of these or similar:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/x-tools-pro-cab ... 4066957368

Don't try and use anything else, it won't cut the cable cleanly.

I own such a tool as I tinker with bikes.

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:36 pm

pandsrowe wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 8:37 pm Dazza, having followed your description of how you are operating your points I wonder if you would be good enough to answer a couple of questions for me. I have now got some gear casing and stainless wire ready to do a similar arrangement on my points, I'm wondering how you cut them. The gear casing could be cut with cutters but I suspect that would crush the casing and a hacksaw I think would fray it. Also the stainless wire that I have got is dead hard, OK I could cut it with wire cutters but I don't think the cutters would last very long and soon develope gouges on the cutting edges rendering them useless.
Any pointers as to how you have dealt with this would be much appreciated.
? are welcome. Sharing is fun. As Tom Tom mentions, you need the bike gear cable casing cutter as per his link or similar.
For the stainless wire, use junk cutters knowing it will die or a Dremel with the cut off discs. A Dremel or mini die grinder with the small cut off discs are simply brilliant . Slice through egg shell or tool steel. Can you bend the stainless wire end over 90 degrees with pliers ? If not you might need to cook it up with a small torch to anneal it.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
pandsrowe
Trainee Fireman
Trainee Fireman
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: West Norfolk, UK

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by pandsrowe » Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:13 am

Thanks to you both, brilliant solutions. The pro tool looks a very handy tool to have in the workshop for all sorts of other applications and would you believe I never thought about using a Dremel. Obviously a brain malfunction as I've been using mine over the last couple of days for cutting the track I'm laying! :roll:
Phil

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:32 am

I was off to empty the scrape bowl to the worm farm and compost bin and our local Green Tree Snake who we suspect lives in the walls of the garden railway is warming his or herself up in the spring weather and no doubt off to gobble up skinks and grass hoppers etc. (they are not venomous and have large eyes as the do hunt at night as well) Lovely little fella. We had some rain recently and warm weather so the weeds are off and racing these last two weeks.

Image
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

User avatar
Andrew
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3247
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, UK
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Andrew » Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:50 am

That's a fine-looking beastie - rather more impressive than the slow worms that sometimes visit my line, although I'm very fond of those...

I don't blame the snake for choosing to admire your permanent way at close-range, that's a lovely smooth curve in the background. You're going to end up with a wonderful railway...

Andrew.

User avatar
Hydrostatic Dazza
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1167
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:17 am
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: The Potters Orchid Railway

Post by Hydrostatic Dazza » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:30 pm

It seems that a family resides in the wall at the Orchid House Loop. MAM reckons we name the area "Tree Snake Curve" . MAM and I will take care when the time comes to do the terra forming, leaving a passage for them into the wall.
The little skinks are going to live a dangerous life this summer around the POR.


Image
Last edited by Hydrostatic Dazza on Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Cheers from Dazza, The Hydrostatic Lubricator 8)
The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Douglas Adams

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests