GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

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artfull dodger
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GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

Post by artfull dodger » Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:55 pm

This spring I made a decision to move away from narrow gauge and tight radius curves. To that end, I have bought/built a new raised railway under a large tree in our back yard. I found a set up, sans track, for $140 for sale locally online. It was built for indoor use, and is 10 foot wide with 25 foot long straight sections, while not weatherproof at first, nothing some outdoor paint and eventually some rolled roofing to weatherproof it. I spent the better part of a week before work painting all sides both top and bottom of each table section and reassembled it in my back yard, getting it eyeball level for the moment. I had enough LGB straight track on hand for both the main line and a passing siding on each side. LGB does not make the right diameter curves for the tables prexhisting curve. Piko does, thier R7 10 foot diameter is what I needed. I have bought half of the needed curves with the others to be purchased shortly. Then I need to find 2 more LGB wide radius RH turnouts to complete the track work. My railway will have 2 themes, one on each side of the layout. One side will be western USA for the Virginia & Truckee Railway and my Aster Reno 4-4-0. The other side will have the flair of the GWR mainline eventually with a station, signal box and semaphore signals. I am hunting a shallow depth station with platform, signal box and signals that can remain outdoors year round. I have the western area set up, but I plan to relocate it to the other side of the layout and put the GWR stuff where the western depot is now. Here are some pics of the layout getting set up, the temporary western area with the Reno and my 2 different sets of coaches(Marklin Maxi gauge one cars and Kalamazoo 1:24th coaches). Mike the Aspie
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DonW
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Re: GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

Post by DonW » Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:15 pm

Hi

If I read this right you are building a gauge 1 layout with a width of 10ft. That may be fine for US stock but is rather tight for UK Gauge 1. Something like the little B4 0-4-0 would be Ok I think but I would try and do a bit of checking what you intend to run and what curves it would need. My experiments with 0 gauge has shown that 4ft radius is about the minimum and would be impossible for some stock 6ft would be better. Of course if you are building all your own stock and are prepared to make compromises you could build your stuff to take tight curves although tricks like filling away the bck of cylinders to give room for a pony truck or bogie to swing wont be any use if you want live steamers.

Don

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artfull dodger
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Re: GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

Post by artfull dodger » Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:27 pm

10" curved is fine for most all gauge one live steam unless your getting into monster locomotives, which are way beyond my abilities to afford. The Bassett Lowke is good down to 8 foot as is the Reno. I am using Piko R7 curves mated to LGB straight and R3 turnouts. All work just fine with either of my live steam locomotives or any of my battery powered locos. I mostly run a pair of Marklin Maxi F7 diesels that I converted to onboard battery power. Even the other gauge one live steamers I hope to get eventually will be fine on my curves. I am trying to stay with alcohol burning, but a couple of the accucraft ones might tempt me to get another gas burner. An Aster Pannier Tank might be next years large purchase unless my UK dealer gets in another Bassett Lowke GWR engine. Mike
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Re: GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

Post by DonW » Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:55 pm

You obviously know what you are doing. I was just thinking that if the layout was 10ft wide your curve would be a shade under 5ft rather tighter than normal for G1. As with all these things putting a bit of track down at the proposed minimum radius and trying stock out is worth doing before you get too far.

Regards Don

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artfull dodger
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Re: GWR/V&T gauge one raised railway construction

Post by artfull dodger » Sun Jul 28, 2019 5:07 pm

Most gauge one steamers such as the Aster Castle class or King class need a 3 meter curve, which is 10'. Those are well beyond my means and much more complex locomotives being 4 cylinder compounds. I am autistic, and complex things and me do not get along, I have tried that route. So, vintage steam such as the Titley court with its type C boiler is about as complex as I want. A pot boiler is even better and simplier and my next engine I am considering is such a boiler. The layout is in the lee of the house, so its very calm wind wise at the layout location most of the year. The V&T aspect will be phased out(The Reno and coaches are for sale) and I will concentrated on copper chimney GWR locomoitves. The TItley Court is rated for 8 foot curves, which it will do just fine. I tested it thru some LGB R3 track that I have on hand. Thats another nice aspect of vintage live steam, most can manage much tighter curves that many current models. I looked at a Caldonian Railway 0-6-2 and the trailing truck had so little swing, combined with flanges on all drivers, that model was going to require a HUGE curve diameter to operate well. So smart shopping and doing some research before handing over the funds is very important. I can highly recommend Kevin at The Station Masters Rooms, I had the model in the USA in 3 days! Excellent packing for safe, damage free shipping. I find he has the largest selection of second hand Gauge 1 and Gauge 0 on the web. Very helpful for the UK train fan that lives very far away. Cheers Mike the Aspie
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