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 » Sat Dec 10, 2022 4:39 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 1:18 pm Trevor, perhaps a bicycle cable (Bowden cable) could be fitted to operate the point further from your lever? I have successfully used them, one about 3m. long, which works perfectly. The outer cable can be covered in ballast with a short wire visible at the end if required.
Thanks for the reminder Peter - I should have remembered that. I like the idea of burying it in the ballast.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Sun Dec 11, 2022 10:06 am

Love the ground frame.

Also interesting to see the hedge 'naked' as it were, makes it so much easier to see what the route of the railway beyond this point is going to be, compared to when it is fully foliaged... Of course once the line is cut and then the leaves return in spring it will become a useful and attractive 'scenic break' again!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Old Man Aaron » Thu Dec 15, 2022 11:49 am

Coming on well as always.

Love the "Victorian-Era" ballast. I keep a pair of deep-flanged "pizza cutter" toy train wheelsets to swap out on one of my plastic open wagons. I push the wagon to and fro, to clear the flangeway area, after applying dry ballast mixes over the top of sleepers, prior to gluing it all down. If the pizza-cutters run without crunching over ballast, the proper 16mm wheels will, too.

As for anchoring down your crank bases, I think mechanical reinforcement is needed. You could drill holes through the bases, (or include in the prints) and use the stainless wire to "pin" the bases down, driving perhaps 2" lengths into the ballast with a hammer and/or pliers. Just a thought.
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Aaron - Scum Class Works

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Dec 16, 2022 10:27 am

Old Man Aaron wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 11:49 am Coming on well as always.

Love the "Victorian-Era" ballast. I keep a pair of deep-flanged "pizza cutter" toy train wheelsets to swap out on one of my plastic open wagons. I push the wagon to and fro, to clear the flangeway area, after applying dry ballast mixes over the top of sleepers, prior to gluing it all down. If the pizza-cutters run without crunching over ballast, the proper 16mm wheels will, too.

As for anchoring down your crank bases, I think mechanical reinforcement is needed. You could drill holes through the bases, (or include in the prints) and use the stainless wire to "pin" the bases down, driving perhaps 2" lengths into the ballast with a hammer and/or pliers. Just a thought.
A wagon with deep flanges is a good idea. I will have to try that.

I think that mechanical fixings might be needed - but I will wait for the weather to warm up enough to ballast the bases - and see if that combined with the glue does the trick.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:11 am

My printed cranks are screwed down, using small brass screws. It only really takes one small screw to stop it lifting and the surrounding ballast and adhesive keep it in place. Mine are on a timber base, so its easy, but it should be fairly simple to drill and plug your concrete base.
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:19 pm

The 2023 extension has been started!

I have even laid some concrete:
IMG_2730.JPG
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I am digging out the cutting and have broken through the old hedge bank. You can just make out two wooden pegs in the cutting which indicate the level of the top of the track bed. Not much more to remove before shuttering for the next length of trackbed. This is what it looks like from the other side:
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Not quite got down to the proper depth yet in the tunnel, but it isn't far out. The wooden frame in the gap will form the shuttering for the base of the tunnel - so the gap needs to be a bit wider. I think some form of path near the tunnel to allow easy access from one side to the other when controlling a loco might be a good idea. That involves either another cutting or steps over the bank. Perhaps a combination of the two.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Sat Feb 04, 2023 7:31 am

With the evidence of roots and stones removed from the trench, it looks like that cut and cover tunnel has been hard work.
Looking forward to seeing the head of steel (or brass / nickel silver) following the head of concrete.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sat Feb 04, 2023 9:54 am

ge_rik wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 7:31 am With the evidence of roots and stones removed from the trench, it looks like that cut and cover tunnel has been hard work.
Looking forward to seeing the head of steel (or brass / nickel silver) following the head of concrete.

Rik
Yep - there were loads of large roots in the way - had to use the chain saw to remove them!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:31 pm

Yesterday I completed digging out the tunnel, and fitted all of the shuttering. Today I poured the concrete:
IMG_2732.JPG
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and a close up of the tunnel floor:
IMG_2733.JPG
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Bit cold at the moment so I used some antifreeze / accelerator in the concrete. We are due a frost tonight. I hope to be building the tunnel itself tomorrow.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:56 pm

Impressive work!

The railway will be very useful carrying produce from that distant veg patch! Some bespoke 3D printed spud and leek carriers may be required...

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:31 pm

That does look good, Trevor

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:21 am

Andrew wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:56 pm Impressive work!

The railway will be very useful carrying produce from that distant veg patch! Some bespoke 3D printed spud and leek carriers may be required...
I had better use a generous loading gauge for the tunnel then!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:23 am

Trevor Thompson wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:21 am
Andrew wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 3:56 pm Impressive work!

The railway will be very useful carrying produce from that distant veg patch! Some bespoke 3D printed spud and leek carriers may be required...
I had better use a generous loading gauge for the tunnel then!
Those are some mighty big leeks you're growing there Trevor!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:16 pm

The station building is now finished and installed on the railway:
IMG_2747.JPG
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The goods shed is temporarily in place to mark its footprint in the station area. All three buildings are set in dry mortar and levelled. I am looking for a damp night tonight. and from the other end:
IMG_2740.JPG
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I made the tunnel yesterday, and you can see the its mouth in the distance. The tunnel is made from old bricks, with paving slabs for a roof. I am going to hide the bricks by cladding the entrances with stonework , and extending that to edge the cutting each side of the trackbed.

Finally a low level photo which shows some of the detail:
IMG_2738.JPG
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The adverts were printed onto self adhesive photographic paper, mounted on a printed backing, and varnished. Just need some customers to occupy the seats under the veranda.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Peter Butler » Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:26 pm

The buildings look magnificent on site, you are making excellent progress, particularly at this time of year!
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:01 pm

That last picture of the station from low level is simply superb. You must repeat that shot once everything has settled down and weathered in, it will be difficult to tell it from the real thing.
Philip

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:26 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:26 pm The buildings look magnificent on site, you are making excellent progress, particularly at this time of year!
Thanks Peter!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sat Feb 11, 2023 11:34 am

The weather has broken for a few days - we are getting drizzle here at the moment, so progress is temporarily slowed down!

I managed to start to recover the tunnel before it got wet, and to select some rocks from the pile to start the cuttings leading to the down hill end of the tunnel:
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The other end of the tunnel is quite bare at the moment:
IMG_2753.JPG
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All that soil I pulled onto an "embankment" needs sorting out - some will go over the tunnel, and some will remain as a reduced embankment ready to take the plastic shuttering for the next length of trackbed leading along the bank. I had envisioned the embankment having a stone facing and the brickwork of the tunnel being hidden under stonework as well.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Sat Feb 11, 2023 6:14 pm

That's worked out well, Trevor.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:21 pm

ge_rik wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 6:14 pm That's worked out well, Trevor.
Having seen it in person, I can confirm it definitely has worked out well. And the printed Tanygrisiau building is just incredible - it just looks so good in situ.

Image

I’ve taken a few more photos of the RVOM.
Last edited by SimonWood on Tue Feb 14, 2023 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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