The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

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ge_rik
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:04 pm

I do enjoy seeing newly laid track - it is a foretaste of what is to come .....

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Red Star » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:19 pm

Have really enjoyed reading through this Trevor, and your point building has given me the confidence to have a go (I'm using Cliff Barker track) - I've had a few copies of the 16mm association point plans printed for a year or so but only just ordered chairs from Cliff, I'll be using a mix of the extended sleepers he supplies and some homemade plastic ones.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Nov 05, 2021 10:19 am

Red Star wrote: Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:19 pm Have really enjoyed reading through this Trevor, and your point building has given me the confidence to have a go (I'm using Cliff Barker track) - I've had a few copies of the 16mm association point plans printed for a year or so but only just ordered chairs from Cliff, I'll be using a mix of the extended sleepers he supplies and some homemade plastic ones.

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I'm glad that it has been of interest.

Don't be frightened of making points - it isn't difficult as long as you can hacksaw, and file you will be fine.

I have roller gauges which I made on the lathe, but track gauges are available to buy as well. The only points I would make are that I don't use the slide chairs which only hold the outside of the rail, and that check rail chairs give the wrong gap for 16mm scale.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Red Star » Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:03 pm

I'm starting to realise it's more simple than it appears, partly it was the soldering of the stainless steel rail to copper clad fibreglass strip (I do have some of the stainless steel flux, but my soldering isn't great at the best of times - good enough for basic electrics though), and partly the apparent complexity of points.

I'm using track gauges assembled from thick plastic sheeting (basic but they do the job). I've stuck to the standard slide on chairs and the check chairs (don't mind that the gap isn't to scale, can't see any issues with it)

Andrew

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:48 pm

I’ve only just spotted this - sorry.

The issue with the check rail on points is that the wrong gap can allow stock to derail. Even in our scale the check rail is guiding the wheels away from the frog. If the gap is too wide the wheel can climb the frog and cause derailments.

On a long curve it isn’t so critical. Yes it would stop the other wheel climbing the outer rail if it were correct but is unlikely to actually be needed.

It has been suggested to me that on the viaduct real narrow gauge practice might have been to impose a speed limit rather than a check rail. That is just as valid an argument in the scale model.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:05 pm

The Railway in the Valley of the Mill seems to have survived the winter fairly well. Now that the weather here in SW Wales has improved it seems like it's time to get outside again.

I have some track to re-ballast, but the main thing which is holding back further extension is the task of finishing off what I started last year.

I have had a goods shed and a pile of fencing for TanyBwlch station sitting in the workshop all winter. That complex track layout hadn't quite quite met my expectations - fitting the goods shed means modifying the track to make room for it. So yesterday I lifted most of it. The far road - the "down" line - was fine - it was the convoluted curves to fit the crossover in, and the limited room between the tracks, that was the issue.

I have relaid most of it, and straightened out the "up" line in the station. The goods line now has room for the goods shed:
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The curves in the bottom end of the goods loop are a bit tight - but it really only needs to be able to accommodate 4 wheel wagons, and no locomotive need pass around these curves. So they will suffice. I suppose it's one of the disadvantages of trying to create a model of something with only a third of the real length.
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Of course there are knock on effects as things get changed.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Peter Butler » Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:32 pm

The weather here in S W Wales has inspired us both to work on our railways, you have achieved much more than I have managed, but it is a start. Good to see you back Trevor.
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:36 pm

In having modified the track layout the footbridge needed to be lengthened. Not an issue, new components based on the original components were printed overnight, and fitted into place this morning. Just needs the paint adding tomorrow and it will be ready to go into position:
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The next modification is needed to fit the coal siding and the coal drops in alongside the goods shed.

You might notice from the photographs that last year I completed most of the retaining wall below the track bed. The weather closed progress on that down with just a 5 ft long section to complete. So the structure below the track is now wider at the station, and that was intended to allow the track bed to be widened to take the coal siding. I have a rough model of the coal drops ready to print. It isn't finished yet - as I expect to only be able to fit in part of the coal drops. This is the basic model based on information provided by David John:
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:16 am

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:32 pm The weather here in S W Wales has inspired us both to work on our railways, you have achieved much more than I have managed, but it is a start. Good to see you back Trevor.
Thanks Peter.

Should have quite a bit done in time for a proper group meeting here in the summer.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Old Man Aaron » Sat Apr 02, 2022 11:39 am

The new arrangement looks like it'll work much better. Just a shame you're having to rearrange things to work the space. Brilliant work as always!
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:33 pm

I managed to make a small amount of progress before the weather went cold again - concrete to form a base for the coal siding:
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and the track re-laid onto the concrete:
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That includes 2 off 3 D printed wagon turntables to feed the coal drops (as per the prototype). So there is just enough room for the goods-shed.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:36 pm

Old Man Aaron wrote: Sat Apr 02, 2022 11:39 am The new arrangement looks like it'll work much better. Just a shame you're having to rearrange things to work the space. Brilliant work as always!
The big difference is that I now have more information about the prototype - and of course I had to make use of that information. Well better to try it and modify it than to never make it in the first place.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Scrat » Tue Apr 05, 2022 8:54 am

Great work.

What about leaving the added section of the footbridge as it is or paint it in a slightly different colour to show that it had been repaired at some time?

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:34 am

That's looking very good. The goods shed is especially nice - it's going to be a challenge to propel wagons through it though!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:32 am

Scrat wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 8:54 am Great work.

What about leaving the added section of the footbridge as it is or paint it in a slightly different colour to show that it had been repaired at some time?
I will give that some thought!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:33 am

Andrew wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:34 am That's looking very good. The goods shed is especially nice - it's going to be a challenge to propel wagons through it though!
I am fitting ball races to most of my wagons - and they actually go through it under gravity as per the prototype.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Wed Apr 06, 2022 10:01 am

Trevor Thompson wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:33 am
Andrew wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:34 am That's looking very good. The goods shed is especially nice - it's going to be a challenge to propel wagons through it though!
I am fitting ball races to most of my wagons - and they actually go through it under gravity as per the prototype.

Trevor
Brilliant!

A couple of my wagons have roller bearings and it is amazing how free running they are...

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by SimonWood » Fri Apr 08, 2022 5:30 pm

This is looking great Trevor. I'm really looking forward to seeing the coal drops in situ.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:24 pm

It has taken a while to actually do it, but I have installed the fencing and all the buildings in a semi permanent way, and re-ballasted everything:
IMG_2180.JPG
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The coal drops are almost ready to print, well as much of them as I can actually get into the space available:
Screenshot 2022-04-21 at 15.23.02.png
Screenshot 2022-04-21 at 15.23.02.png (117.37 KiB) Viewed 2976 times
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:24 pm

That ballasting looks very effective, Trevor. Can't wait to see what the coal drops look like.

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