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 » Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm

Andrew wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 4:36 pm
Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance


That's VERY impressive! How long will the completed line be?
Excuse the delay in replying - I had to get the tape out!

The current length of running line is 250 feet. From the head shunt in the terminus to the second path crossing. Excluding passing loops and sidings of course. From the current end of line to the hedge is 55 feet, and from the hedge to the back of the greenhouse another 85 feet.

Once I get through the hedge there is the continuation of the bank running behind the vegetable beds which I plan to build on ( tidying up the bank as I go). It means another bank to dig out, a wall to build and a footpath to lay. That received a positive response, but the track on top of the wall may yet incur resistance. Just got to explain the benefits of the plan properly! In the same way the bank behind the greenhouse is an overgrown mess - which I have just finished trimming, so a terminus here has to be an improvement.

So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Mon May 30, 2022 3:23 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm
Andrew wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 4:36 pm
Trevor Thompson wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 2:46 pm

We are working our way to terminate the line behind that green house you can see in the distance


That's VERY impressive! How long will the completed line be?
Excuse the delay in replying - I had to get the tape out!

The current length of running line is 250 feet. From the head shunt in the terminus to the second path crossing. Excluding passing loops and sidings of course. From the current end of line to the hedge is 55 feet, and from the hedge to the back of the greenhouse another 85 feet.

Once I get through the hedge there is the continuation of the bank running behind the vegetable beds which I plan to build on ( tidying up the bank as I go). It means another bank to dig out, a wall to build and a footpath to lay. That received a positive response, but the track on top of the wall may yet incur resistance. Just got to explain the benefits of the plan properly! In the same way the bank behind the greenhouse is an overgrown mess - which I have just finished strimming, so a terminus here has to be an improvement.

So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.

Trevor

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Andrew » Mon May 30, 2022 4:05 pm

Trevor Thompson wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 3:21 pm
So the completed line should be roughly 1.6 scale miles long.
Aha! That's what I was really getting at, I think - and it's VERY impressive!

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Tue May 31, 2022 8:26 am

Wow, that is impressive! Particularly so given the high quality of your tracklaying

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Thu Jun 02, 2022 2:36 pm

Thanks for the complements Andrew and Rick.

I have tried the first fit of the coal drops. They are not quite complete, but they fit in position OK. As in they fit where they touch! Some concrete work to add to complete the place where they go. But it is clear that they are going to fit:
IMG_2217.JPG
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And I have been mixing concrete again. So the next section is starting to progress:
IMG_2218.JPG
IMG_2218.JPG (4.83 MiB) Viewed 2851 times
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Lonsdaler » Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:26 pm

Will a Strimmer be the weapon of choice for the grassed areas between the tracks?
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Peter Butler » Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:29 pm

Lonsdaler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:26 pm Will a Strimmer be the weapon of choice for the grassed areas between the tracks?
Sheep might be better to keep the cuttings off the track.
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Lonsdaler » Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:21 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:29 pm
Lonsdaler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:26 pm Will a Strimmer be the weapon of choice for the grassed areas between the tracks?
Sheep might be better to keep the cuttings off the track.
Ah, good option if you have them available👍 Just watch out for unexpected items in the running area😅
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:43 pm

Lonsdaler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:21 pm
Peter Butler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:29 pm
Lonsdaler wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 5:26 pm Will a Strimmer be the weapon of choice for the grassed areas between the tracks?
Sheep might be better to keep the cuttings off the track.
Ah, good option if you have them available👍 Just watch out for unexpected items in the running area😅
IMG_2227.JPG
IMG_2227.JPG (2.31 MiB) Viewed 2674 times
I could always borrow a sheep from Rodney ( the farmer next door ). But they don't half make a mess!

So I think its back to the strimmer and the battery grass trimmer. Then it is just a matter of using the garden vacuum to clear the loose leaves.

Trevor
Last edited by Trevor Thompson on Tue Jun 07, 2022 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:54 pm

The track bed is progressing:
IMG_2221.JPG
IMG_2221.JPG (3.91 MiB) Viewed 2678 times
I am casting the trackbed in situ rather than using gravel boards on their sides. The end result follows the hillside more accurately, with nice flowing curves rather than straight lines with corners. The uPVC strips from last year are still working as shuttering. Again I am making a ladder structure as I go along, leaving the rungs of the ladder in place permanently. Last time I made the rungs from timber, but now I have left over bits of recycled board - just the right size for this:
IMG_2222.JPG
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To keep the grass away from the track as much as I can I am making the side of the cutting out of stone. The down hill side will just have to be strimmed.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Tue Jun 07, 2022 4:46 pm

I'm running out of ways to say how good it looks! :D

BTW, did you print the slates on the building on the RHS? They look very realistic! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Tue Jun 07, 2022 11:39 pm

philipy wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 4:46 pm I'm running out of ways to say how good it looks! :D

BTW, did you print the slates on the building on the RHS? They look very realistic! :lol: :lol: :lol:
All the buildings in the photo are entirely printed.

I have gone over to making all my buildings on the printer, and adding all of the detail, slates and stonework, on the computer.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:35 am

Hi Trevor,
Yes I know you print all of your buildings, and make an excellent job of them, that was the point of my rather feeble joke... I was actually asking if you had printed the slates on your house at the RHS of the picture. ;)
Philip

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by ge_rik » Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:56 am

philipy wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:35 am Hi Trevor,
Yes I know you print all of your buildings, and make an excellent job of them, that was the point of my rather feeble joke... I was actually asking if you had printed the slates on your house at the RHS of the picture. ;)
I can't find an emoji for 'groan' ......... :roll:
:lol:

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Jimmyb » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:08 am

ge_rik wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:56 am
philipy wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:35 am Hi Trevor,
Yes I know you print all of your buildings, and make an excellent job of them, that was the point of my rather feeble joke... I was actually asking if you had printed the slates on your house at the RHS of the picture. ;)
I can't find an emoji for 'groan' ......... :roll:
:lol:

Rik
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Fri Jun 10, 2022 10:33 am

:dontknow: :dontknow: :lol: :lol:

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by philipy » Fri Jun 10, 2022 10:56 am

;)
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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:58 pm

Things are still moving forward on the railway in the valley of the mill - even though it is a bit hot out there at the moment.

Firstly the path which follows the first extension behind the cottage is now almost finished. The membrane and gravel are in place, and half of the handrail is installed:
IMG_2275.JPG
IMG_2275.JPG (3.3 MiB) Viewed 2755 times

and the latest extension is well underway. I have now started to install the wider trackbed where the next passing place / station will fit:

IMG_2277.JPG
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I will go out there again later when it has cooled down to lay stonework under the plastic shuttering. Partly to act as shuttering and partly to reduce the quantity of concrete I have to wheelbarrow up a hill. It looks a bit odd at the moment but an explanation follows:
Screenshot 2022-07-16 at 14.37.20.png
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This is roughly what I am attempting to create. The track comes in from the right, widens into a passing loop, and finishes with two parallel sidings. The inspiration for the layout is the Victorian arrangement at Tan-y-Grisiau on the Ffestiniog railway. That explains the tapered blue block which represents the station building which was a weird tapered shape. The two blue circles are wagon turntables with track disappearing into a goods shed. Lower down the loop is another rectangular block which represents a row of cottages.

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Trevor Thompson » Sat Jul 16, 2022 3:12 pm

I have of course outline plans for the buildings which will be something like this:
Screenshot 2022-07-16 at 14.21.33.png
Screenshot 2022-07-16 at 14.21.33.png (255.52 KiB) Viewed 2755 times
A row of four cottages based on the row of quarry workers cottages at the Welsh Slate Museum. I will add that to the 3 D printing section.

My plans so far of the station building at Tan-y-Grisiau. This is much more skeletal - but it is at least started:

Screenshot 2022-07-16 at 15.01.06.png
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You may notice that the track as it is laid in our garden always seems to end up with a bank on the side where the real thing has a valley. This leads me into making mirror images of the buildings I model. As usual it will be a mirror image of the real thing which gets printed. That will place the goods shed which is on the left above on the right hand uphill side of the passing loop which is where it is shown on the track plan in the last post.

Bear in mind that in the picture above the track is in front of the station

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Re: The Railway in the Valley of the Mill

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:00 pm

Excellent work Trevor, well thought out and constructed. I'm particularly impressed with the handrail, a vast improvement for us wobbly visitors!
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