Garden Railway Forum

andymctractor wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:55 am Rik,
I've got used to enjoying your videos and your railway in general. I'm looking to move to mainly battery control even on steam outline so that I may sit in a swivel seat or my gazebo and operate trains across my railway. I'm hoping the battery issues you have are resolveable.
Best wishes.

Hi Andy
I certainly have no regrets about going over to battery. I can now focus on running trains rather than worrying about getting the track spotlessly clean.

Sorted the problems very quickly. They both had flat batteries. I normally keep all my locos topped up but the first one must have slipped through my last round of charging. The second one was more of a problem. It's my newest loco and for some reason the battery protection board failed to do its job. It let the cells drop to 2.5v!! I had to coax the pack back into life. I'm just hoping the cells haven't been damaged as it was a brand new pack.

Rik

This is a reminder to all of us battery operated loco users... During lockdown and with the absence of garden railway visits I completely neglected to charge my locos. As I am not a player of trains no stock ran on my line throughout that time, therefore it never occurred to me to check on battery condition. It has cost me at least two battery packs so far and I think some have reduced capacity too!
Lesson learned..... thanks Rik!

I'm a builder, not an operator and my battery powered models are lucky to run once a year. That's why I use Eneloops in my battery packs. They retain charge for extended periods, up to 70% after 5 years is claimed for the current version.

Spring has sprung here and I ran a way & works train the other day to check out the track. The last time the motor mule was run was back before Easter when the kids visited and it hasn't been charged since. It ran for half an hour and will manage at least one more run before charging. Probably sometime next year the way things are going here.......

Regards,
Graeme

What is the problem with having clean tracks Rik I don't clean mine at all and my live steam loco runs very well on it, until of course it hits a bit of track that is perfectly level with the other bit of track, if you get what I mean. Do I need to clean my track before I run my steamer to help it run better. Not got a real clue about whether I need to or not..

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:30 am What is the problem with having clean tracks Rik I don't clean mine at all and my live steam loco runs very well on it, until of course it hits a bit of track that is perfectly level with the other bit of track, if you get what I mean. Do I need to clean my track before I run my steamer to help it run better. Not got a real clue about whether I need to or not..

I used to use track power before going over to battery, which meant the rails and wheels of the locos needed to be spotlessly clean to transfer the electricity. Battery (and live steam) means there's no need to keep the rails so clean.

Rik

The sequel




Rik

Very good Rik nice relaxing start to my day a video and a cuppa keep them coming.

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:30 am What is the problem with having clean tracks Rik I don't clean mine at all and my live steam loco runs very well on it, until of course it hits a bit of track that is perfectly level with the other bit of track, if you get what I mean. Do I need to clean my track before I run my steamer to help it run better. Not got a real clue about whether I need to or not..

I run battery as well but have a small live steamer (a Ruby) and have found that it sometimes spits out the steam oil onto the track, this has to be cleaned off otherwise traction problems can occur.
Only time I ever clean track and then it is just a wipe with some metho.

Congratulations, you've done it again Rik. A real pleasure to watch and listen to. You clearly get so much pleasure from running and filming your railway and it shows. The passing shots are timed so well and support a convincing storyline. Excellent production again.

Another professionally done video Rik, you are getting rather good at this. I thoroughly enjoyed it immensely. Those spiders under the bridge have got a good home.......


Can I ask if it would be possible to have a still shot of the line running along the river please. It's at 6.40 or there about's when I can see the water running in opposite directions. I would love to know for future reference because I may incorporate it into our line.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 11:11 am

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:30 am What is the problem with having clean tracks Rik I don't clean mine at all and my live steam loco runs very well on it, until of course it hits a bit of track that is perfectly level with the other bit of track, if you get what I mean. Do I need to clean my track before I run my steamer to help it run better. Not got a real clue about whether I need to or not..

I used to use track power before going over to battery, which meant the rails and wheels of the locos needed to be spotlessly clean to transfer the electricity. Battery (and live steam) means there's no need to keep the rails so clean.

Rik

Thanks Rik.

GAP wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:23 pm

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:30 am What is the problem with having clean tracks Rik I don't clean mine at all and my live steam loco runs very well on it, until of course it hits a bit of track that is perfectly level with the other bit of track, if you get what I mean. Do I need to clean my track before I run my steamer to help it run better. Not got a real clue about whether I need to or not..

I run battery as well but have a small live steamer (a Ruby) and have found that it sometimes spits out the steam oil onto the track, this has to be cleaned off otherwise traction problems can occur.
Only time I ever clean track and then it is just a wipe with some metho.

Thank you Graham.

Hi Rod
Next time I fire up the laptop I'll take a snapshot from the original file which I uploaded from the camera. It might be higher resolution than the clip in the video.

Rik

Certainly a standard of filmmaking to aspire to, Rik. The evening lighting is particularly nice to see.

Absolutely delightful!

ge_rik wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 5:12 pm Hi Rod
Next time I fire up the laptop I'll take a snapshot from the original file which I uploaded from the camera. It might be higher resolution than the clip in the video.

Rik

Thanks chaps. I must admit that I really enjoyed making these two.
I don't tend to plan the filming of running sessions in advance, but try to focus on some of the more interesting bits of action which crop up. But, of course, what's interesting for me might be less so for others, so it's always a bit of a gamble.

The challenge is trying to make each running session slightly different - I started filming them eleven years ago (in the days when I was struggling with track powered locos)

From 2010 .......




From 2011......





Rik

FWLR wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:02 am Can I ask if it would be possible to have a still shot of the line running along the river please. It's at 6.40 or there about's when I can see the water running in opposite directions. I would love to know for future reference because I may incorporate it into our line.

Hi Rod
I think this is the image you wanted.
The water actually only flows in one direction (ie downhill) but at this point does a zig-zag. It's a bit more apparent in this view
Looking in the opposite direction (ie further up the stream), you can see how the first zig of the zag bends to pass under the bridge.
Hope that helps

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:56 am “…I started filming them eleven years ago (in the days when I was struggling with track powered locos”

Your railway (and video) was looking terrific more than ten years ago. Crikey! What hope is there for the rest of us…?!

Do you mind me asking: how long is the line — there are some impressively lengthy tracking and distant shots? Agreeably convincing audio too: did you have sound cards fitted back then — or did you wickedly ladle on sound in the edit (like what I do)?

Really good. Cheers.

BertieB wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 11:40 am
Do you mind me asking: how long is the line — there are some impressively lengthy tracking and distant shots? Agreeably convincing audio too: did you have sound cards fitted back then — or did you wickedly ladle on sound in the edit (like what I do)?

Really good. Cheers.

Hi BertieB .....
It's ages since I've been asked that question - so long ago I can't remember the answer. Maybe the easiest way is to show you an early trackplan which includes the dimensions of the garden.
The plan hasn't changed that much - just a few extra sidings here and there.

No sound cards when I first set up the railway. In fact, none until I converted to battery power in 2012-13. So, the sounds in those early videos were dubbed on afterwards - mostly extracted from videos of the Welshpool & Llanfair, but also drawn from other sources. Great bit of fun trying to match clips to the video clips. Took ages (as I'm sure you know)!

Rik
PS - The plan shows the zig-zag in the stream as well - to add to my response to Rod's question

Hi Rik,

That does help me. Would it be possible to get an overhead shot please. I am sorry for being a nuisance