Nolwyn Valley Tramway

[drewzero1]

That colour scheme looks good on the GVT stock.
Thanks for the link to those figures, I've saved them for future reference.

I thought so too... the color is "Griffon Blue" by Army Painter. I'm hoping to repaint the "full-size" models in this color eventually but for now the Small Controller wants them to be Arnie and Clairville, the nearly-famous coaches.

[drewzero1]

Not a whole lot going on with the Nolwyn lately (been busy trying to keep up with projects off the railway) but after seeing FWLR/Rod's little van recently I decided it might be time to try building one of my own. I've had a scrap sheet of thin ply set aside for this since at least the spring. After making simple cardboard patterns for the ends and sides I fired up the bandsaw and this was the eventual result:

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Originally I was planning to fake the doors with paint and hardware, but it turns out this plywood can be cut with a craft knife without too much trouble... so now I need to figure out how to make them close again. It also still needs buffers & hooks, grab irons, handles, and other fittings installed, but of course I've started a second one before completing the first.

I'd love to make more of these, but I might make the next batch a bit narrower so the running gear isn't as hidden. The exposed wheels really add to the charm of the original inspiration: https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 39&t=14334

[FWLR]

Thats a really nice attempt Drew. Well done, although I have used modelling knives for mine in the past, they usually end up not that straight and not square, even if I use a steel ruler. Thats why I use my little saw now, though the stock on the saw can get off square a little bit if I'am not that careful, but it's like any cutting and measuring you do with the larger wood that we have for making other stuff, like cupboards and things, measure twice cut once.

Can I give you a little tip for doing straight paint lines, I use the modelling masking tape you can buy especially for modellers like us, it's great to use because it doesn't leave any sticky glue marks and the like.

[dudeface]

Looks nice.

[drewzero1]

Can I give you a little tip for doing straight paint lines, I use the modelling masking tape you can buy especially for modellers like us, it's great to use because it doesn't leave any sticky glue marks and the like.

I appreciate the tip! I wasn't happy with the lettering or the lines on this one so I was hoping to go back with a smaller brush once I've got the doors attached and other details fitted. I've recently been using painter's tape for 3D printing (bed adhesion) and kind of forgot what it was supposed to be for!

[drewzero1]

It's been a surprisingly busy month! Between shoveling snow and sleep training our 1-year-old (who has also been teething!) I've barely touched the trains at all. Thornas needs some work before spring to fix his damaged boiler, squeaking axles, and sloppy gearbox, but he continues to run well enough (despite weighing only half as much as his class-mate Luna, which is another issue that will need attention).

Had a nice mini indoor running session this afternoon on the 14” radius oval test track. My daughter sat laughing in the middle and tried to catch the chimney as the train passed by... Other than that she left it on the rails. I had been reluctant to switch from 3 link to 5 link chains because of the massive gap between wagons, but the extra slack was very helpful on the tight curves-- thanks to Nigel B and gregh for the inspiration on that one.

The kids and I went to the local hobby shop the other day and picked up an old Lionel O-gauge crane car. Still trying to decide whether to widen the deck to make it look more narrow-gauge, or just fit some compatible couplers and run it as-is. My son is looking forward to running his toy Christmas train set on the outdoor track when it's complete so maybe he can be in charge of the breakdown train as well.

[FWLR]

Hi Drew,

Your not the only one who hasn't done a lot few a month or two, yet I have been busy with assembling a footbridge that Anne bought me for Christmas and in-between building that which is no where near done, I have been finishing another build which is still not done fully..

Your son will love running his little train outdoors when the weather gets better i'am sure of that. Hope you can get some photos of it running for us when he does.

That crane car will be an interesting build when you decide what to do with it, I have a crane that I finished last year, you might be able to see it on here somewhere.

[drewzero1]

It's been another long month with little to report on the NVT. Spent some time last night sorting through my various train projects and trying to find the correct pieces to assemble an ESP8266-based motor driver. Most of the pieces turned up, but I still can't find the spare voltage regulators, so I finally gave up and ordered a few more. They won't be here until mid-March, but that's not actually that long considering I waited months to get around to placing the order. With the ESP and H-bridge both plugged into their own power supplies I was able to get the motor turning in response to the slider on the web interface... but only in one direction and with the speed slider acting opposite of what was expected. The next step will be playing around with the code to get the speed and direction sorted out.

I also put together this cheap little house kit. It's not much but with some tweaking I think it could serve as a cute cottage for the background area.

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[drewzero1]

Update: after playing a bit more with the motor controller this morning, and a closer look at the pinouts for the two modules, it turns out I had two pins mixed up on the microcontroller board! So I now have a motor turning forward and backward and controllable by a web interface. I still need to do some tweaking to improve the interface and make the ESP independent from my home network, but at least now I can start cramming the boards into a locomotive and reconfiguring battery holders while I wait for the 3.3v regulators to arrive.

Edit: I've created a thread for that project (https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 27#p178360) to go into more detail and hopefully help me remember how I've wired it up next time!

[philipy]

[drewzero1]

We had a warm and sunny day today so of course I was out grilling and working on the railway. After emptying the melted snow out of the pond liners, I positioned and leveled them with a base of gravel and crusher fines. I started filling in the raised bed with dirt, rock, and mulch and packing it down. I didn't manage to cart much dirt from the way-back yard today, but I think it'll be enough to keep the ponds in place for now. The planned front wall is suggested by the arc of bricks in the foreground.

It doesn't look like much yet, because it's not

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The garden planning authorities came out to inspect and approve the work so far, and seemed happy with the progress and amenable to future expansion. I'll be a lot happier when it's fully filled in and the front wall is completed, but I still have some work ahead of me before I can start laying track and stocking the pond. At the end of the day we had a nice crispy pork shoulder roast off the grill, so at least I can say I finished one thing outside!

[FWLR]

That's looking brilliant Drew. In my own mind I can see how I would let my imagination go with it. The right side near to the what looks like a the side of a shed or fence would be a line running close along side of it and then turning behind the header tank and then running along side the left hand small fence and then take it from there, you would have some great shots and you could then put loads of stuff filling it in perhaps with plants, building or what ever else you could think of.

Have a great day and journey with it Drew.

[drewzero1]

Thanks Rod. I'm intentionally limiting Phase 1 (this year) to a tight little loop around the ponds, but phase 2 (next year and beyond) could involve a spur to the left along the fence or to the right along the back of the house. My imagination is going a bit wild on that but I know if I dream too big too fast I'll never finish what I've started.

I've got some juniper shrubs ready to transplant in for trees and Irish moss for ground cover. Thinking about some aquatic/marginal plants growing in/out of the ponds to help provide a visual break, and some flowers in there somewhere too.

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For buildings I think I have room for two: a small waiting room for the halt, and the little yellow cottage (a few posts up) which needs some work for detailing and weatherproofing, and also needs a porch and chimney. I have recently received a request from the small controller for a water tower for the halt as well--"with real water!"--though I may skip the real water as the battery locos won't like that part very much!

Hope you are having a a great day as well!

[drewzero1]

Finally starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere! Five more wheelbarrows full of dirt this weekend, and the back half of the raised bed is at the correct level. I laid out some bricks to indicate the track alignment and did a bit of clearance testing with my largest stock. Bogie coaches certainly won't clear this curve, but they would also look very silly spinning around this little loop, so I'm not too concerned.

Steep gradient ahead: all trains stop to pin down brakes!

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With an incline like that, maybe I should be considering a funicular railway instead! I'll be sure to level it out when I've got the front wall constructed and the pond equipment finalized.

While I worked I set up the test track on the table and let the little diesel run around. It was fun to watch but really just made me want to finish the job.

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Looking forward to warmer weather. Saturday wasn't too bad but I was dodging snowflakes on Sunday. Despite the lingering chill I am warmed by the prospect of progress, and ready to run some trains outside!

[FWLR]

Looks like things are progressing well Drew. Would it not be possible to run you track on the other side of the right hand fence, you could have a nice curve then for larger stock.

I think I would be asking the "Boss" if it was possible...

[drewzero1]

Looks like things are progressing well Drew. Would it not be possible to run you track on the other side of the right hand fence, you could have a nice curve then for larger stock.

I think I would be asking the "Boss" if it was possible...

Above the broken concrete pavers? It might be possible to put a removable platform there for the track, but can't do anything permanent because of the house being so close. It's hard to tell in the pictures but the dirt inside the fence is 18 inches above the dirt outside the fence! Here's a more complete view:

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Note that the front will be brought up to the same level as the back once a more presentable retaining wall has been installed-- roughly indicated by the bricks with holes.

If I did somehow end up with some larger stock, I would probably remove the circular pond to smooth out the curve. But I won't rule out the idea of running track outside the box if necessary.

The bricks angling toward the lower right show a potential expansion for phase 2, which could be a seasonally-removable platform behind the house that would allow for some sidings for shunting and delivery of refreshments from the back door to the patio. The lady of the house has indicated agreeability toward this venture, pending satisfactory completion of phase 1 and some other pending projects.

[FWLR]

It would be a shame to remove the circular pond, it makes for a better feature and also a small waterfall. If you could use even just 6" of that unused space with the rubble, you would still then be able to use the larger stock and for me it would be look more aesthetically better and also make for better running of stock. I do realise that it's all down to what is allowed and feasible to be used.

Anyway, really looking forward to seeing this progress into a really nice line.

[drewzero1]

I'll keep thinking about it. Gears are turning.... creak!

[philipy]

ezgif-2-98fe0ae049.gif

Drew, I keep meaning to ask how you do these little animated gif clips? Do you upload a video and then use ezgif to convert it?

[drewzero1]

Drew, I keep meaning to ask how you do these little animated gif clips? Do you upload a video and then use ezgif to convert it?

I have been using an app called Giphy on my phone which can make a six-second (or shorter) gif out of a video. These gifs usually come out around 7-10MB in size. The quality is pretty good but I've seen a lot of issues with stuttering and failure to load completely, especially on early pages of this thread where I had several of them on a page. Recently I've been experimenting with shrinking them down using online tools like ezgif to reduce filesize.

I could do a quick how-to thread if you're interested?