My Railway Blog
I've decided to add a new section to the website, the trials and tribulations of running a railway in the garden, more to the point more of a rant of anything Railway related, welcome to my blog!
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December 3, 2009
Swine Flu and Railway Problems
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Its been a while since the last blog on the site, I've been suffering from Swine Flu, closely folloed by pnuemonia and near death but Hey Ho! I'm getting better all the time now, which is good. The railway hasn't been touched much for the last 12 weeks or so as I've been laying on my sick bed, I've not even had the omph to get the grass cut, so I'll be needing a herd of cows or sheep next Spring so I can actually see the blasted railway again!
So, apart from the pig sickness what progress has been made anywhere? The good news is that the Coal fired Mamod "Tadpole" is complete bar the firebox, and I'm hoping to get my friendly Uncle to get one made up for me for testing purposes before Christmas, to see if the damned thing works, if so then it will have a coat of paint and put into work, if not then Ebay beckons, as it does most people's failed projects. I've also had a offer to make them commercially so that could be an interesting project, especially as it may mean a coal fired loco for under £700.
The Fairlie is currently residing on Ebay waiting for a new home to fund the purchase of an Ogwen which as I type is sitting on my work bench waiting for a new exhaust pipe which doesn't chuck hot oil all over the gleaming paintwork as well as my hair and glasses! A very good runner apart from her spitting, she does take a lot of getting used to due to her reverser which although moves from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock, the only actual useful movemebt is from 11.55 to 12.10, I'll post some pictures on her so it will be easier to understand what I'm on about.
The cottages I was planning to build at Wendover Station haven't really been touched past their ground floor stage, and now I'm feeling better the weather has turned and makes it impossible to work on them, hopefully I'll get some dry days soon!
Watch out for Decembers copy of Garden Rail, the Wendover is the centre spread!!!!
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September 30, 2009
Tadpoles, Jigstones and Sealing Wax
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Tadpole Nears Completion
My coal fired "Tadpole" is a step closer, the actual Tadpole page will be updated soon but at the moment the smokebox and wrapper is fitted, a Mamod lubricator is also fitted and soldered to the reverser. New cranks are fitted to the old Roundhouse ones to mimic the throw of the original Mamod wheels, and as of yesterday (29th September) I've now got the tender, a hand pump to fit into it and also a gas valve from PPS I intend to fit to the boiler for use to isolate the tender and hand pump from the boiler, it also makes it easy to convert from 3/16" x 40 thread to 1/4" x 40 thread, if anyone makes a "Tadpole" loco my advice is to use 1/4 x 40 thread thought, as all commercial fittings are available in this size, and only a handful are around in 3/16"!
Jigstones
I'm in the process of making a row of cottages near my church at Wendover Station from Jigstomes, these are being made in situ to suit the wall and so far I'm very happy with them. The bottom storey is now complete and I'm now thinking about how I can make attic windows on some of the houses for servant quarters using my current Jigstones moulds.. I've also moved some of the plants around the garden, and I've decided to reintroduce the "Plants" feature on the website with some of the plants I've used on the railway so far, and what worked and what didn't!
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September 3, 2009
Mamods and Miracles
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"Tadpole"
The Tadpole project is going ahead again. The new smokebox arrangement is now complete, which is a Mamod smokebox with the front milled off and a new removeable door being held in place by 3 x M3 bolts as opposed to the standard "cast" moulded door on the original, hopefully it will work. A new foot plate is under construction, then I will need only the piping and to work out how to fix the cylinders to the cranks, by making new Roundhouse cranks or making offset crank pins. The reason being the Roundhouse cranks are about 1/2mm different on throw than the Mamod cylinders and the cylinder lock up on rotation, something I didn't notice on assembly!
The new stations at Wendover and Chidham station are complete, as is the diesel plant. I'm going to make new buildings in the corner at Wendover Station, made in situ with Jigstones and also fixed to the wall, a tad more permanent than I'm used to but I think it will look better.
A working water tower is still in the offing, I've got an idea on how to make it work, but struggling to find anywhere to put it!
Some slate wagons are going to make a re-appearance on the line, I've realised some of my rolling stock is a bit samey and it needs just some different stuff, so once I've got some wheels from IP that will be my winter job, I think about 10 or so wagons will be made like my last ones on the old Chidhan Light Railway, the plans are still in my "How To" section on this website.
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August 5, 2009
Working Chassis
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Wheels on my Wagon
The reverser has finally been fitted to the Mamod chassis, and by soldering on some copper pipes to the reverser and also directly to the chassis I finally managed to make the wheels go round under air power. (Actually, it was a syring piped into the reverser, but still)
Steam up Bay
The new steam up area has been abandoned due to lack of interest, and space. Instead I found an old joist in our loft which had laid unused for nigh on 40 years, so it will be well seasoned, I've used it to make a siding off the end of Chidham Corner so that either a whole train, carriages or whatever can be stored there. There is enough space behind it to add a smaller siding, whether or not I decide to landscape it remains to be seen, I don't think I'll bother, and use it as storage only, it will be useful when others come to play at the very least.
Jig Stones
The old station building at Chidham Station has been gracefully retired due to the wind breaking it with our brolley in May, it did our brolley no favours either. Instead I've decided to go the Jigstone route and I've already made a signal box at Chidham Station, a new station building and also a station "hut" cum waiting room at Wendover Station. In the midst of making a diesel fuelling plant, and maybe a working water tower using jig stones for the pillar, and some brass sheeting for the water tower itself, using some pipework and a simple tap to operate, what sort of tap remains to be seen, perhaps a just a hinged flap over a hole or I may go tghe whole hog and use a PPS drain valve that Alan uses in the DeWintons in the condensate assembly. Time is of an essence as the railway will hopefully be appearing in Garden Rail soon so it would be nice to get some more scenic features completed, I think I'll need some more people to!
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May 19, 2009
Windy May Disasters
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Disaster in the Garden
The high winds over the last weekend of the 16 - 17th May really did me no good at all. Our garden brolley fell into the GRS plastic kit at Wendover Station and smashed the roof in completely. So now it needs to be cut away from the silicon sealant base I glued it to, and a new roof fitted. Either that or build some scaffolding around it and have it as a feature.. That would be something a little different wouldn't it?
I've spent some time in the garden of late doing some pruning here and there, the steam up bay has stalled due to lack of cash, and it may also become a pond instead, my preferrred choice actually, with a nice girder bridge over it and a longer track run, to be agreed with SWMBO so lets watch this space.
Coal Firing
The "Tadpole" project is gaining pace. I now have two chassis virtually complete. One is a scratchbuilt chassis shamelessly copied from a Mamod one but extended by about 1/2" to get some more room in the cab to hopefully make firing easier. My good ole Uncle is making some wheels and axles to suit this chassis for me, handy having a machinist in the family.. The second chassis is purely a Mamod chassis but running with Roundhouse wheels, bearings and cranks, which nearly line up to the Mamod cylinders. I need to make some offset driving pins, or rather someone does!! Both chassis will be for outside frames locomotives to give me some room inside the chassis for things like water pumps etc, the idea is for dual gauge but I'm not sure once all the pipework and pumps are installed that I'll be able to.
So the next step is -
PPS cylinders and Reverser
Make offset driving pins to match the threading on the Roundhouse cranks but to meet the Cylinders arm.
Work out how to make a removeable smokebox
Ditto for a firebox...
Fit pipework and go for a steamup. Target date is September 2009 working but not complete, we shall see...
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May 1, 2009
Sunny April
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Coal Fired Chassis Update
Well after much swearing and cutting I've made a new chassis for my coal fired update. Basically a Mamod chassis copied on brass and cut out by hand, it is a touch longer that the original, and has a flat upper edge so I can solder a footplate to it for strength once I know where all the pipe runs will be.
Next step is a visit to PPS for some ossie cylinders, a reverser and some pipework, and hopefully a pressure gauge and sign glass. After that it will be a axle pump from DJB and then a decision on how to make the cranks.
In the mean time the boiler has been covered in felt as insulation, and the firebox will be covered in ceramic blanket. The boiler is hopefully going to be kept in place by the smokebox on one end, and the firebox door assembly on the other, time will tell!
On other news, I've made and fitted a new signal with working lights, and fitted point levers on all points leading to sidings on the main run to prevent any accidents! I'm also making balsa wood buffer stops soon to be added to my "how To" section.
That's all folks!!
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March 6, 2009
New Boiler Arrives for Coal Loco
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The Postman arrived today with my Dave Watkin's "Frog" inspired boiler. And very nice it looks to, albeit a tad smaller than I expected! The next moves are to design and create a removeable firebox in stainless steel complete with integral fire grate, and to make a smokebox (perhaps using a pre-cast Mamod version which could slide off for cleaning.
A IP engineering / Mamod chassis is being used as a basis, but being copied onto brass from Squires with wheels courtesy of Uncle making an inside framed locomotive.
Also in the news for this month are some signals from GRS to adorn the railway, and the new steam up bay is currently being planned, and a useful bit of timber (actually a joist I found in the recess of our loft) means that the wood is available for nil pont!
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February 8, 2009
Steam Up Bay
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The Roundhouse Millie has gone off to Pastured greener, a new IP Jessie has arrived at the WLR, has broken down, been repaired and still the work goes on!
This time a new steam up bay is on the cards, a new point has been inserted when the tunnel was built, and this will lead to a new three track steam up bay, along with hopefully a turn table if space allows. I'd like to fit a triangle in to allow the trains to work on an out and back as well as a round and round but I fear space is too tight for such luxuries. No matter, a steam up bay will have to do!
This one will be made with 4 x 2 timber I acquired along with some timber decking on top. The 4 x 2 will be cut to form a two or three substantial 'L' shape supports, along with hopefully a set of opening doors at the front. Under the steam up bay will be space to store boxes etc when I have one of my increasingly rare open days.
I'm planning to get the first stage complete soon, an extended patio over Jakes old play area which is currently covered in rotting bark chips! Once the patio is down the new raised steam up bay can commence!
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November 9, 2008
Construction on the WLR
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A Hedgehog Hotel
A tunnel appears to have mysteriously appeared on the WLR following a visit to GRS recently to acquire two new cast tunnel portals. A visit to B & Q later for some breeze blocks and a bag of ready mixed cement and in a few hours a pretty square looking tunnel has been built. Jake (our son) loves it already although it does need to be merged a bit more into the existing garden.
Situated on the approach to Wendover Halt (or basically at the back straight on the rear wall of the garden) it will hopefuly be softened by the existing box planting, and other low growing plants I've just stuck in big wad of soil directly behind the tunnel, time will tell.
Steam Power to Disappear
The Roundhouse Millie will soon be on eBay as I've come to the decision it just doesn't suit my line and my current taste in live steam, instead a Regner "Victoria" or some other not so usual locomotive will be hunted down in the near future.
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