HSBA Garden Railway
- Thread starter curtis
- Start date
duncan1_9_8_4
Jack of all trades on the Railway
Excellent video! Enjoyed it.
curtis
Registered
Yes, it is. We have 4 on the layout. To be honest, I've found them a little iffy. One is they don't really throw all the way for the divergent which can cause issues from trains running into the point. Second, two of them are a bit older and the electrical connections (screws) have rusted. This means some of the inner rails get a bit temperamental. The result is I've had wire directly to the rail.
With hindsight I'm not sure if I'd use them... They do, however, look cool.
Yes, he arrived last week but we were in France! I'll start getting some pictures over the next week (he's coming to the annual Model Railway Exhibition this weekend)
Greg Elmassian
Guest
Curtis, is it that the switch motors used/supplied do not throw all the way, or is there some mechanical problem with the points and throwbar and stock rails that causes the problem with the divergent path?
Greg
Greg
curtis
Registered
Greg, I missed the post. The switch motors seem to have the range of motion but the blade wasn't sitting flush. Honestly, I was getting frustrated with two of them (both I subsequently realised were ones I bought second hand). I opted to switch out for new ones and the ran flawless for 7 hours on Saturday for our open day (more on that below).
A small update. Generally speaking, life (read: work) has got in the way of the hobby over the past few months so been in the garden or the workshop a lot less than I would have liked.
The Garden
The garden seems to be growing in nicely given it was only planted up this spring - the thyme is doing a wonderful job and needed to be cut back as you can see in the pictures below. The bridges have also become one of my favourite parts of the railway with the ivy underneath and the brick pillars adding some visual interest. We've included some other shots of things establishing:
Buildings
The main changes in the run up to the open day was the acquisition of a number of Pola G buildings that we had being eye for a while (selected in agreement with Nikki). I say, "for a while", I remember being 10 and flicking repeatedly through the catalogue and desperately wanting the waterwheel - 23 years later, that became a reality!
This is one of the areas that Nikki really enjoys (figures and scenery) alongside the gardening [Side note, for the G Scale Society members, you may have see her article - Partner of a Train Guy].
We had a couple of date nights putting a film on in the background and working on a the buildings together ready for the open day.
For the buildings, I was adamant I wanted them to be lit at night so have included small 12v LEDs in them all. They're running from a separate 12v feed run in the same trunking as the main bus.
One thing we did differently was to add a floor between each story. The idea was to create a more balanced distribution of light. To do this, I cut a piece of plastic sheet to size, sprayed one side with brown and black spray pain to create a mock floor effect (and left the underside white for the ceiling and then placed it in. I left a small notch for wires. It is not glued down to allow access from below should maintenance be required.
Currently, only the station building at Steinertal is connected but adds a lovely glow effect at night.
Attachments
curtis
Registered
As I mentioned in another thread, Nikki convinced me we should do a Winter Wonderland Open Day. My apprehension came from my concern about the weather and that dreary rain would result in a washout. We were fortunate, however, with a cold but sunny day. We welcomed well over 150 people and raised just over £1,400 for a local charity (the cafe sales operated by Nikki was very successful).
We added small, battery powered LEDs to many of the buildings, Christmas decoration head boards to the trains along with a selection of Christmas decorations we borrowed from my parents' farm!
Everything was running perfectly the day prior. Woke up to frost (a rarity in Jersey) with points frozen solid (it was the switches, seemingly). A walk round with the hairdryer got most operational and a single motor was swapped out but other than that no major issues. One thing we did notice was how quickly the black gunk built up on the rails - I'm assuming the moister expedites it? We had a swiffer to hand along with a track cleaning pad under flatbed.
Some pictures of the day (and evening) below. We were really happy with how the garden turned out!
I may have found another G-Scaler on Jersey too. His family had a large indoor layout in the US and when they sold up he was able to save the track and stock. We had a brief chat on what he wants to do with it and hope to grab a coffee/beer in the future.
We added small, battery powered LEDs to many of the buildings, Christmas decoration head boards to the trains along with a selection of Christmas decorations we borrowed from my parents' farm!
Everything was running perfectly the day prior. Woke up to frost (a rarity in Jersey) with points frozen solid (it was the switches, seemingly). A walk round with the hairdryer got most operational and a single motor was swapped out but other than that no major issues. One thing we did notice was how quickly the black gunk built up on the rails - I'm assuming the moister expedites it? We had a swiffer to hand along with a track cleaning pad under flatbed.
Some pictures of the day (and evening) below. We were really happy with how the garden turned out!
I may have found another G-Scaler on Jersey too. His family had a large indoor layout in the US and when they sold up he was able to save the track and stock. We had a brief chat on what he wants to do with it and hope to grab a coffee/beer in the future.
Great to see visitors enjoying your line, I hope to have a good crowd round to my line in xmas day. Mostly live in my road but extended to some feom pub, dog walks and next road now as well. Don’t do a visitors book but I review the CCTV after and can do a count from that.
curtis
Registered
Really appreciate the words. Honestly, we were very lucky with the weather, the past 3 weeks have been constant rain with the exception of Friday and Saturday (preparation day and the open day itself). Genuinely shocked it worked out!
I was only able to get the count because of admissions. We took admissions via a POS (point of sale) which tracked earnings over the day!
curtis
Registered
I managed a bit of time outside today. Recently converted an old LGB 2070 to digital (and gave it a spruce up) so wanted to see how it ran. Generally very well although as it started to drizzle it seemed to struggle with traction. I did remove 1 weight to fit the decoder and I'm wondering if that along with the trailing wheel (which has a weirdly strong spring) are causing issues [also has something to do with my dodgy track work on the upper line which has a thematic narrow gauge up-and-down due to settlement.
On that note, I was going to reballast areas but realised I brought the wrong stuff. Need to head back to the quarry tomorrow to get the right colour.
Anyway, I put together some running shots!
On that note, I was going to reballast areas but realised I brought the wrong stuff. Need to head back to the quarry tomorrow to get the right colour.
Anyway, I put together some running shots!
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idlemarvel
Neither idle nor a marvel
The "wierdly strong spring" on the trailing wheel is a well known issue with these early locos. It lifts the rear driving wheel off the rails. You should shorten the spring by a few mm.
curtis
Registered
Thanks for the tip - I'll have a look at that later. I've got 2 of this type (the other one is pending a clean, conversion and paint job) so the tips are appreciated
curtis
Registered
Have some more time in the garden in the past few days. Gave mini Mike a special tour which he seems to have enjoyed.
This was a part of those general hosting but also a thank you for helping with the recent conversions of an LGB 2095 BoBo to DCC (two shorter videos here)
This was a part of those general hosting but also a thank you for helping with the recent conversions of an LGB 2095 BoBo to DCC (two shorter videos here)
Windym87
Registered
Nothing makes me happier than to see that the Wizzy Cranks has gone to a great home and being used so soon after arriving!
curtis
Registered
Life continues to get in the way of me spending as much time as I'd like on the railway but here are some videos I've posted on YouTube recently.
A few running shots showing a switching of locos at the terminus station over the weekend (sorry
dunnyrail
, background music as the wind was horrible to listen to)
A longer running session from earlier in the year.
A layout update video from late January. Apologies about the sound, I bought a mic for the next one!
A few running shots showing a switching of locos at the terminus station over the weekend (sorry
dunnyrail
, background music as the wind was horrible to listen to)A longer running session from earlier in the year.
A layout update video from late January. Apologies about the sound, I bought a mic for the next one!
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Rhinochugger
Retired Oik
