Making a New Start

Shawn said:
like the way these ore cars came out. What did you use to make these? (looks like a HLW flat) did you use plans or just eyeball it? Im thinking about making a set.
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They were just eyeballed and bodged from a picture of a completed Iron Mtn kit and a picture of something similar in Dakota (or was that the Iron Mtn line?) I did have some plans from Garden Railways to give an idea of size, but didn't follow all the details - in particular mine don't have operating doors.

The starting point was some (incorrect) axleguards that came off a bad buy on eBay - they were the only usable bits on two small vans which turned out totally toylike; luckily I got them very cheaply. Having cut them off the donor vehicles I fixed them to some pine stripwood chassis members with glue and pins, then glued these to a floor of 80thou styrene with the plank ends scored in and slightly distressed. More stripwood was used for the chassis ends. The body panels were from more 80thou styrene. The upper framework was some slightly smaller strips of pine. Brake and door release wheels by Ozark, grab handles from soft garden wire.
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I also built the three larger ones to fit some Playmobil wagon underframes that I cut down in length.
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This picture shows the original chassis behind one that has been modified. I added lengths of plastrukt I-beam girder to strengthen the join in the underframe and make it look like a wagon built to carry a heavy load.

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This one shows one of the larger cars, unpainted. The smaller top frame was balsa, painted with several coats of button polish to harden the wood.
 
Shawn,

The smaller hoppers' bodies measure 5 1/4" x 3 1/4" with the end platforms adding another 3/8" at each end. Body height is 3"

The bigger ones are 6" x 4 3/8" with platforms 5/8". Same height as the others. I think the length was governed by the amount I could remove from the Playmobil underframe without the whole thing looking too silly.
 
A couple of pictures from today's operating session. Thanks to Jon and David we got through a whole "day" in one session - first time ever - depite some gremlins who arrived half-way through. Needless to say they departed as soon as the guest operators left! Probably should have cleaned the track a bit more thoroughly before the start.

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Well, he certainly looks pleased with his new job. He's going to need to wear his PSV badge, though, if he's going to drive for Crosville.
 
Having run through the whole timetable is seemed that the allocation of trains to the two Engineers was rather unbalanced. Added to that the timetable was too crowded - the Dispatcher couldn't keep up with the demand for new orders as well as replacing new trains for old in the staging yards. After some thought a new operating scheme has been outlined, and will be tested soon.
Edit the earlier letter-box problems seems to have been resolved - many thanks.
Just as an exercise with the new site, here's a picture
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We had a visiting loco last Saturday when Dunnyrail brought his East German tram loco along for a run

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(photos courtesy of Dunnyrail)
 
Thanks for the post Giles, still waiting to get pictures up and running. But with your advice I now see how to post pictures (Attach Files). Here are the two vids from the day, sorry for the jerkiness in running. The Steam Tram has a Massoth Power reservoir in it which the Sound Units appears to take power from rather than the motor.
1st Vid
Mine Run Train out rostered to my Adapted G Scale LGB Steam Tram. Note no Skirts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLYs0LsE2UY

2nd Vid
The returning Run was rostered to one of Giles USA Locomotives, the slight stall on the journey is where we had a few problems with the link Switch that effectively joins the two control zones together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HK6xcKkYd0

JonD
 
Some time ago Mik posted a thread decribing a RPO car converted for MOW use, and bashed from a Bachmann Baggage Car body and other bits. This really clicked with me and the result is the C&S is about to get an RPO car of its own, the timetable having been tweaked to introduce a daily Mail train in each direction. Actually the donor baggage car should provide parts for two vehicles: the RPO which will have a plywood underframe as it needs no end balconies, while the Bachmann chassis will get used with some scraps of car sides and a long caboose roof to make a combine or drover caboose.

Both these projects will be long-term jobs; I don't expect to finish them until much later in the year, but they should be fun to do. Will post pictures as and when.
 
Had a good running session today, with a new operating crew who luckily took to the new timetable like ducks to water. Only trouble was I'd forgotten to re-charge the camera so only got one picture; this shows loco #4 about to tow a boxcar into a facing spur at Hogwood.
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And here's a shot of it doing so.
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Did a double take with this pic marvelous job reminded me of R&M Alston service in the sixties mmm very nice I like the handrails on the seats and the look of the tyres, and the mr man looks spot on doing anything really splendid
yb281 said:
Hi Giles. The transfer has been completed :thumbup:.


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Looks as if he might not be driving what I first intended?


Many thanks, I'm chuffed :bigsmile:
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Brilliant I like that with the tow is that real fly? or is there another name for it, seen pole shunts on film,never rope work, excellent pics as ever
C&S said:
Had a good running session today, with a new operating crew who luckily took to the new timetable like ducks to water. Only trouble was I'd forgotten to re-charge the camera so only got one picture; this shows loco #4 about to tow a boxcar into a facing spur at Hogwood.
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And here's a shot of it doing so.
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It's a tow rather than a fly shunt - too hard to get the chain to release for that, and (normally) not enough space to get up enough speed to free-wheel a car very far. Haven't tried poling as the sidings are not sufficiently parallel and the diverging tracks can get quite far apart - as shown in the second picture in post #274. I've added small upright lengths of wire at each end of the front pilots, and L-shaped brackets on either side of the rear of the cab so as to have hooking-on points at each corner of the loco. On the cars we hook onto corner stirrups or climbing rungs, which is not too good in reality, but easier for large fingers to achieve. Even easier is to use a set of tweezers.
 
I see what you mean about the distance but never noticed it till you mentioned it,any sparks off the track with the chain?​
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I can do some poling but unless the cars are being pushed uphill its more miss than hit, found a cotton bud works best friction etc!! not tried rope /chains but will at the weekend if not pouring down,​
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regards Pete
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MR SPOCK said:
I see what you mean about the distance but never noticed it till you mentioned it,any sparks off the track with the chain?
I can do some poling but unless the cars are being pushed uphill its more miss than hit, found a cotton bud works best friction etc!! not tried rope /chains but will at the weekend if not pouring down,​
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regards Pete
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Never had any short-circuit problems with the chain so far. I think it would be quite hard for the chain to be in contact with both rails the loco was on, as by definition the chain is hooked up to one corner of the engine, so couldn't be in contact with the "near" rail. Also the controls are at Zero at the moment of hooking up. As soon as the loco moves the chain is off the floor, so no problem there.

Your idea of cotton buds is a good one, but with wider spaced tracks they'd be far to short on the C&S where we'd need something the length of a coffee stirrer, and there would need to be polling pockets on all the rolling stock.
 
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