Taita Gorge Railway

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Good idea Gav - a steam up bay. When are we coming back....soon?

... and a live steam bay. I'll plank a section of the track to protect the plastic sleepers.

Welcome any fine day.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Added bonus to the installation of Petherick Pier, I'm getting better response from my Train Engineer Basic radio control system. This control could be frustrating at times, to the extent of wanting to throw it away. But, I reckon, the new track extension is actually acting as an aerial. Just had a pleasant operating session, on a mild Middle Earth evening.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

I've had a crack at this you tube racket......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBEn2yr1i8Y&feature=youtu.be

Comments?

Camera car was simple.... take one Bachmann truck/bogie, a standard camera mount screw, and a few large washers. Insert screw from bottom of bogie, use washers to ensure camera mounts clear of the wheels, attach camera in movie mode, couple to front of train.... and go.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

Happy New Year, here's the traditional birthday shot.... a lot of the new work is only days old.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

We've just got back from summer holiday, and returned with the Woody, and caravan. 8|

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Well, Petherick Pier didn't last long....

Planning consent has been granted for an extension that will give an even bigger loop. We're starting this the old fashioned way.

 

[trammayo]

Like it

 

[garrymartin]

Super picture that

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Some more progress, and most of it by the railway's apprentice Engineer.... my 10 year old grandson, who is learning about earthworks (including compaction, moisture content, and geometry) under direction.

I think this extension is going to be worthwhile from a photographic point of view.... never been able to get fully sunlit shots this late in the day on the railway. These shots were taken after 7 in the evening. One thing I always do when extending, or altering, the railway, is to fully complete small sections rather than, say, leaving a whole lot of half done earthworks etc which, to my mind, leave the line untidy. You never know when visitors will turn up..... ooh, yes I do, when it rains, and no show of that for the next 10 days, at least. Rain is forecast for our next (Bank) holiday, on Wednesday next week 8|

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Bank Holiday (it is actually called Waitangi Day, but I'm used to talking Queen's English these days at work) and the weather forecast was for rain. Well, that came 2 days early, and lots of it. So, no excuse but to do some 'gardening', as in, remove rock garden (that don't have trains) that got out of hand, and grade it out, install bench seat for 'viewing pleasure' in the shade. The old material was put to further use.

So far, this extention hasn't cost a cent, I've managed to recycle other bits of the garden into this... and this weekend, the council is having a free stones and shingle day at the local river

 

[JRinTawa]

Very good Gav, I think I know where this is going to connect up, good idea

Hmm I poured a slab for the rest of the families bird aviary, but did get to run trains after tea. Good enough for Waitangi day.

 

[stevedenver]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

gavin out of curiosity
since i understand the FRR locos to be so prone to gear wear
and im a bit overly cautious with mine because parts, such as the geared driver and drive belt are scarce,
and i really like these locos, oddly almost better than anything else in my collection,

and noticing your longer trains,
hows it holding up? how often do you run it?
and does it run on grades?

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re:Taita Gorge Railway..... 13 years old

FRR locos to be so prone to gear wear
and im a bit overly cautious with mine because parts, such as the geared driver and drive belt are scarce, and noticing your longer trains,
hows it holding up? how often do you run it?
and does it run on grades?

Mine has the belt drive. I have had the loco for 11 years, and it runs often..... Grades?, what grades, my railway is level track, the scenery undulates.

What I found was the skates caused drag on the loco. Mine got to a stage where they wore a groove in them. This led to a disasterous derailment off a high bank on a line I was visiting, and broke the funnel (LGB sent a free replacement within 8 days). I took off the skates with the intention of putting on new ones (I wanted to make sure they were the same size in the shop, as there is more than one type available), but as there were none available at the time, I just left them off. I found that this lack of drag actually increased the hauling power of the loco. As I also use oil as a track cleaner, the loco will wheelspin before it has a chance to stall with a big load.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Very good Gav, I think I know where this is going to connect up, good idea

Hmm I poured a slab for the rest of the families bird aviary, but did get to run trains after tea. Good enough for Waitangi day.

Funny, I installed an aviary at home on Sunday.......

 

[stevedenver]

gavin

11 years is great to know
and ive heard this about skates in general (ie reducing drag hugely)

my question is, since you do not use skates, do your wheels pit more due to micro arching-ie the tiny lil sparks you can usually only see in pitch dark between wheel and rail

i understand that the major reason for skates is that because they drag like a commutator brush on a motor, there's better contact and less arching and other benefits to electrical power to the motor

and, do you have more stalling issues, say on points or otherwise?

ive seen and experienced this micro arching, and pitting on the ball bearing wheels of my fortuna flyer-and perhaps its the heavy electrical draw to gun the motor -i actually added tiny phsophor bronze wires that lightly drag along the rail to reduce the heavy pitting i was experiencing, even on my indoor track , which i also happen to have oiled (small world)


ive also seen this typically here in the US on moguls owned by guys who seem to really 'she what she can pull"

just curious,
as if theres not pitting i might give it a go on those FRRs which i have
thanks and cheers
steve

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Got to the stage where the plating is showing signs of wear. I've only noticed the occasional arcing. As for stalling, I get it sometimes on LGB frogs (or close to the frog). The problem is actually the turnouts themselves... unless the turnout is dead level right through, the loco can often only have 3 wheel contact because there is no vertical wheel compensation, and you get one wheel on the dead frog, and the other on the same side not making contact with the rail just past the frog. Cure is to pack the frog area so that is level. Similar problem with diesel motor blocks.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

The horseshoe bend was completed today.... thirsty work, bring me a beer, please

:impatient::impatient: Very funny, just a beer, singular...

:love: OK, did some work on that car today, too. When we got it, there were some parts missing, and what with all the upheaval with LGB going bust etc etc I've given up trying to source genuine parts... so, with a few bits of scrap plastic, and a spare Bachmann brake wheel, the car is finally 'complete'.

8| Silly me, left the camera laying around, so my Grandaughter, age 6½ snapped this

Pretty clever, I thought.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

8| On our first trip Stateside, we visited the Coors Brewery, literally across the road from the Colorado Railroad Museum. Whilst there, we saw a G gauge train of Coors cars.... must get some of those! Well, we couldn't find any, and didn't even notice the prototype at the museum. Next trip, in the used trains department at Caboose Hobbies, there it was... pre loved ( i.e. well used, bits missing). We lugged that car all around the States, and brought it back home.

Later, I found out that the museum had the prototype. A few months ago, we just 'happened' to drive past the museum ( I know a nice little town, Golden, to have lunch, and I know a shortcut), and look what we found behind the steam engine.

 

[mike]

looking good gavin , all comming together nicely

 

[Gavin Sowry]

:impatient: What a difference a day makes. This morning, I tested the morning sun on the railway. Never did like that mangey hebe tree (it was self seeded, anyway), and sort of ruined this shot :-

Anyhow, today was also club day (see seperate report). To get there, I had to pass a Nursery, and the model shop. Soon as I got home from the running day, into the garden, out with the hebe, and in with the Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

A bit more ground cover, and we are nearly there. A productive weekend.