The Whareora & Glenbervie Branch Line

[Beddhist]

I was all fired up with the idea of making a hidden loop under the deck. Here is the AWACS wagon in front of it:



The concrete in front of the deck is already broken in a convenient place, so it looks not difficult to remove a small section of it:



But one look under the deck shows that it`s almost impossible:



That structural beam at the far end of the pic would have to be cut. This would require another foundation post or two. This is beyond my DIY skills.

Then another thought occurred to me: marauding sheep!  ???  Every spring groups of lambs escape from our neighbours farm and invade our gardens. My railway would have to withstand them walking on it. That applies to the deck, too. Elevated it will have to be.

 

[Beddhist]

Although the first month of Autumn is over the great weather continues. It`s almost too hot to work in the sun.

Some progress was made today:



2 waratahs were pounded in. Then I measured once and cut them to length twice ...  :-X

I don`t know what it is with waratahs: they always seem to turn just after I start to pound them. I also discovered that I didn`t buy enough of them.

Another discovery:



These are some of the supposedly #6 points (Peco) I bought 2nd hand. For some reason the straight sections aren`t straight. This is the same with a set of #6 USAT points. Is this normal?

Tomorrow will be another fine day and we don`t have any work, apart from having to get some punctures fixed, so hopefully I will make more progress.

Regards,
Peter.

 

[Madman]

Re: A Train with No Name

As for the posts turning when you pound them in, maybe your hitting some stones in the earth. The other possibility is that if the posts you have are of the pressed steel variety, they will deform as they are driven it. The heavier steel posts, which are rolled shapes will not.

What are you using to pound the posts in ? There is a tool that looks like a piece of pipe with a handle on each side. One end is plugged with a heavy piece of iron. This tool makes driving the posts straight much easier.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Thank you, Dan. I'm sure there are no stones near the surface in our clay soil. I did hit something solid with the last one, though, but that was deeper and by then the post couldn't turn any more. No, I don't have the tool, I just use a biggish hammer.

Regards,
Peter.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

A friend on the phone just told me that I may have made a mistake in my design. I was going to put the tracks onto the timber and put ballast around them. He thinks the ballast will not do its job of holding the track in place. It needs to be deeper than this. I suspect that he may be right. Neither of us has any experience.

Can anybody shed some light on this?

 

[gregh]

Re: A Train with No Name

I'd just screw the track onto the timber as often as you need to keep it straight or whatever. Decide latter whether you want ballast or not. Ballast looks good but it's a bit of a pain, getting into points and washing away.

I'd also suggest leaving 5mm gaps between the boards for the water to drain - it's not clear from the pic if you're butting them together or not.

Good to see you're underway.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Thanks Greg. I was going to butt them, but I gladly take your advice. Do I put the screws through the sleepers every so often? I guess the screws should be fairly small?

 

[Madman]

Re: A Train with No Name

Just when you have an plan someone, usually one of us, comes up with suggestions that don't quite match what you had in mind. Not even alittle bit.

In the LGB book The World of LGB, there are suggestions for a raised railway. One of them has always had my interest. Basically you build a wood frame and cover it with hardware cloth. Weed blocker goes on top of the hardware cloth, then topsoil on that. What this does is gives you the earth at a comfortable level. As for track laying, it can be done the same way as most of us do it at ground level, on a bed of ballast. This system also allows for plants. It is a bit more wok to accomplish however.

 

[gregh]

Re: A Train with No Name

Thanks Greg. I was going to butt them, but I gladly take your advice. Do I put the screws through the sleepers every so often? I guess the screws should be fairly small?

Yes through the sleepers. drill an oversize hole for the screw to allow movement. Use the minimum number you can - hard to give a firm recommendation. (I don't have much plastic sleepered track)
I use stainless stee screwsl, 8 gauge, 20mm long, but you could use brass. I found the brass screws too weak, so I'd sometimes break the screw when going into hard wood.
Don't forget tp paint the wood before you put the tracks down!
I do ballast my track on the raised baseboards, but it's not real successful, so I'd suggest get your trains running then worry about details.

As for putting soil on top as suggested by Madman, I wouldn't bother, but that's just me. Gardens and flowers belong in the ground! Trains can be up in the air.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re: A Train with No Name

I would try to straighten those turnouts up. If you are screwing them onto solid (in this case, wood), then you can straighten them up as you lay them.... temporarily tack a straight piece of timber to your base, on the line of the outside of the sleepers, and pull the turnouts up hard against this as you screw them down.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Dan, I think I give that raised dirt a miss. It would complicate matters too much. Also, one section (bridge) needs to be removable. At this point I have no idea how I'm going to do that.

The decking timber I bought is treated and doesn't need painting. I specifically asked for that in the shop.

Somehow I have my doubts that I will be able to pull the points straight, as I will have to pull the middle section against the timber strip. If they were bent the other way I would have a chance. Perhaps now is a good time to start looking for a rail bender. What I don't understand is how I can have 8 sets of points from two different manufacturers and they are all warped the same way.

Not a lot of progress was made today and I ran out of daylight, so no pix today, sorry. A visiting friend suggested I use screws as spacers when screwing down the timber and it worked well. I bought some clamps and boy, did they make life easy!

Good night,
Peter.

 

[Beddhist]

That`s how far I got today when I ran out of light:



Only 3 waratahs were used so far. I do think I will need more cross braces, though. We have a full day`s work tomorrow, so nothing will happen until the day after.

Good night from Glenbervie.
Peter.

 

[Madman]

Re: A Train with No Name

One can never have too many clamps. Looking good so far. Nice and neat. I agree with the dirt thing in some respects. It can complicates matters.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re: A Train with No Name

Not a lot of progress was made today and I ran out of daylight,

Problem easily solved by putting up some security lights.

 

[Beddhist]

I`m making good use of the last of the late summer:



The base for the siding is almost finished now:



For the elevated track I am looking at doing something like the HDPE Flexible Roadbed. Naturally, the material is not available in NZ. The closest I could find is this. I saw it at Bunnings and was told that the pallet had been sitting there forever. Not surprising, at $8/m. I bought the treated timber for $1.43/m. I noticed that this composite material is very heavy and sags easily. It is 137 x 23 mm, so I can`t make posts out of it, either.

Do you think I could build this out of treated timber instead?

 

[Madman]

Re: A Train with No Name

Looking good I do like the steel posts. They are not obtrusive.

 

[KeithT]

Re: A Train with No Name

Somehow I have my doubts that I will be able to pull the points straight, as I will have to pull the middle section against the timber strip. If they were bent the other way I would have a chance. Perhaps now is a good time to start looking for a rail bender. What I don't understand is how I can have 8 sets of points from two different manufacturers and they are all warped the same way.

Those points look as if they have been kicked causing both rails to deform together. This happens occasionally to my track although I don't have any points in locations where they would be likely to be kicked sideways.
Do you have children/grandchildren?

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

No, I don't, but in any case I only just bought these 2nd hand. I also bought separately a #6 USAT turnout in roughly the same bent shape.

 

[JRinTawa]

Re: A Train with No Name

Don't forget a trip down to attended an Auckland G Scale Society running day would be an investment you won't regret.

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Re: A Train with No Name

Don't forget a trip down to attended an Auckland G Scale Society running day would be an investment you won't regret.

Of course, for an extra tank of gas in the moped, you could come to Wellington to see how things are really done!