Jump to content

Kirkfield & Warmthorpe Railway


IanR
 Share

Recommended Posts

You make everything look so simple. In fact I reckon that if you were to start marketing those control boxes you'd have everyone thinking twice about opting for DCC. It's just amazingly neat and tidy and so well thought out. Excellent stuff Ian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Wonderful weather for garden railways, had a few operating sessions and shot some video which I will post when I get it sorted and edited.

The new point operating motors, as mentioned in 'electrics & wiring' section are working wonderfully, no more hit and miss, they work every time! Well impressed with them.

During the day the rails are too hot to to touch and I wonder what effect this has on the locos as it must transfer to the wheels. They don't seem to suffer though.

The only trouble is when the weather is like this is that there's all kinds of other things that need doing before it changes again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great hear your getting some fine weather at last as you can't run trains in the wet.

Looking at those control boxes (with envy) I'm only guessing but do you work in the electrical field for your employment Ian? Perhaps you could build and market those control boxes for people with outdoor lines who don't run DCC. Maybe even custom building control boxes to suit a particular customers needs. :)

Roy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Yes Griff, the felt is painted in places using water based masonry paint, it's available in small tester pots here in the UK from Homebase.

I have used real granite ballast on the track and that method is described in the Structures & Scenery section of the forum.

587a484a4f191_O4(607x424).jpg.9f4363d98dbfac0e6f029e097f05442d.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is your track painted? It looks brown. I really like the overall look for your layouts ground cover.

On second thought, I swear I've asked you this before. Let me go back through the discussion. he he

------------------------------

Yep, I did. And... you gave me the same answer pretty much the last time around. I suppose I expected the process to be much more complicated, but no it isn't. :lol::lol::lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Well it's been a decent summer and I've had a few relaxing running sessions. Shot a bit more video and maybe I'll get it edited one day!

I can recommend the new point motors to you all, they have been really reliable, I'm very happy with them.

I've been decorating my "railway room" this year with a few bits of railwayana that I've acquired from various sources.

2013-09-11 07.42.38.jpg

DSCF4525.jpg

DSCF4531.jpg

DSCF4527.jpg

2013-09-17 16.30.38.jpg

DSCF4530.jpg

I've recently bought two 'Oleo' buffers. These will be painted up and used as garden seats!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

These are the latest additions to the K&W railwayana garden.

'Er indoors isn't very impressed! :roll:

Buffers.jpg

I had an enjoyable 700 mile round day trip from Wakefield to Gunnislake in Devon on the train last Thursday to collect two L&SWR boundary markers that I won on eBay.
Thank goodness for ex. BR staff free travel! 

L&SWR Boundary 2.JPG

They're now awaiting restoration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

 

Quote

I had an enjoyable 700 mile round day trip from Wakefield to Gunnislake in Devon on the train last Thursday to collect two L&SWR boundary markers that I won on eBay.

Thank goodness for ex. BR staff free travel! :)

I bet Ian (Grockle) hasn't read this as I'm sure that he would have corrected me and told me that Gunnislake is in Cornwall and not Devon!! :D

I went again yesterday to pick up another boundary marker. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

IanR said:

I bet Ian (Grockle) hasn't read this as I'm sure that he would have corrected me and told me that Gunnislake is in Cornwall and not Devon!! :D

I went again yesterday to pick up another boundary marker. :)

 

Quote

 had an enjoyable 700 mile round day trip from Wakefield to Gunnislake in Devon on the train last Thursday to collect two L&SWR boundary markers that I won on eBay.

Thank goodness for ex. BR staff free travel! :)

I have now and I'm staying quiet for once. Bloody 'Grockles' thank heavens the holiday seasons are now over with.

I do like the buffers now being used as tables. :mrgreen:

Something completely different and not what they were designed for. I bet they are bloody heavy as well. :)

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Nothing to report on the K&WR at the moment but the "railway room" i.e. the back garden has had a few more adornments.

The signal is made up of parts that I've acquired from various sources. I had a rail trip to West Calder near Edinburgh to collect the arm. It is connected to an electric winch located in the shed and can be operated by remote control.

The GW signal finial involved a trip to Westbury, the red lamp a trip to Woodbridge in Suffolk and the L&SW post was one that I collected from Gunnislake. Apparently it came from the vicinity of Tavistock station.

The red lamp was complete with mounting bracket which has been used on the semaphore post.

The mild ish weather of late has been good for pottering around in the shed refurbishing railwayana, quite enjoyed it too.

I must get around to finishing my Q6 kit!

S1.jpg

S2.jpg

S3.jpg

LSW.jpg

L1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Did a bit of permanent way maintenance on the K&WR yesterday in the lovely summery weather.

A few holes were repaired in the ballast and a brass semaphore signal removed, straightened and replaced... bloody cats!!

I also noticed a broken tie-bar on one of the points.

Suppose I'll be clearing snow in a couple of weeks time!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I did some maintenance on the K&WR last week.

A few small areas of ballast had been washed away which is hardly surprising after all the rain through winter, nothing serious though.

I've settled on using Astonish Wood Floor Polish as a fixative. Two or three applications with a pipette and I now put some in a spray bottle and douse the whole lot, avoiding points though. Let it dry between applications.

The ballast is now rock hard, although it does have a bit of a sheen!

I also repaired a track bond which I had knocked off with the track rubber.

Had the first running day this year on Monday and everything seems to be working fine, especially the point motors which as you probably know I replaced with car central locking motors last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to see some activity on the K&WR thread and to hear that the 2014 operating season has begun.

Do you have any plans for this year? Are there to be, or has there already been, any new loco acquisitions? I was going to suggest a Garratt would fit in nicely but perhaps they'd be just a bit too early for the period.

I had some decent results with using floor polish as a ballast fixative but not doing anything with the layout last year took its toll on some sections. The track does tend to take on quite a sheen with the polish and it does initially dry rock hard but perhaps it needs subsequent applications to keep it nice and solid. I'm also wondering whether I should be adding in more of the smaller N gauge ballast so it all packs tighter together.

I'm hoping to follow your guidance regarding the central locking motors. I'll have at least two points that will require motorising this year, one of them some distance from the shed, but I really should look at doing them under DCC so I can operate them from the handset.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi IanR,

I like what you have done with your garden railway around your fence line, my back yard is too steep for that and on quarter of an acre would be a big challenge.

Didn't think you could run model trains in the snow thinking moisture doesn't mix with electricity, till now, pure awesome.

My layout is on ground level and with the pergola floor not being level have to have a spiral to gain the height to get to the car port end, just like the real thing so I decided to model the Tehachapi loop spiral in Australia we have two loops close to the Tehachapi loop spiral.

I model Australian American and some British trains as you will see in one pic.

But what caught my eye is your storage boxes for your trains, mine are storage draw boxes, if I was able top get them over here I would of bought yours but petty close and can stack them on top of each other, also.

You can see the progress of my layout on Camdle layout

I am from Ipswich QLD Australia.

DSCF0835 a.jpg

DSCF0836  a.jpg

DSCF0838  a.jpg

DSCF0840 a.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

aussietmrail said:

I like what you have done with your garden railway around your fence line, my back yard is too steep for that and on quarter of an acre would be a big challenge.

Didn't think you could run model trains in the snow thinking moisture doesn't mix with electricity, till now, pure awesome.

My layout is on ground level and with the pergola floor not being level have to have a spiral to gain the height to get to the car port end, just like the real thing so I decided to model the Tehachapi loop spiral in Australia we have two loops close to the Tehachapi loop spiral.

I model Australian American and some British trains as you will see in one pic.

But what caught my eye is your storage boxes for your trains, mine are storage draw boxes, if I was able top get them over here I would of bought yours but petty close and can stack them on top of each other, also.

You can see the progress of my layout on Camdle layout

I am from Ipswich QLD Australia.

Thanks for your comments. That drawer storage system looks good, at least you don't have to unstack boxes to get to something at the bottom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...