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The Hazelnut Railway


AndyR
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Very nice Andy, what a difference it makes when they are surrounded by the 'greenery' which has finally burst into life after our never ending winter!

I have a few 'glitches' to sort out on my trackwork & what with holidays intervening I'm not sure when I will find the time, perhaps when things cool down a bit as they surely will & not long before we will be getting 'leaves on the line' again !! :-)

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Thanks Brian, I know what you mean by glitches. I had a few derailments, but eventually got things running without incident. One near miss where the King left half the train behind and nearly ran in to the back. I should pay more attention!

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  • 1 month later...

Looking at the forecast for the weekend, I may just get some more time with the railway. I have a shopping trip in the morning, may have to wander past the model shop and see if there are any goodies lurking there!

I had d good running session last weekend, once I sorted a few niggles with the track. It would appear the time to consider some bonding may be drawing near. I had a few dead sections, resolved after a while of sliding some rail joiners about. If I do bite the bonding bullet, are there any other considerations as the outside of the track is rather tarnished now after a few years in the elements. I am guessing cleaning would be a start!

I need to have a look at sizing my photos, the new camera creates images just over 3 meg so too big to upload. May have to revert to the old one for a bit :?

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A impulse buy at the model shop, Bachmann Class 37 37415. Runs like an absolute dream, which is a bit of a dilemma. All my Lima locos run like dogs most of the time, struggling to run consistently on the track. Al my new locos, not surprisingly run very well even on uncleaned track to a point. No way I am getting rid of them, but getting less inclined to run them. Makes me want to spend way to much cash on renewing the fleet. I know the old stuff has poor pick ups, not as heavy etc but any tips..?

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"Any tips?"

AndyR,

Keep saving the pennys and reinvest!

A few years back (see earlier logs) I dug out my old stuff which was Zero 1 gear. It ran ok for a while. Then I invested in Dcc. The only trouble was the ancient locos (Lima especially) wouldn't take the gradients I had done.

Then reverted back to analogue (see earlier blogs) and purchased a couple of new Bachmann locos.

I couldn't believe the difference in performance. Excellent. And (like you say) the weight.

I still haven't cleaned any of the new loco wheels after many many sessions of outdoor running.

The Lima locos will do an hour or so, but any new session needs wheel cleaning activities.

Whenever we have visitors around, I always put on a couple of Backmann 25s first and formost.

Never let you down.

Also worth having a look at the Hornby Railroad models. For the price you can't knock them.

The only problem I find with the new stuff is the fine detail which is now added. For us "outdoor geezers" you have to "handle with care" as a lot of the under carriage stuff can break away quite easily.

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Thanks, rather as I suspected but had to ask!

I'll start saving the pennies again. The detailing is superb, and I guess I have been lucky that I have not had any major derailments with the new stuff. I think if I had a repeat of where my Lima 31 took a dive in to the undergrowth it would be a bit more damaging!

Strangely the best performing Lima loco is the oldest, my Prairie tank that is the best part of 35 years old!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Admittedly it has been quite some time since I posted anything, but given the good weather and a week off work I thought it was time I got things running again. For some time I have been looking at my Lima Class 117 DMU sat in a box, for some reason I had convinced myself it did not work. Well, after a spot of oil and a quick push I was pleasantly surprised. Pretty much faultless running, but seriously noisy!

My Bachmann 37 also had a run out, again faultlessly. The same can not be said for the inner track. If time permits after fencing and painting this week I need to get bonding. After over two years it is clear the rail joiners are no longer sufficient, although the outer track is still good enough. I also need to replace a few poorly laid sections of track. One section in particular has always had a join on the bend withe a larger than sensible gap between sections

Class 117 DMU Makes it's debut on the Hazelnut Railway

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2398image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2398http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2398' alt='URL>'>

Class 117 DMU in Concrete Canyon

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2397image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2397http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2397' alt='URL>'>

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37415 poses in the sun.

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2395image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2395http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2395' alt='URL>'>

37415 pauses in concrete canyon light engine.

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2396image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2396http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2396' alt='URL>'>

37415 rounds the curve heading in to concrete canyon.

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2399image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2399http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2399' alt='URL>'>

o76HUbLIOJU

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I can't remember seeing a video showing a train completing the entire circuit before. The layout looks much bigger than I imagined.

It sounds like it's time to get the soldering iron out and start bonding some wires - there's nothing more frustrating than intermittent running. Have you tried wiping the tracks with cleaning solution such as IPA? I find that makes a big difference to current collection even when it seems you made a good job with the track rubber. I had a bit of stuttering yesterday until I'd wiped the rail tops but after that it was fine despite the fact that it will be well over a year since anything ran on much of the rails.

Just sold a number of Lima loco's including a DMU - they are extremely noisy compared to modern loco's!

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Thanks for the cleaning tip Mick, I'll give that a try. My usual method is track rubber followed by damp cloth. The inner track has dead sections where despite sliding the joiners backwards and forwards gets a brief spark of life but not much more.

I was sure I'd had posted a few videos showing the full circuit, maybe not! I'll get one posted from a distance showing the whole layout. The look of the railway will be changing at the top end, where the slate chippings are as the old fence is down, new one arrives Thursday. Will look a bit lighter, especially if I remove the plumb tree!

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...I was sure I'd had posted a few videos showing the full circuit, maybe not! I'll get one posted from a distance showing the whole layout...

You might well have done Andy. My memories not so good these days! I just don't remember a video taken from one position that follows a loco round the whole circuit. It really emphasises the length of the straights.

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Oh my. Looks lovely. The last shot of your 37 on the curve with backlight got me drooling for sure. I envy you guys with humidity and mosses and such. I know I go on about how dry it is here, but even in winter we have to water the garden or things begin to dry out and die.

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Thanks Griff, I do get a lot of moss growing around the railway as it is sheltered so there is a nice natural element to the railway. The lighting will change as I have new fencing arriving today. I was planing to remove the plumb tree at the top end of the layout. I should have kept the height down, can't take it all down but have removed all of the lower branches so should allow more sunlight!

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I'm not sure if it is warm enough over here for apricot trees, I dabble in the garden but am no expert! There are probably a few guys on here that are more green fingered than myself! I'll keep with my chillies in the greenhouse.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Griff,

I am still here! Just not had much time to spend with the railway this year. Work has been way to busy and I have been doing a huge amount of traveling. I desperately want to get out and start running trains again, especially now the weather is good!

The other complication is that my eldest son has just started playing in football (soccer) tournaments, which is great for a 6 year old. Does rather eat in to precious railway time though, especially when I only really have weekends 9get home from work at 19.45 most nights). I will see what this weekend brings and try and get things running, also need to catch up wit the meany new railways and members on the site!!

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No need to explain the football soccer thing to me. as I am quite the fan of futbol. ;) I was quite pleased to see the USA get knocked out of the world cup by Belgium too. I was getting bothered by all the USA supporters who never watch a single game until the USA is in world cup, they get loud and chant USA USA USA over and over. Now they will be gone, and it will be just myself + friends in the bar, along with a mix of latin americans and expat europeans and brits.

Glad to hear your son is playing. When I moved to the USA from Italy in the 60's, no one played soccer. I never got to play as a kid. Now they have youth leagues, but I hear the parents get really out of hand at games. I hope you aren't one of those fathers. ;)

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No Griff, thankfully I can keep a handle on my emotions! Others I have seen are somewhat of an embarrassment.. I do get rather animated when following my team though, although I have toned down my language now my son comes to the games :D

Re the railway, I think I have mentioned before my plans to extend down one side of the garden where I have a large leylandii hedge. I had shied away due to the need to remove the hedge but now my hand is being forced. The drainage soakaway has been blocked by the roots, that have actually grown all the way up the drainage pipe to the house. The work, apart from putting up a new fence should be covered by insurance. It's around 20-30 feet (need to measure) so would be a good extension. Would be a straight line with a loop at the end for continuous running, following the fence line. Would give the locos a chance to really stretch their legs.

This has been dragging on since January, but if work starts soon I may be able to start laying track before the summer. Insurance cases are rather slow though.

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  • 1 month later...

Given the rather poor weather that has suddenly arrived, I am glad I spent some time in the garden last weekend! I still have the inner track out of commission, but with 2 weeks off work and no real time away should finally get some bonding started.

I have to admit that I was rather puzzled with some of the running problems. Thomas the tank performed faultlessly where my usually reliable Class 25 struggled. nothing obvious but just didnt seem to have power. My pannier tack also seemed to struggle, but 'Toby' again seemed fine as did my Class 73. Anyway, enjoyed it for a bit.

Class 73 with a short rake of NSE Mk 2s

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2983galler ... ge_id=2983http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2983' alt='URL>'>

Pannier tank on freight duty.

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2982galler ... ge_id=2982http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2982' alt='URL>'>

D5211 passes the signal box in the shade

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2981galler ... ge_id=2981http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2981' alt='URL>'>

D5211 makes heavy work of a mixed freight. Not sure where the sun went!

image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2980galler ... ge_id=2980http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/gallery/image.php?album_id=25&image_id=2980' alt='URL>'>

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