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Worsley Dale Garden Railway


mick
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9 hours ago, Riddles said:

I'm glad to hear you use some TTS decoders. Hornby decoders do tend to get a bad press on RM Web etc. but for the cost, they allow fairly reasonable sound to be fitted on largish collections economically. The majority of my own sound decoders are probably ESU but I do like the Zimo ones, especially when they are fitted with "Stay Alive" capacitors. I love using the brake feature on Function 2 but I don't use all the various lighting capabilities. The slow running with Stay Alive can be amazing, even over dodgy track.

Yes, the F2 brake function is amazing. I first encountered it with my first SLW class 24 and it's something all decoders should have as standard in my opinion as it just adds so much more realism to operating. 'Stay Alive' is also very useful providing there's space to fit in the capacitor. I've only ever fitted one myself, made easier by the fact that the wires were pre-fitted to the decoder so I didn't have to go near the chip with the iron. I have a 21-pin Zimo sound decoder with class 37 sounds that comes with a capacitor but doesn't have wires pre-soldered to the chip. I haven't looked at it yet but if it means I have to get the soldering iron out then I'm afraid I'll have to go without 'stay alive' on this occasion as I'd prefer it to 'stay working'.

I'd forgotten that 2 of my HST's are fitted with TTS decoders which makes it a heck of a lot cheaper than purchasing full price soundchips for each power car. They sound quite acceptable to me. I was interested in trying a TTS class 37 but the only one I could find was at an inflated price approx double the usual cost. I'll wait and see if they get another release.

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Almost forgot that I'd starting putting the opposite end of the tunnel back together and much like the other end I've decided to add a few rocks in front of the tunnel portal.

The portal was glued to the tunnel face with Gorilla Grab Adhesive and then some small rocks were cemented in place in front of it. I'll add some more tomorrow just to bring it forward a bit more. It really needs the loop reinstalling doesn't it?

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I'm not sure how this had happened but when I crouched down and looked through the tunnel I noticed that the rail joint just inside the entrance had completely come apart and the next section of track was laid almost where the loop would be. It's not that long since I was running trains through here but either I've somehow dislodged it or something has been down my tunnel.

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I never seem to stick to the plan and today has been no different. I've left the tunnel portal as it is, at least for now, and as I'm running low on sand and cement I thought I'd use what little I do have left on planting some rocks leading on to Stack Gill viaduct. The bits of log roll that were here had rotted away leaving the sides of the aerated blocks visible while to the rear there was a large gap between the viaduct and the box hedging plants.

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I've also added some short sloping pieces to the parapet wall ends to finish them off. They still need rounding off.

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I'm not too concerned about the log roll rotting away in front of the box plants because I quite like some bits of decay along the lineside. Likewise with the wiring running along each side of the track, some people may think it's somewhat unsightly but it's a working railway and I've no plans to hide it

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I took a number of photos of Ben Cruachan passing through the new 'cutting' on approach to the viaduct, few of which turned out very well, and all show no front lights which is strange because I am sure they were switched on.

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And just in case anyone thinks I'm going doolally, here's 37114 'Dunrobin Castle' crossing Low Shott viaduct with the log train and again, apparently no front lights.

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On the subject of front lights, I took some videos today and the lights on front of the locos appear to be flashing on and off yet it's not something I see when I look at them without the camera so it must be something to do with the camera settings - perhaps the frame rate? Anyone experienced anything similar? 

 

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Well here's todays video, flashing lights and all. Filmed mainly at Stackgarth Gill, just before Stack Gill viaduct where I've been cementing rocks in place, and featuring just 3 of the loco's I have recently fitted sound to.

37026 has Jamie Goodman class 37/0 sounds and a double iphone speaker

37114 has Jamie Goodman class 37/0 sounds and a mega bass speaker

D6607 has Legomanbiffo sounds and a Rail Exclusive twin 'Boom Box' speaker in the fuel tanks

 

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9 hours ago, mick said:

I took a number of photos of Ben Cruachan passing through the new 'cutting' on approach to the viaduct, few of which turned out very well, and all show no front lights which is strange because I am sure they were switched on.

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And just in case anyone thinks I'm going doolally, here's 37114 'Dunrobin Castle' crossing Low Shott viaduct with the log train and again, apparently no front lights.

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On the subject of front lights, I took some videos today and the lights on front of the locos appear to be flashing on and off yet it's not something I see when I look at them without the camera so it must be something to do with the camera settings - perhaps the frame rate? Anyone experienced anything similar? 

 

The frame rate on lots of cameras and the fact that led's do flash and are not constantly lit, will give the impression the lights are not on. In normal times I try to do a lot of travel behind class 68's and whenever I video them, the led headlights appear to flash. At work, until we recently had the panel buttons replaced, lots of people used to comment that the lights (led's) were flashing and it was irritating.  

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12 hours ago, mick said:

And just in case anyone thinks I'm going doolally, here's 37114 'Dunrobin Castle' crossing Low Shott viaduct with the log train and again, apparently no front lights.

When I add lights to trains I make them very bright. Indoors they look ridiculous, but out in the garden they are visible from distance, which is the point on the railway, they are to be seen rather than light up the way. The manufactures are sitting lights bright enough to look correct indoors and they look dim outside.

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I managed to do a fair bit of filming today but there's nothing that hasn't really been seen previously so at the present time I'm not too bothered about putting another video together - in fact I feel too tired to do so if I'm honest - the warm weather takes it out of you.

I did experience a loss of power today which was unusual as I've had very few problems in the past. Along the bottom of the garden, behind the sheds, there's a section of track where I've isolated the rails completely from the adjoining track section. I'd read previously that it's not a good idea to have a complete circle of track fed from a central position so by adding the rail breaks it's now fed in each direction only as far as the isolated section. I'm not sure of the science behind it but anyway I've got isolation breaks in my rails.

So the class 156 DMU departed the rear of the shed and made its way along the bottom of the garden and abruptly stopped after passing over the isolation breaks. Before doing anything I got out my continuity tester and discovered there was no track power to the left of the isolation break but power to the right. It was then a matter of making my way back testing each section of track to find the problem. I expected to find a broken soldered joint but found that the problem was bang in the middle of the two girder bridges. The track that runs across the 2 bridges has a join in the centre and I have never managed to add bonding wires across because it was something I should have done before putting it all in position. There's very little room to get the soldering iron in there and so instead I ran two wires across the length of the bridge, hidden beneath the walkways, and soldered one side to the power bus and the other to the track itself. Job done. It must have been the heat that created expansion in the rails causing the rail joiner to fail. 

I'll add a couple of photos taken at the usual spot.

Firstly the class 156 DMU. I'm still not blown away with the sound on this model but I think it's got a place on the layout.

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Lastly 37427 'Highland Enterprise' in Regional Railways livery. It's seen here hauling some blue/grey passenger stock but I'll have to do some research and see what I can come up with that's a bit more appropriate. It's fitted with Legomanbiffo class 37/4 sound but lacks the impact that D6607 has with the larger fuel tank mounted speakers.

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23 hours ago, Andrew said:

That cutting looks superb, a great photo spot to complement the spectacular viaduct.  And the moss/lichen on the rocks completes the effect.

I'm beginning to think that's the best way to go Andrew by creating small scenic areas that can be used for photographs or filming rather than trying to attempt to do the whole layout. It's just half-a-dozen rocks cemented together occupying a space of a couple of feet or so but at track level it looks grander and it leads nicely onto the viaduct. The lichen/moss was a bonus - I just hope it survives now it's been relocated.

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Well, following on from my comments regarding 'small scenic areas' I've taken advantage of the better weather by doing something about the section of track leading onto Low Shott, the smaller of my two viaducts. Being located in full view from my open shed door it's never been a place that I've particularly liked as the track has always looked precariously perched right at the edge of the raised blockwork and I'm amazed that to date there hasn't been any serious 'goings over'.

Here's the section in question.

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The width of the aerated blocks standing on edge doesn't leave a great deal of room to play with when there's two tracks in position and although I did initially put sections of log roll on the face of the blocks they've gradually either rotted away or come adrift so there's currently no border along the lineside, save the one left standing, only the drop below.

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So it's been a case of finding suitable rocks and mixing the scrapings of sand and cement I have left. Most of the rocks have had to be balanced in a way that there's a nice smooth side facing onto the track and there will need to be additional rocks behind and plenty of infilling in order to securely set them in place.

From the rear it's currently not a pretty sight...

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...but from the lineside I hope you feel it's an improvement.

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I'm not sure what the ground cover plant to the right is called but it looks okay out of season although the flowers are quite tall and tend to hide the view when they appear. I'll leave it for now.

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There's still some more rocks needed before it's finished but hopefully it's another spot that's going to become a good place to site the cameras.

 

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I've just got round to uploading a short video taken on Saturday (the day I said I couldn't be bothered publishing) that is slightly different from the footage posted previously. I really wasn't going to bother with this but as there's not a lot else happening right now it seems a good idea to keep things flowing.

The video features the Realtrack class 156 DMU - still minus its front deflector/plow - as well as D6607 'Ben Cruachan' with a rake of InterCity sleeper stock including two Hornby sleeper cars and two Bachmann Mk2F as day coaches.

 

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It's been bitterly cold outdoors at times today making it less than enjoyable to be doing any work on the layout. I've been wanting to crack on with the rocks along the lineside and although I can fit them loosely in place, until I decide to join the queue at B&Q for sand and cement, that's as much as I'm able to do.

I've decided to continue planting the rocks a little further along the line and round the curve past the first small conifer as it will give me a longer section for filming trains to and from Low Shott viaduct. This curve is known as Low Shott Flatt and up to now it's been almost impossible to capture any decent footage in this area. There's still the problem of the taller flowering ground cover plant hiding the trains from view but you can see where I've trimmed the flowers back how much better it makes it. I've had to remove some of the timber edging I added a few weeks ago in order to make room for the rocks as I prefer to see the rocks right up to the lineside rather than sitting behind the wood. The only pieces I've left in place are the two directly in front of the conifer as there isn't room there to add rockery.

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Just to see how things are looking I propelled 37026 across the viaduct and posed it for a photo.

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Hello Mick!

You should find a solution for the blue cable.
Because the rock looks really good and the cable somehow destroys the overall impression.
Looks like a gas pipe that has not yet been buried...😁

Regards

Thomas

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14 hours ago, ThomasI said:

...You should find a solution for the blue cable.
Because the rock looks really good and the cable somehow destroys the overall impression.
Looks like a gas pipe that has not yet been buried...

You're probably right Thomas although it's not something that's ever troubled me. I always wanted a rugged untidy scene littered with the kind of things that keep railways running. Now blue might be stretching it a bit far I admit (the brown is much less conspicuous) but I didn't really want to conceal all the wiring as it's all part of my little railway landscape.

Being at ground level I can't hide it away beneath the base and I don't want to bury it so that I can no longer access it so what's the solution? Should I paint it, remove the outer sleeve to leave just the copper core, or just disguise it with some greenery and rocks?

I have a short section on my large viaduct where I've used just the copper core and it doesn't seem to have been a problem but I wondered if anyone knew of any issues with running just the copper wire without protective outer sleeve?

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Well after giving it some thought I've decided to remove the outer sleeve on some of the blue cable and then where possible I've started to embed some of the remaining blue parts between the rocks/timbers and the edge of the track base. I'll post some photos later.

As you've probably gathered, I've managed to obtain sand and cement and all without queueing at B&Q. I ordered online through a BuildBase merchant and simply called in locally this morning to collect in their 'social distance' setup which was far better and easier than going to B&Q. In fact I'd quite like that to be the norm where you get a time slot to collect and just sit in your car until they bring the order out to you. Took me 30 minutes from leaving home to getting back.

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On 14/05/2020 at 17:31, Stese said:

...try altering the anti flicker setting on your camera..( normally included for flourescent lighting) it may help/stop the leds not appearing to work.....

I've tried various settings Steve but all to no avail. Strangely it's also happening when using the camera on my phone and I've never noticed that before - I thought it was just the Nikon camera.

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3 hours ago, mick said:

As you've probably gathered, I've managed to obtain sand and cement and all without queueing at B&Q. I ordered online through a BuildBase merchant and simply called in locally this morning to collect in their 'social distance' setup which was far better and easier than going to B&Q. In fact I'd quite like that to be the norm where you get a time slot to collect and just sit in your car until they bring the order out to you. Took me 30 minutes from leaving home to getting back.

I'm glad you've found an effective way to get materials. I ordered more aerated blocks from Wickes yesterday. Got a text at 7am saying that there was a delay of up to 8 hours sorting my clicked collect order and to wait for another text before heading to the store. That text hasn't arrived.

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