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Worsley Dale Garden Railway


mick
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I am also really interested in the side mounted point motors although if your reports are good I might install a couple on the main running line. I have found a 70/30 mix of iso/water and a toothbrush is a pretty good way of keeping point blade and their contact point clean. However I am also interested in peoples experience of bonding the blade to the running rail.

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Im bonding all my points.

Although I have had some success with copper grease on the switch, and Track Magic applied to the blades, it really is just simpler to not rely on the blade for the switch (which also can lead to enough of a power drop to become an issue)

I have 8 points on my set. 4 pairs for the station loop, two to take you from the loop to the yard, and then 2 to the yard lanes.

I plane to have all but the last two bonded whilst operating DC. When I go DCC then they too will be done

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I'm in for a break and have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I've finally made the entrance hole into the shed

IMG_6618.JPG

The bad news is that I've just added the remaining 5 pieces of cut block sections that I'm using for the track bed. You can see then in the above photograph lined up in front of the entrance hole. I cemented them in position, cut a piece of roofing felt and stuck it on top with bitumen adhesive. I then laid a piece of flexi across and was about to solder the droppers to the bus when I noticed the section of track wasn't level. At first I thought it was just a bump in the roof felt but on examination I discovered those last 5 sections of aerated block weren't level. In fact they were quite some way off. There was no way I could leave it like that so I've had to remove the roofing felt and clean up all the bitumen (see photo below). I was going to remove the bits of blocks and start over again but they're stuck fast and I didn't want to cause any damage to the viaduct itself so I've added some packing pieces on top of them.

IMG_6622.JPG

I'm not sure how I've got my levels so far off here. Everything's been fine up to this point but look at the following photo and see just how far they are out. It's clearly those last 2 arches in the viaduct that I've fixed on a downward slope. That largest packing piece on the right is 6mm thick! Anyway, it's a good job it came to light now rather than later. I may have to make the sidewalls a little larger here to keep the top of the viaduct looking level.

IMG_6623.JPG

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doublecee said:

liking the entrance to the shed. Nice to see all that hard work doesnt just end up leading to a hole in a wall. The extra bit of detail and structure really sells it.

It's purely coincidental, I didn't plan it this way and it was initially just going to be a temporary measure but that narrow block section with the arch tunnel opening into the shed actually makes the viaduct appear much taller. I was looking at adding something on to the sides too but I think less is more in this case and it's enough as it is. May just add a little lip to divert rain water away from the opening.

flapland101 said:

Don't you hate it when you think you nearly finished a job and find out you need to re-do it again...

Something I'm quite used to by now but it doesn't get any easier :x"I must take more care, I must take...."

I've got the roofing felt stuck back on now but it's just started raining so I'm indoors again.

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Rebuilds are part of the game Griff, I just wish it would let me get something finished before I was having to start out rebuilding!

It was my own fault - I put those last 5 cut sections in place without checking they were level - I just assumed with them all being all the same size that they would be. Never mind, it's sorted now. I've just had to remember to enlarge the entrance hole into the shed with raising the base by just over 6mm.

Most of the track on the viaduct is now in position; just the one length that will span across into the shed to lay. The power bus is also now through into the shed. I've got a few pieces of sidewall to glue on the viaduct and then that's more or less it I think.

We mentioned points earlier and I've had to clean the set of points already as the loco sometimes stalled or ran erratically over them. It's not all down to the fact that they're located outside, I've had the points for a couple of years and they've been used before and that's the first time I've done anything with them. I'd be quite happy if all it took was a quick wipe across the contact faces each time - no different from having to clean the track. We'll see how they go over the coming days/weeks.

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I clean my points thoroughly and give them a squirt of the dry, molebendum grease each operating session - otherwise you can forget any sort of decent running :x . The other thing I found is, your trackbed needs to be perfectly flat or this can upset continuity through the points.

All my points are electro-frog, with isolated fishplates on the frog end rails. If I was doing it all again, I would probably use dead frogs and normal fishplates and bondings.

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If there's a way to keep the points working then I'm more than happy to give them a clean before any running session. I don't expect to have more than about 3 sets of points in total out in the open garden so that's no problem. Yes, at this time I'd choose insulfrog too but we could really do with taking a closer look at the point issue and see how best to use them outdoors.

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Pam thinks I'm getting paranoid because a number of times when I try to do anything that's "not really what I want to be doing" something always seems to go wrong. Three times now I've cut the grass mindful of the fact that I've got a few cables running along the border, only to sever the cable connecting the anemometer to the weather station. Yes. three times I've done that. Anyway today I thought the garden was starting to look untidy and it's certainly getting overgrown so I've been thinning out the borders and turning the soil over to freshen it all up a bit instead of making progress on the layout. I've completely filled the recycling bin. On my latest trip from border to bin I planted the spade into the soil, picked up the bucket of waste greenery and headed towards the bin. Within seconds I heard the spade hit something solid behind me, turned around and it was laying at right angles across my newly laid railway track! There's a right dent now in the outermost rail of the inner concrete sleeper track and I don't see how I can possibly get it out. Looks like I'll have to completely replace a section. That's me back to the re-building phase again Griff! Paranoid?... Who, me?

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Sorry to hear about the fresh track damage, but that viaduct is a triumph, Mick. Looks like you've successfully overcome the levels problem on the final arches, and I hope you'll soon be running trains across it -- and not wishing it was double track!

Maybe in due course you could provide a photo of the inaugural train breaking the proverbial ribbon, and show us the full extent of the viaduct.

It's an excellent piece of civil engineering. Any coating or weathering planned? A friend of mine used aerosol 'stone' (or is it 'concrete'?) paint from B&Q on his plastic viaduct to good effect.

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Andrew: Yes the viaduct's just about sorted now. I finally got the track base level and most of the track temporarily pinned in position. I've tested it with a single loco running back and forth to try ensure it's as level as can be but it's a preserved line and we can expect a bit of uneveness. I certainly won't be too distraught if that's the case. The real test will be a rake of coaches in a few days time.

I've no regrets about making the viaduct single track. I've got the opportunity to make the next one double track should I wish ;)

I have considered coating the viaduct but instead I've gone over it lightly with some sandpaper to remove the heavier markings. I don't want to go too deep otherwise I'll lose the smooth face finish. I think it's okay and in time it should weather naturally - I hope so anyway.

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Are yours the Peco version Ian? Have you experienced any problems with them up to now? Again, this is going to be collected 'data' to see how some of the RTR stuff performs outdoors - we need the answers.

They are the Peco ones Mick. Had no problems with them whatsoever but as I said they are kept in a dry place.

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mick said:

If there's a way to keep the points working then I'm more than happy to give them a clean before any running session. I don't expect to have more than about 3 sets of points in total out in the open garden so that's no problem. Yes, at this time I'd choose insulfrog too but we could really do with taking a closer look at the point issue and see how best to use them outdoors.

The three turnouts to my Danes Wood "quarry" need a clean every session, and this takes a lot of time, cotton pads, and cleaning fluids (WD40 and others). This is probably made worse by the location below a rockery. One turnout now works in one direction only if held in place; I think the spring has failed. I have received some new springs from Peco but not fitted them yet. The new crossover has been made removable, and I will probably retrospectively do the same with the quarry turnouts. All are electrofrog, but I have some old insulfrog in the same configuration as the new crossover, so I can try both.

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As reported yesterday and now that I've had time to calm down, I'm going to have to look at the best way to repair the damage caused by the toppling spade. I've just been out for a closer look and took the following photo showing the dent in the rail closest to the camera. I don't think trying to force it back into shape would be very successful.

IMG_6654.JPG

Rather than cut out a complete section I think I should be able to just cut out a section from that one damaged rail and as the sleepers have no connected plastic webbing on the reverse I ought to be able to lift them slightly to slide a new length of rail in. Fishplates and some solder should hopefully sort this out. Perhaps not quite the catastrophe it felt yesterday.

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