chris Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I'd try and fix the rail first, it's already broke so as long as you don't to more damage to the base etc... Pop a flathead screw driver under the rail and leaver it back up. You will probably need to have something pushing the rail down on either side and maybe something under the fulcrum pont of the screw driver, but a few gentle lifts could do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 chris said: I'd try and fix the rail first, it's already broke so as long as you don't to more damage to the base etc.... Yes, it's the base I'm more concerned about. I'll give it a try first but failing that it's out with the cutter's torch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Mick theres one thing I have learnt with the garden railway - dont try to repair - replace - its easier and works better in the long run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Well I've now made a start on the baseboards inside the shed but before that I had some major track maintenance to carry out. Although I did try bending the damaged rail back into shape it was just not going to happen. Not only has the rail been dented it had also been flattened across. I decided to go ahead and cut the damaged section out. I also took the time to take a few photos along the way. Using a cutting disc in my mini-drill I cut through the rail a few sleeper widths away from the damaged section at either side and gently slid the rail out of the sleepers. A new section of rail was cut to length to be a nice tight fit. Lifting each sleeper in turn, the new length of rail was slid back onto the sleepers. On the cut ends of the existing track I placed a new rail joiner and slid each one back beneath the existing sleepers to allow the new length of rail to be fitted. With the new rail in position the rail joiners were slid across to hold everything together nicely. Job done. And this is the damaged length of rail having been removed and replaced. Something to eat and then it's back to the shed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george356 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Mick, I have just looked at your gallery and seen the rail replacement. Good, neat job, well done. Just one thing, don't forget to dropper that short length, as you don't want a short dead section where the rail joiners are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 The heaven's have opened - it's bucketing it down at the moment - and so I've come back inside. I've cut up some 18mm thick chipboard panels that were saved from an old wardrobe fitment. The panels have a plastic melamine type finish. Two 24 inch wide panels have been fitted along one side of the shed supported by 6 x 380mm high panels cut from the same timber. Further intermediate bracing/support will be added later. The two panels are slightly short of making the full length of the shed but I'll leave the end for now as it will require curving round slightly for the tracks to exit the rear of the shed. The base is at a more convenient height than my original layout in Selby - only by a matter of inches I admit but it really does make a lot of difference. There's certainly room beneath the base for storage and/or access. If it stops raining long enough I may get out and take a few photos so that you can see what's what. Much better than me trying to explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 george356 said: ... don't forget to dropper that short length, as you don't want a short dead section where the rail joiners are. I''ll see to that once I get the iron back out George. At the moment it's got the added safeguard of 2 rail joiners to get the power across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 mick said: And this is the damaged length of rail having been removed and replaced... That is a very nice fix on the rail. It's short enough you could just solder the joiners. Concrete sleepers... *shakes head* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 just noticed the users tally below. Right now we have 2 members and 4 guests on. But we actually had 49 users on one day. It's kind of funny since there are at most 10 of us actively posting these days. C'mon all you lurkers, post up some pics of your layouts. Oh wait, two of them are google bots. ha ha oh oh, what's this then Looks really good Mick. I'm thinking you need some insulation and more windows or else some video cameras to monitor the layout from the control center. oh, a bar. Maybe a little cot to sleep on... and a jacuzzi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 traingeekboy said: ...Right now we have 2 members and 4 guests on. But we actually had 49 users on one day... Search engines and bots are counted as registered users (if we allow them on) and as guests if we don't. They actually use up a lot of bandwidth. No doubt we get a lot of human visitors too so I second your call "Join in and start posting details of your layouts!" Another rain break but it gives me the chance to post a couple more photos. The first one shows the benefits of painting the viaduct with water sealant. The top viaduct sidewalls to the left have been treated, those to the right hand side have not. Amazing isn't it? And so to a look inside the shed. 'Ideal Homes' it most certainly is not but it's starting to feel more like a railway shed and less like a storage hut. The shed is 12 feet long and the 18mm thick baseboards are 24 inches wide at a height of approx 400mm. It's pretty solid as it is but it does require a bit more bracing. Still, it's cost next to nothing and saved me from going to the recycling point again. That bit of storage space underneath will come in handy too. Before cutting the wood for the baseboards I did consider using my 'indoor' layout at this side of the shed. It was my intention to use it at the right hand side as a terminus station once the rest of the layout is built but it would have just needed turning for the best track orientation to fit along the left side. However, the approach track on the indoor layout is at a distance of 11 inches from the baseboard edge while the one coming off the viaduct is only 6 inches. It would have meant a complete redesign of the approach in order to get it to fit properly. I might just as well build a new one here and save the indoor layout for the opposite side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 hehe yeah I saw the shed pic pop up, so I figured you were in upload mode. Thought I'd be a pest and post a quick link, just the prankster in me. It really is a nice shed. 12' is huge. I live in a house where the bedrooms are probably smaller ( Scratch that, they are smaller more like 9x8 )than your shed. I sometimes think I should get a shed and put it up next to the house and then cut a doorway between. Looks like you've got good power distribution in the shed too. What do you mean by bracing? Do you mean it needs some angle pieces to re-enforce it on the inside? Seems pretty sturdy to me. You might consider putting ply on the inside and then you'd get more cold weather protection and the inside ply would act as braces across the framing. How cold does it get in winter over there? After I saw your shed it made me think how I need somewhere to park trains. I've thought of getting a shed before too. Instead I told Sara I may need to add a tunnel into the living room. She replied, go ahead it's your house. It's got me planning things in the back of my mind. I gotta finish my platforms first though. Got any wide shots of the inside of the shed? And about that jacuzzi hot tub.... --------------- just re-reading and commenting some more. In that viaduct shot... So is that darkness water that is permeating the brick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 traingeekboy said: What do you mean by bracing? Do you mean it needs some angle pieces to re-enforce it on the inside?... The bracing is for the baseboards not the shed itself. The boards are only screwed together on top at the moment, they need some bracing along the front to stop any lateral movement. traingeekboy said: ...I told Sara I may need to add a tunnel into the living room. She replied, go ahead it's your house. It's got me planning things in the back of my mind... I don't think that's been done on the forum yet - what a terrific idea. Promise me you'll post photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 It had come up in discussion before. I am getting closer to breaking out some blocks. I do want to get the ovals up and running first though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Yesterday was a bad day on Worsley Dale with nothing but things going wrong to report. But today is another day so we'll talk only of the better times. The majority of my rolling stock have been packed away for the past 10-11 months and I have never previously made a list of what I've got so today I decided to make a start with the coaches and have spent most of the day trying to sort through the boxes and pick out just the passenger and associated vehicles. I've made only a handwritten list for now so I'll type it up later. In my haste to pack everything away last year I'd obviously just put coaches I had been using in the first available box as many were in the wrong boxes. I've sorted that out now apart from one which I'm unable to identify. I discovered six loose but well wrapped BR MK1 western region coaches that I remember using back in Selby. They'd been obtained as part of the Bachmann Cambrian Coast set but I later sold the locos and retained only the coaches. There was therefore no need to take any coaches out of boxes to test the viaduct and I also found another similar coach with the same Hornby R8220 couplings that I had previously fitted to the ex Cambrian Coast coaches so I had 7 coaches to place behind 37417. Inside the shed I have loosely laid a few sections of track, just enough to take the loco and 7 coaches. I have still to decide on a final track layout for the shed. Here's a couple of photos from today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 I think I've just about located all my coaching stock vehicles and I've got 7 pages of handwritten records detailing each one. I'll type the list up and then make a start compiling the rakes I think I'll be able to make use of on Worsley Dale. I mentioned in a previous post that I thought I had approximately 20 x BR MK1's in the western region chocolate & cream livery and it turns out that I actually have a total of 23. I'm not sure what the maximum train length will be within the shed once the station area is installed but the 7 coaches used today fit comfortably so I wouldn't think that 10 would be a problem. I don't see much point in hauling any more than that so some of those western region ones may have to go. I've ordered some large radius electrofrog points for the shed. I don't mind the additional wiring and switches when it's all located inside and you can normally expect more reliable running. I've already got the point motors and switches that I was going to use on my previous layout so providing the points are delivered quickly it shouldn't be too long before I'm making headway. I've sketched a couple of possible track-plans but for some reason I always seem to do very similar arrangements to the under construction 'indoor' layout that currently resides under some clutter along the opposite side of the shed. So long as it provides some operational interest I reckon it will be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Nice looking viaduct shot. As to coaches. Nice that you have these proper rakes and all. Love the Class 37. My coach selection is more like a statistical analysis. For every coach there is a probability that it might appear in todays train along with any other coach. I haven't figured out how to factor my statistical analysis to cover what mood I am in for each day. For instance, "gee, I do feel red today. I will run red coaches. But maybe a blue one might fit in there juuuuust right." It's all very complicated Mick. I'll keep you up to date on the outcome. Looks like you are on that last leg of layout build where you sneak out to the garden periodically, flexi under your arm, to lay a couple more pieces. I'm trying to understand what the lines will be like. Are you going to run out one side of the shed and then loop back in from the other side. Or is it a big oval with a branch to the shed as in the other layout? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 traingeekboy said: ...I'm trying to understand what the lines will be like. Are you going to run out one side of the shed and then loop back in from the other side. Or is it a big oval with a branch to the shed as in the other layout? Hopefully, with the aid of this rather pathetic looking illustration below, I can describe what I'm planning to do. You can work out where things are by starting with the viaduct and the railway shed directly behind it. Completed so far is the track from the railway shed, over the viaduct and round to the front of the weather station. The left side of the shed where I have just built that low white baseboard will become the main through station although rather than running straight down parallel to the side of the shed it has to be on a gentle curve to exit the shed just left of the centre line so that it can curve round the plastic shed. My indoor layout, started some 3 years ago, will become a terminus station running down the right hand side of the shed on the same level as the main through station opposite. A set of points just outside the rear of the shed will allow access to the terminus station. Exiting through the rear of the railway shed the lines will loop round the entire garden, behind the plastic shed, beyond the pond and finally down the left side of the weather station where it will eventually meet up with the track I have completed so far. It's a nice feeling to finally be able to run something even if it is only a few feet along the track and back again. Until that time comes it feels like there's a big hurry to get something done but now it can progress at a more leisurely pace. I've played more than I've toiled today but I did erect a shelf on which to stand the controller. I removed Tornado from its box late this afternoon to see how a steam engine would cope along the newly laid track. If there's any hint of a gradient a steamer will be the first to let you know of its disapproval. I added an additional 2 coaches to the 7 already out there and it hauled all 9 away just fine right around to the weather station - several times in fact However, I must admit that there's a far greater sense of satisfaction running a diesel loco as opposed to a steamer. I really enjoy the sound of a diesel and it's something that a steam loco simply cannot compete with in model form. A diesel loco responds each time you adjust the throttle rather than just increasing the chuff-chuff rate. You can make a diesel loco appear to be working hard or running at a more sedate pace - you can drive it the way you wish to and it responds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Hmmmh, after a few weeks of lively activity it all seems to have gone very quiet on the forum again. Is everyone gearing up for the bank holiday or are you all rained off? After spending yesterday making a list of my coaching stock I've spent today testing a number of locos along the short length of track I've currently got to play with. I'm still waiting for my points to arrive for the through station in the shed and so as I've never made any notes about any of my locos I thought I'd start filling in some details into a book so that I know what each loco contains (sound chip etc..) and which ID each loco has been assigned. I try to stick to the same formula when assigning loco IDs but even so, I've had to use the programming track today to 'read' one particular loco whose ID I couldn't work out. I have a couple of problems that need sorting out after the Bank Holiday. The rotary knob on my handheld controller isn't working correctly and needs to go in for repair. I also have a class 37 loco that sounds great but refuses to move. Not sure what's wrong there so I'll get it sent off to be sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george356 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Mick, why don't you use JMRI roster to keep track of your locos? It even allows pics of the actual loco so you can search it visually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 george356 said: Mick, why don't you use JMRI roster to keep track of your locos? It even allows pics of the actual loco so you can search it visually. Correct me if I'm wrong but as a user of the Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance 2 system I think JMRI is out of the question for me. Gaugemaster has its own PC interface and software that might be worth me taking a look but I wasn't really intent on hooking up to a computer. However, there are additional benefits other than just running trains and the Gaugemaster software includes a roster that sounds similar to the one you refer to as well as a CV blaster program for adjusting the CVs. At the moment I have my notebook to refer to should I need it, a handheld controller wired to the main unit in the shed and a wireless handheld that I can use around the garden without any trailing wires. I don't really want to start again with another system and be left with redundant equipment. I'm happy to make do with what I've got at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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